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A Stern Lesson For Brutal Parents

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 26, 2007

Some people think Shayla Muldrow got a raw deal. She was sentenced to a year in jail for boarding a school bus and urging her 9-year-old daughter to attack another student.

Hillsborough County Judge John Conrad was absolutely right to take a strong stand against adults inciting violence against children. The threat is not small. Just Monday, a St. Petersburg mother was arrested for boarding a bus with her 15-year-old daughter. Both slapped a boy.

Conrad's sentence sends an important message about parental accountability.

There are some who will say a year in jail is too long for a 26-year-old single mother of three children. But this is not Muldrow's first brush with the law. She has served shorter jail sentences for drug possession, criminal mischief and giving a false name to a law enforcement officer.

This time around, she was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and trespassing - those are misdemeanors. But what Muldrow did was not minor - she goaded her child into fighting on a school bus, where order and safety should be paramount.

The best predictor of a child's conduct is how his or her parents behave. Conrad was wise to ask Muldrow: 'Do you love your children enough to keep them from repeating your mistakes?'

Once Muldrow completes her jail time, probation and anger management classes, perhaps she will be able to see how she is setting a dangerous example for her children. She - not the schools, not the police, not the courts - is responsible for her problems.

It is understandable Muldrow was upset when her child reported being slapped by another student. But there are other ways to handle such disputes.

Since her daughter came home with a welt on her face, Muldrow immediately should have met with school officials to deal with the threat. She could have made sure the bus driver kept an eye on the offending child or she could have taken her child to school.

School officials, for their part, also need to be proactive. The bus driver said he had complained to his superiors about the rowdiness of that particular group of children. It doesn't appear enough was done to maintain order on this bus.
School officials need to enforce the code of conduct on the buses and banish kids who don't follow the rules - period. Still, that is no justification for an adult encouraging an attack on a child.

Muldrow's mother told the court she's worried about what will happen to her children while she's behind bars. She also should be worried about what will become of Muldrow's children if they continue to be influenced by an angry woman who is quick to resolve conflict with brutality.

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