Ex-prostitute loses claim against school

[Honey]

A Dutch court on Wednesday rejected a compensation claim by a woman who sued her former high school for allegedly failing to stop her from becoming a prostitute.
Maria Mosterd claimed her school should have done more to prevent pimps preying on her and told her mother about her repeated truancy.
The 20-year-old wrote a book about her experiences, claiming pimps took her from school in the eastern city of Zwolle and put her to work as a prostitute.
She and her mother say they went to court to highlight the problem of pimps, known in the Netherlands as ''lover boys'' who befriend and exploit young girls.
''This happens at many schools, and nobody takes responsibility for it,'' Mosterd's mother, Lucie Mosterd, said in a telephone interview. ''We hoped we would win to make the point that this is going on at schools.''
Zwolle District Court rejected Mosterd's compensation claim, saying the school tried unsuccessfully to contact her mother and called in a truancy officer.
The court ruling also said that parents, not schools, are primarily responsible for their children's well-being.
Lucie Mosterd said she agreed that parents have the most responsibility for their children. ''But how can I take responsibility for her truancy if I do not know about it?''
The family is considering appealing.
Mosterd's former school, the Thorbecke School, could not immediately be reached for comment. The school's Web site says it pays special attention to the danger of pimps and discusses the issue with students.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010...tion-Suit.html

[nana55]

Oh, FFS. I hate these kind of parents. It is your fault mom, teach your child values and morals. The school's job is to educate them not babysit them.

[Shinola]

I've never heard anything about this before and think it's an interesting topic--pimps at school. I think schools do have to provide a reasonably safe environment for students, and yeah, that might include protecting them from predatory pimps. But probably in this particular case, the finding must come down to whether the school tried to work with the parent, and the court is saying it did.

[msdeb]

i thought the thread title said 'Ex prostitute loses CLAM at school'

[rollo]

OK, so the school should have told the mother and the daughter didn't have to? Great logic there.