Corrupting kids with a library card

The day they sign up for their first library card is a pretty cool occasion for most kids. But for Maria Daniels' four children it must have felt pretty crummy.

Daniels told police she used her kids to help her check out hundreds of DVDs from Greater Cincinnati libraries, then sold them to video game stores. The family racked up more than 70 aliases in the process, a perfect role for the kids since they don't have to show identification to get a card.

Rotten as it is to think about people ripping off public libraries -- which, heavens knows, have financial struggles of their own -- it's worse to think about parents who train their children to lie, cheat and steal.

Whether her motive was financial need or greed, Maria Daniels used her children in an inexcusable way. Kids can survive hard times and little money; they have a harder time rising above their parents' legacy of deceit.