Parents jailed in school truancy crackdown

By Nickie

Apr 29, 2009 9:11 AM | Link to this

I think the parents should be held responsible.If they are contacted and made aware there child is missing school and they dont reach out and say that they are trying to get this resolved, then yes jail them.I also believe that if a child is picked up for truancy lock him or her up. what do they have to do all day but get in trouble increase teen pregnancy, there not going to work there not helping in any kind of way. I wish the principal at my kids school would get ride of the kids that act up every day and do not want to leatn they keep all the other children from learning who wants a chance to survive this world when they graduate.Something had to change our children are dyiung or killing someone every day they need help..

By Diana

Jan 23, 2009 1:21 PM | Link to this

Some of the above comments are really disturbing. My son is in middle school, and has chronic asthma and insomnia. We are following his asthma treatment plan, and are taking him to specialists in hopes to improve his condition. He has a regular bed time and is well loved and cared for. It is absurd that kids can be forced to go to school when they are too ill and exhausted to function. Having a child with chronic health problems is very challenging. Families who are dealing with this should not be subject to the additional stress of court dates and meetings with social workers. Children with health issues should not be grouped with kids that don't go to school by choice, it is a completely different issue. The schools and courts should accommodate families, rather than adding additional burdens.

By By Valerie

Dec 17, 2008 4:51 PM | Link to this

Parents of children with illness such as asthma and mentally related issues should not be put in jail. The school should do more to help the child and the parent. Placing parents in jail is definitely not the answer. The Schools are genuinely concerned with the amount of money that is lost per day of absence and to heck with what the family is going through.I agree that children should be in school evey minute that is possible. I don't agree with parents sending their children to school when they are sick. I have a daughter that has a very low tolerance immune systme and yes you guessed it she is constantly sick because parents force their children out the door when the child is telling them and even begging them to stay home because they are sick.Yes we do have some children that are lazy and just won't go to school, but why do we punish the families with children that do have an illness?

By mom2three

Sep 30, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this

I too am disturbed by the number of 'excuses' people want to come up with to justify truancy... apparently they are only targeting those that were out 40+ days. That's ridiculous for any child to be out of school that many days. If they have medical issues, then it's pretty easy to determine. These are sorry, good for nothing parents, raising sorry, good for nothing kids... you don't leave it up to a child to get themselves up and dressed and fed and off to school. It's a parents responsibility, period. No one said having kids was easy and by God it's not. But it's a responsibility we all should be held accountable for. I'm not perfect and don't know anyone who is.. but that's your job as a parent. What is wrong with these parents? Yes, they obviously have no parenting skills. Don't blame it on being a single parent and working and not having time or energy... I have 3 and I'm single and work full time and it's not impossible to do it alone. It's just a matter of doing what you are suppose to do... take care of your children.

By donna

Sep 29, 2008 5:20 PM | Link to this

Has the public school system lost it's natural born mind? Do they not have anything better to do than to add mysery to the life of families (chances are the families are already broken and dysfunctional) who are trying to hold down jobs, pay their bill and provide a better way of life for their children? Huh? What benefit is their to 'throwing' these parents in jail other than to send a very loud resounding message to these children/young adults that they do in fact have the upper-hand in the household and not the parents, or, that 'bad' behavior is rewarded. Raising a teenage child is tough enough as it is let alone one that is insecure and easily persuaded to do the wrong thing - for whatever reason. These children (yes, they are still children)/young adults should not be rewarded by punishing the parents! I know their has to be another answer. One of which could be -- oh, I don't know...putting prayer back in school.
How is it that you justify arresting the parents for these young people. Most teenagers are searching for their own identity; their own mark to leave in the world. Has anyone taken the time to ask the children/young adults why they are not going to school? Could the problem actually lie within the walls of the school itself? or, for that matter, could the problem lie within the policies of an ALREADY broken educational system i.e., policies that encourage our childrent to drop out of school? policies that test and test and test our children to the point of discouragement wherein if they fail an exit exam they are not promoted despite passing all of their class work while Georgia still finds itself ranked in the bottom percentile of the country - hence, creating a 'permanent' underclass citizenship? Policies that treat our children/young adults like inmates rather than allowing ALL of them to express themselves academically, athletically, individually, or artistically? This policy needs to seriously be re-thought (some good ol' common sense wouldn't hurts here) so that we are not teaching our children that their parents will be held accountable for the choices that they make in the future but rather that they should make the right choices.

By MsCint

Sep 26, 2008 7:35 PM | Link to this

I work @ a public health center and I jokingly said to a father that his school-age children looked healthy and that they should be in school. For that I was cursed out.
Parents need to know that when they ask for public assistance, the workers @ these programs are suppose to report cases of abuse and or neglect. I just wanted to warn the parent but was called everything expect a child of God. I will not be surprised if that parent is one of the parents arrested.
Lastly, my youngest child missed 20+ days of school due to asthma. I made sure that she did all her school work and when she maintained her A- grades.
If children are missing school due to illness , parents have the proper documentation and children are keeping up with their classmates, leave the family alone. If not jail them.

By Cicereaux

Sep 24, 2008 11:42 AM | Link to this

Truancy laws would not be necessary if schooling was optional. We can just assume that children who are not in school are being educated at home.

Not all children are students. Students are those who study. If the non-student children do not attend school, teachers can focus their attention on those who want to learn, the students.

By Truant Officer

Sep 22, 2008 11:15 AM | Link to this

Working as a truant officer in a county with aprox. 4000 students, I feel that many of our truants are a result from a learned behavior that started in elementary school. It becomes more of a problem for the parent when the child enters middle school, but now the pattern has been instilled in the child. While many parents do not feel that there is a problem keeping younger children out 15-20 days a year because of the sniffles,slight belly or headache (and child can learn to use this frequently)it does hinder their ability when they get to middle school and lack the skills to perform adequately. Many parents expect schools to fix the problem as to why their child is failing. Who responsibility is it to see that your child goes to school anyway? Who is the contributing factor in many of our failing children. Today, without a high school education a child is extremely limited as to a way to make a decent living and if that is not enough said, over 80% of prison inmates do not have a high school education. Parents need to wake up and take advantage of being able to educate their child no matter what and give them the opportunity to succeed. Do not get me wrong, if a child is truly sick, they need to be home and care given, but there is many times this is extremely abused.

By Camille

Sep 22, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this

I don't believe jail is the answer for these parents. There maybe a deeper issue. Look at our children today they are rude, unruly, and very disrespectful. Most of the students are being raised by single parents and they can't control these children. I am a firm believer if you live with me you follow my rules single or not. I admit some parents are lazy but some are not but just can't get through to their children, those are the one that need help. But the system give the children so many rights and leaves the parents hands tied. I think if the parents who are on any public assistance and their children miss 5 or more days a percentage of that assistance should be cut. If more days than cut them off completely and in order to obtain them back the parents and the children should attend parenting classes. Not jail because does it really solve the problem.

By Q

Sep 20, 2008 12:19 PM | Link to this

I work in the Atlanta Public School system at an inner-city elementary school. I was co-chairperson on the attendance committee. It was ashame how parents neglected their children by allowing them to stay home or be late for any reason. If one student was ill and had other siblings that attended school, all the students in that one family were absent.

In graduate school, I wrote a paper on the subject of attendance. Are parents not aware of the impact attendance has on the overall academic success or failure of their child? Students can't learn if they have excessive attendance issues.

When I called to inquiry about the absentee, some paarents who get angry, yell, hang up the phone, or would not answer at all. When asking the student upon their return as to why they were absent, some replied "My mama overslept or we missed the bus." These two excuses became a pattern reply in many instances.

I have lived in Dekalb county over 30 years. My children attended Dekalb county schools. I am over-joyed that Dekalb has taken a stand on this vital issue. Some of those very students that I see walking the streets during schools hours may be some of the ones that broke into my home one year ago.

Parents are responsible for the whole child and that includes making sure they go to school regularly. Dekalb, continue to lock parents up if they don't do their job of managing their children.