By Robert Hagstrom
CNN recently reported that a New Jersey teenager has sued her parents who she claimed forced her out of her home and refused to pay for her private high school tuition and college education.
Rachel Canning, the girl who made headlines with this outrageous situation, claims that her parents mistreating her is enough justification to sue them in order for her to continue going to school. And that’s not all she hopes to gain from them. CNN reported that Canning also wants her parents to pay for her living and travel expenses as well as her legal bills.
If she can’t even afford to sue her parents, then she shouldn’t be trying to at all. This story is filled with all kinds of oddities.
But one question is central to the Canning situation. Are kids fully entitled to their parents paying for their education and outside living expenses? They aren’t entitled; it’s just that their parents save their money over the years, so when the time comes, they can afford the payments.
Attending college is an investment in one’s future, and an expensive one at that. Parents who are fortunate enough to be able to afford a college education for their child shouldn’t be legally bound to pay for it, especially when they are forced to do so by the last person they would expect: their own child.
Why should they? A parent’s love for a child is the driving force to save money to afford it. But if that love is lost, parents shouldn’t have to forfeit their earnings to their kids if they don’t want to.
At that point, the child, or in this case Rachel Canning, doesn’t deserve tuition money that her parents had worked so hard for. Being sued by a family member is unthinkable, but in light of this case, we can begin to think about what our loved ones mean to us.
I believe that receiving a college education is not only an investment, but also a gift from a child’s parents to help them strive for a better future. Rachel Canning has shown her true colors in suing her parents for financial assistance and needs a reality check if she wins this lawsuit against her parents.
By Meaghan Kirby
In the latest case of teenage rebellion, New Jersey teen Rachel Canning is suing her parents for her college tuition. While in my opinion, her parents should not be required to pay for her college education, I believe Canning’s lawsuit has opened the world to the financial bubble many upper middle class and wealthy children live in.
Much like Ethan Couch, the teen who killed four people in a drunk driving accident and successfully used “affluenza” as a defense tactic that blamed his actions on his wealth, Canning is using her privileged upbringing to force her parents to pay for her education. Can “affluenza” really be considered a serious defense or is it a sorry excuse for an over-privileged lifestyle?
Rachel Canning has lived a very fortunate life. Her hometown of Lincoln Park, N.J., has a median household of roughly $88,000 per year and she attends a private high school that costs almost $13,000 each year. Due to her privileged lifestyle, Canning has an inability to understand the financial independence of becoming an adult, a case clearly proven by the fact that the lawsuit is being paid for by John Inglesino, the father of Canning’s best friend. Inglesino claims he is just trying to ensure that Canning can attend the college of her dreams.
Canning’s world doesn’t involve having to take out student loans like thousands of students across America every year. The concept of having to provide for oneself once hitting legal age is completely foreign to her. While she cannot be blamed for having the privilege and opportunities she’s been fortunate enough to have, Canning has never opened her eyes to the world around her. Many young adults who grow up with enviable lives never look beyond their comfortable bubble to see the harsh realities of life.
My hope for Canning is that she loses the lawsuit against her parents, not because I think she is a horrible person, but because I think it’ll open her eyes to the real world and end up being the best thing to happen to her.
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