Some schools send police to homes of absent pupils and threaten to jail their parents
https://amp.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/19/schools-england-police-homes-absent-pupils
I’m all for kids being in school but I think that this is the wrong approach and the UK obsessed with attendance, far too obsessed with the number.
Some schools in England are sending police to the homes of children who are persistently absent, or warning them their parents may go to prison if their attendance doesn’t improve, the Observer has learned.
There had been a record of number of pupils severely absent in state schools (150,000).
From September, all state schools in England will have to share their attendance records every day with the Department for Education.
But child psychologists and parent groups are warning that the push for full attendance is driving “heavy-handed” crackdowns at some schools, and ignores the issues that often lie behind school refusal, including mental health problems, unmet special educational needs, bereavement or the child being a carer.
There had been a record of number of pupils severely absent in state schools (150,000).
From September, all state schools in England will have to share their attendance records every day with the Department for Education.
But child psychologists and parent groups are warning that the push for full attendance is driving “heavy-handed” crackdowns at some schools, and ignores the issues that often lie behind school refusal, including mental health problems, unmet special educational needs, bereavement or the child being a carer.
I’m all for kids being in school but I think that this is the wrong approach and the UK obsessed with attendance, far too obsessed with the number.
(edited 1 year ago)
There’s got to be a better way to handle the issue but I have no idea whether that’s possible or not.
Things like tackling why kids aren’t going to school, making the educational system more accommodating for students with needs (the secondary school system failed me), changing the mentality and mindset of some parents who just don’t seem (some of them) care about sending their kids to school, funding schools and NHS services etc.
Things like tackling why kids aren’t going to school, making the educational system more accommodating for students with needs (the secondary school system failed me), changing the mentality and mindset of some parents who just don’t seem (some of them) care about sending their kids to school, funding schools and NHS services etc.
Reply 2
Meanwhile we have a knife epidemic and the police don't care. They would rather jail parents for their kid skipping school that stop actual crime.
Country's a joke.
Country's a joke.
Original post by Guru Jason
Meanwhile we have a knife epidemic and the police don't care. They would rather jail parents for their kid skipping school that stop actual crime.
Country's a joke.
Country's a joke.
Or people getting robbed/assaulted and the police not doing enough (based on reading comments online where people have shared their experiences).
I don’t think that I want to blame the police here however, I think that it’s more the government.
I’m all for getting kids in school and making sure that they don’t skip it but I think that this is possibly the wrong approach, too heavy-handed and the UK is obsessed with making sure that school kids hit that 95-97%+ attendance mark over other factors.
Original post by Guru Jason
Meanwhile we have a knife epidemic and the police don't care. They would rather jail parents for their kid skipping school that stop actual crime.
Country's a joke.
Country's a joke.
Three things -
1.
In my experience, it very often is the kids skipping school that are causing some of the knife crime.
2.
There is no "knife crime epidemic". That's something invented by media and politicians. Crime isn't disease and shouldn't be treated as such. That's something invented by sociologists. Violent crime, if anything, is lower now that 20-30 years ago.
3.
Parents are exceptionally unlikely to receive a custodial sentence for not sending their children to school. I'm unaware of it ever happening. Whenever these things are dealt with, the "best interests of the child" are supposed to be paramount and incarcerating a parent is unlikely to fit that. If the child has an abusive / neglectful home, removal from that home would be considered before prosecution for truancy offences.
Reply 5
I believe that the police should be sent to homes to check up on frequently absent young students whose parents either never provide confirmation of absence due to illness/family emergency/other reason and those with close relatives that are known to be difficult for the school to get in touch with.
Particularly when there are serious fears that the student may be victims of child abuse, domestic violence, parental neglect or regular exploitation as convenient sources of homecare/free labour for the family business.
I've seen so many instances where a police visit checking up on unauthorised school absence would have been a lifeline for a desperate child frequently beaten by a cruel or mentally disturbed parent.
Same for a neglected child kept locked up inside with no access to food or clean clothes and unable to find a way of getting in contact with the adults in a position to rescue them.
Never mind the teenagers being isolated and tormented for weeks at a time during the school term by honour abusing relatives/ religious whackjob household members with plans to attempt serious violence or a forced marriage overseas.
Particularly when there are serious fears that the student may be victims of child abuse, domestic violence, parental neglect or regular exploitation as convenient sources of homecare/free labour for the family business.
I've seen so many instances where a police visit checking up on unauthorised school absence would have been a lifeline for a desperate child frequently beaten by a cruel or mentally disturbed parent.
Same for a neglected child kept locked up inside with no access to food or clean clothes and unable to find a way of getting in contact with the adults in a position to rescue them.
Never mind the teenagers being isolated and tormented for weeks at a time during the school term by honour abusing relatives/ religious whackjob household members with plans to attempt serious violence or a forced marriage overseas.
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