MBBS(Ceylon), DCH(Ceylon), DCH(England), MD(Paediatrics), FRCP(Edinburgh), FRCP(London), FRCPCH(United Kingdom), FSLCPaed, FCCP, FCGP(Sri Lanka) Consultant Paediatrician
KEY POINTS
* Truancy is different from school phobia or school refusal.
* It is a deliberate, well thought out activity on the part of the child.
* There are many reasons for the development of truancy.
* When it occurs, truancy needs to be attended to without delay.
* Truancy is associated with several problems that occur later on in life.
* In some countries punitive action could be instituted against the child and the par ents.
* Parents have a special responsibility to deal with the problem.
Every day, considerable numbers of children and youth are absent from school. Most of them are absent without an excuse and deemed truant. This well known phenomenon of truancy is any intentional unauthorized absence from compulsory schooling. The term typically describes absences caused by students of their own free will and usually does not refer to legitimate "excused" absences such as ones related to medical conditions. In many countries, the term’s exact meaning differs from school to school and is usually explicitly defined in the school’s handbook of policies and procedures. It has no relation to homeschooling, although sometimes parents who practice homeschooling have been charged with this. It may also refer to students who attend school but do not go to classes.
Although national data on truancy rates are not available in Sri Lanka, many large cities are likely to have significant rates of truancy and chronic absenteeism. In the USA, a national review of discipline issues in schools conducted by the state found that public school principals identified student absenteeism, class cutting, and tardiness as the top discipline problems in their schools.
Going to school regularly is important to a child’s future. Every day counts towards a child’s learning and pays huge dividends for their future. Regular attendance is needed for children to continue learning and improving their basic reading, writing and other skills they need. It also means they are likely to experience educational success. Towards that end it is really important that parents place importance on regular attendance. As always, children learn by example and will take the lead set by the parents. If they show a relaxed attitude to their going to work then the children would follow suit with regard to schooling. Children who miss school frequently can fall behind with their work and do less well in exams. Good school attendance shows that a child is reliable. Research suggests that children who attend school regularly could also be at less risk of getting involved in antisocial behaviour or crime.
Any child has to view going to school as a positive phenomenon. This will help with their wanting to be there five days of every week. Obviously from time to time there may be hiccups in this process but the adults have to provide the help to keep the chin up. Some basic, easy to establish rituals and routines can help in this process. It is a good idea to teach the children to get organised for school the day before. They need to make sure that school bags are packed, school uniforms are laid out and homework is completed the afternoon or the night before school. Rushing in the morning puts everyone on edge and causes problems. It is also important to set school night bedtimes and stick to them. A tired, scratchy child at school is no fun for anyone, not even for that same child and the chances are that they would not want to get up and go in the morning. A hungry brain does not function well enough to learn and take in everything a school day offers and thus a good breakfast would help a great deal. Morning moaning and nagging means everyone’s day is off to a bad start. There is nothing worse than facing a day away from your loved ones knowing you yelled or moaned at them in the morning. For a child who may already be reluctant to go to school that morning, this sort of start is going to really dampen their spirits. Parents need to help the children to get up, be ready, out the door and into the classroom on time. Punctuality is important to learn, for not only the school but for the rest of their lives.
Children are legally required to be enrolled at and regularly attend school between the ages of six and sixteen. If this does not happen then parents, caregiver and whoever is ultimately responsible for that child can be prosecuted in many countries. If a child is absent on any given day, wherever possible, the parents should let the school know. This is especially important where a school operates a system for checking that their students arrive at school safely. It is also helpful for the school if the parents follow this up with a note stating the same things when the child returns to school. It is acceptable for the parents to ask for a child to have time off from school for special reasons such as medical appointments, religious observances or for important social functions but the school authorities need to be kept informed.
Parents need to make sure that the children understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality. They need to take an interest in their children’s education, ask about school work and encourage them to get involved in school activities. They also need to discuss any problems they may have at school and inform their teacher or the Principal about anything serious. It is also imperative on the part of parents to avoid allowing children to take time off from school for minor ailments, particularly the sort of things that would not prevent the parents themselves from going to work. Arranging appointments and outings after school hours, at weekends or during school holidays will help to prevent disruption to a child’s education and to the school. Under normal circumstances, the parents should not expect the school to agree to a child going on holiday during term time.
By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering their child at a school and making sure that the children are sent to school. Once a child is registered at a school, the parents are legally responsible for making sure that they attend regularly. Technically, if a child fails to do so, the parents are at risk of being subject to punitive actions and being prosecuted.
There are several correlates of truancy. From the family perspective, lack of guidance or parental supervision, domestic violence, poverty, drug or alcohol abuse in the home, lack of awareness of attendance laws and differing attitudes toward education are of significance. There are some factors related to the schools which perpetuate truancy. These include school climate issues such as school size and attitudes of teachers, other students, administrators and inflexibility in meeting the diverse cultural and learning styles of the students. Schools often have inconsistent procedures in place for dealing with chronic absenteeism and may not have meaningful consequences available for truant youth. Some economic influences also matter in the context of truancy. They are employed students, single-parent homes, high mobility rates, parents who hold multiple jobs and a lack of affordable transportation and childcare. The student variables that enhance truancy include drug and alcohol abuse, lack of understanding of attendance laws, lack of social competence, mental health difficulties and poor physical health. All these indicate that there are many different issues which can affect school attendance. Examples include problems with bullying, housing or care arrangements, transportation to and from school, work and money. If a child starts missing school, there may a problem that the caregivers are not aware of. They need to ask the child first and then approach their teacher or form tutor. The child’s school is the first place to go to discuss any attendance problems. The school should try to agree to a plan with the parents to improve the situation.
All over the world, different mechanisms are used to control truancy. In some schools, truancy may result in an ineligibility to graduate or to receive credit for classes attended, until the time lost to truancy is made up through a combination of detention, fines or during holiday schooling. In Australia, schools, in most cases, contact and keep a close relationship with local police to try and combat the phenomenon. Most schools, which have a nearby police station, have police vehicles monitoring the areas around the school grounds and look for truant students. In most cases the students are returned to the schools. The Australian Government threatened to take action on parents who have truanting students by withdrawing child support payments to any parent whose child is caught multiple times. Recently, schools have started a system whereby if students are not marked as present, the school computers will automatically text the parents of the child to notify them. Also, the use of marking present lists at schools has been taken over by that of computers. In many Canadian provinces, a police officer who suspects a child of the correct age to be deliberately missing school for no legitimate reason has the authority to take that child to the school he or she is supposed to attend. In Denmark, some welfare benefits can be confiscated for a period if the child does not attend school. In Finland truant pupils usually get detention in comprehensive schools. The police are not involved in truancy controlling but the teachers of the school monitor the school area and sometimes the nearby areas during recess to avoid unauthorized leaving from the school area. In Germany, the parents of a child absent from school without a legitimate excuse are notified by the school. If the parents refuse to send their child to school or are unable to control their child, local child services or social services officers may request the police to escort the child to school. In extreme cases the schools can petition a court to partially or completely remove child custody from the parents. Parents may also be fined in cases of refusal. In the United Kingdom, failure to secure regular school attendance of a registered pupil is a criminal offence for parents. Also, a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent may direct that for a specified time in a specified area a police officer may remove a child believed to be absent from a school without authority to that school or to another designated place. In the United States, the fine for truancy can range from $250 to as much as $5000. In some cities. Teenagers found on the streets during school hours are sometimes even handcuffed.
Truancy has been clearly identified as one of the early warning signs that youth are headed for potential delinquent activity, social isolation, and educational failure. Several studies have established lack of commitment to school as a risk factor for substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy and dropping out of school. Decades of research have also identified a link between truancy and later problems such as violence, marital problems, job problems, adult criminality and incarceration. There is evidence that chronic truancy in school is linked to serious delinquent behaviour and in several countries in the Western world, law enforcement officials have linked high rates of truancy to daytime burglary and vandalism. The connection between truancy and delinquency appears to be particularly acute among males. Students with the highest truancy rates have the lowest academic achievement rates and because truants are the youth most likely to drop out of school, they have high dropout rates as well. The consequences of dropping out of school are well documented. School dropouts have significantly fewer job prospects, earn lower salaries and are more often unemployed than youth who stay in school. The future potential financial impact of truancy and the dropouts that result can be measured in a number of ways. It could lead to a less educated workforce, business loss because of youth who "hang out", perhaps even due to shoplifting during the day and in some cases, higher daytime crime rates.
Truancy or unexcused absence from school has been linked to serious delinquent activity in youth and to significant negative behaviour and characteristics in adults. As a risk factor for delinquent behaviour in youth, truancy has been found to be related to substance abuse, gang activity, and involvement in criminal activities such as burglary, auto theft, and vandalism. Much of the work in the area of developmental pathways to delinquency shows that these behavioural problems often are followed by progressively more serious behavioural and adjustment problems in adulthood, including an increased propensity for violent behaviour. Further, adults who were frequently truant as teenagers are much more likely than those who were not to have poorer health and mental health, lower paying jobs, an increased chance of living in poverty, more reliance on welfare support, children who exhibit problem behaviours, and an increased likelihood of incarceration. Left unaddressed, truancy during the preteen and teenage years can have significant negative effects on the student, schools and society. It is important to identify promising strategies to intervene with chronic truants, address the root causes of truancy, and stop youth’s progression from truancy into more serious and violent behaviours.
Courtesy - The Island
