Should the government decriminalize school truancy?
Truancy is intentional, unjustified, unauthorized, or illegal absence from compulsory education. Its absence is caused by students of their own free will and does not apply to excused absences. In England and Wales truancy is a criminal offence. Parents of students who are persistently truant may be imprisoned for up to 3 months.
@92VQH2Q2yrs2Y
Yes, however if there is a legitimate reason; ie Physical/Mental illnesses, then no action should be taken by the government.
@9L2X73L7 days7D
There are various reasons as to why children truant from school; whether it is bullying, health issues, struggling with schoolwork, more help and resources should be provided to look into why children truant.
@9L2JL9XConservative1wk1W
Kind Of, If The Commited Truancy Due To Mental Health Reasons Or Physyical Reasons Then No But If They Did It Purposely Because They Wanted To Skip School Then Yes.
@9K5NTXQ1mo1MO
no, but parents of the children shouldn't be held fully accountable, and is there is a genuine reason for absence even without reporting it, this should be excused
@9J47JSP2mos2MO
yes, but allow "holidays" at appropriate times of the school year where there is no exams etc providing attendance is held to a minimum standard
@9J3KSBT2mos2MO
No, but action should be taken to tackle the root causes of school truancy and occurrences should be taken on a case-by-case basis
@9HWWBHD3mos3MO
Yes AND No. On the basis that if students are truanting, they should then be questioned whether or not it is based on mental health issues or lack of interest for being at school, on which they are then given the necessary help to allow them to enjoy their education and improve their wellbeing within an educational intuition.
Yes and add an alternative teaching method for at risk kids
@8SNBFCZ3yrs3Y
However, there should be leeway for mental health issues
Yes, but only under certain circumstances
@8SM8BW23yrs3Y
Find out why they are truants. They may have difficult home lives. Don't just brand them criminals. They may not care.
@8SM6RFX3yrs3Y
Education is important and the social environment they learn is something we should value highly. . However contemporary education has not just take a dive but has been turn into a machine promoting wrong values and concepts to young children. If the parents do not believe the education their children receving is no longer in line with what the parents believe is correct. They should have all the right to withdrawl their children from toxic environment and instead adopt a homeschool education.
No as cannot encourage people to be lazy as this will continue to working age. There will of course be exceptions to this which should be reviewed by an independent panel
@8SLYX7M3yrs3Y
Yes, cause there is always a reason to truancy and needs dealing with in appropriate manner and not always blaming parents
@8SLXW433yrs3Y
I think they need to ask the question. Why they don't want to be in school
@8SLLHRC3yrs3Y
No, they should not be criminalised because you don’t know the situation they are in
@8SLJF233yrs3Y
@8SLGP5V3yrs3Y
Solely for non genuine reasons. Don not support laziness as this will likely become an issue in adulthood where they try to seek benefits on a system which is stretched and should be for those who need this
@8SKLDCQ3yrs3Y
Yes, they should help the students and families and try to understand the reasons for truancy
@8SJWHWYConservative3yrs3Y
Fine students who are truant from primary and secondary education and keep a register of truant students, who when working a full time job begin to pay off fines they would have acrued from being truant.
@8SJTNXK3yrs3Y
It depends on the factors
@8SJJSMSConservative3yrs3Y
Yes, but only for students who usually have high levels of attendance
@8SJ3XML3yrs3Y
Schools often do not believe parents or children when pupils are ill with chronic illnesses or mental health issues, leading to unauthorised absences when there is a valid reason. On the other hand, children who are being neglected or abused are often not taken to school or forced to stay at home. As the NHS is so underfunded currently, teachers do not have the training to recognise mental health issues, I think it school truancy should not be criminalised.
@8SHSZJDConservative3yrs3Y
Depends on mental health
Yes unless it’s a repeated issue
@8SHH8K83yrs3Y
Only for people who are 16 and over
@8SGRSYZ3yrs3Y
No but students should not be forced to go to school if it's distressing to them
For the most part, no but it depends on circumstances
Yes, however social service should be involved so that the parents would be more involved with the education and health of the child, as well as investigates in order to determine whether or not the behaviour is due to problems at home or not.
@8SG6MSL3yrs3Y
no but parents shouldn't be held responsible
Evaluate reasons for truancy to determine suitable outcome
Yes, as troubled and confused children possibly with an unstable background should be helped not penalised.
Needs to be a more nuanced position - academic qualifications are only one part of the story; kids might not fit in school environment
@8SF4MPZ3yrs3Y
Yes, However councils to work alongside parents to have understanding of why the truancy occurred
Yes, it is far more valuable to understand and address the causes of truancy. This should be done compassionatly.
No, but relax laws on parents
@realfrankrose3yrs3Y
Yes, Only if the child is still receiving a proper and adequate education elsewhere
@8S9BQZ63yrs3Y
Criminalization is harsh but children should be provided adequate education
@8S999N93yrs3Y
Yes, parents are usually unaware that their child is playing truant. It's necessary to assess why this occurs and it's should be the responsibility of the education system to make school a safe, stimulating and interesting place to be.
@8S88LXR3yrs3Y
Send them to prison if they miss one lesson
@8S7JY6KLiberal Democrat3yrs3Y
No, make it affect both parent and child
@8S7CY7FLiberal Democrat3yrs3Y
Partially to allow for small absences provided that all school work missed is covered during the absence
@8S6YSMR3yrs3Y
No, but make it affect both parent and child (if not already)
@8S6TSHV3yrs3Y
Yes, depending on the issue.
@8S63P953yrs3Y
Yes, and they should develop more ways for support services to provide help for families and children who are not attending school.
@8S44KX23yrs3Y
@8S2Q4LV3yrs3Y
No, but schools should provide more support to children and families of children who truant in order to establish reasons for the truancy and encourage the children back into school.
@8S2PRNQ3yrs3Y
Yes, but only in extreme circumstances - such as where a child has been deprived of school for months on end.
@8RZY4CV3yrs3Y
Although education is mandatory a person will not learn if they aren’t willing to, punishment for not showing up won’t solve the issue
@8RZR3MZ3yrs3Y
Yes, this causes significant and unnecessary stress to both school pupils with legitimate reasons for being out of school, and home educating families
The historical activity of users engaging with this question.
Loading data...
Loading chart...
Loading the political themes of users that engaged with this discussion
Loading data...