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.

By s2k

Sep 20, 2008 12:50 AM | Link to this

What folks are glossing over is that kids with recurring health problems are on HOMEBOUND. As other teachers have already responded, I too have kids who miss upwards of 40 days (last semester, six missed the entire 2nd 9 weeks) and their parents are nowhere to be found - I call, I email, I try a home visit - parents don't answer, hang up, don't respond, and slam doors in my face.

THEY are the reason I look like a bad teacher, thanks to NCLB and how attendance factors into my failure rate?!

By Concerned Teacher

Sep 19, 2008 9:44 PM | Link to this

I am really suprised to read some of the comments. I thought there would be more parents in support of holding other parents accountable for their children's whereabouts, especially, at this age. I am a high school teacher and have this very same problem. I have students that miss up 25-30 days a SEMESTER and parents never once call to say anything. In fact, they seem bothered when I call home to check on their child; some have even said that I have interrupted their sleep (at 10:30am). I will agree that there are exceptions such as the chronically ill child but that is not the norm. My students that are excessively absent are the very ones that will not apply themselves when the do decide to grace me with their presence. They have no concept of what it means to work hard and make something of themselves inspite of. They don't care that the economy is bad and in a few short years they themselves will enter the work force and compete in the same job market with people who have college degrees, families, and even adults who must work for $7.00 an hour just to have medical benefits for their children. Yes those very same children that won't show up. As a teacher and a mother of a high school child myself, I worry about our kids. It's a shame but many times, the teacher is the only REAL role-model some of these kids will come across; school may be the only hot meal they would have received that day; and our words of encouragement and belief in them may be the best word that child has heard from an adult in quite some time...So do I feel it's wrong to hold parents responsible...NO! People say...."oh the children of today are different." I disagree. It's not the children that are different...I belive it's the parents of today that are different.

By Michelle

Sep 19, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this

@ mad marry,

Who's reality are you referring to? I am addressing the issues of African American children in the foster care system, something that you obviously know nothing about. I am not ignoring the facts, what you see on tv, does not relate to us. If you have not walked in our shoes, you need to sht the fck up. And by the way, I take the Obama joke as a compliment. Michelle is my role model.