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 the U.S. truancy laws are regulated by local school districts and vary widely across the United States. Penalties include fines or jail time for parents or children. In 2019 Presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke introduced plans that would require the government to decriminalize truancy at the federal level.
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@ISIDEWITH6yrs6Y
Yes
@9FPL67T2yrs2Y
All children under the age of seventeen should be required to go to school with a students being able to miss school if the school had approved the reason for the absence.
The government has no right to tell kids what to do, only the child's parents have that authority. As long as the kid isn't committing crimes or participating in inhumane acts (such as gender transitioning surgeries or taking drugs), the government has no right to be involved. Parents can choose how they want their child to be educated, whether formally or informally.
@9FSJN9V2yrs2Y
Children need to go to school to get an education. Higher education reduces crime and improves everyone else’s life.
@9GJQRLQRepublican2yrs2Y
No because the kids need to learn there subject.if they did not went to school they not going to know nothing in the real world.At least let them finish high school so they have experience if they encounter something they have to know.
@9G7ZZWJ 2yrs2Y
Sometimes the breaks that students are given are not sufficient because the main reason students want time off is mental exhaustion, not celebration of something. Said exhaustion can happen for many reasons and at many times.
@ISIDEWITH6yrs6Y
No
@9GXB6PM 1yr1Y
I feel like school truancy is stupid because good kids who have hard things going on in life, and can't always be in school shouldn't have to bare consequences schools should at least speak with the students . But if a kid doesn't try and it naturally bad they should bare the consequences.
@9H2CHT91yr1Y
School truancy is an excuse to participate in these hard things in life such as gangs, drugs, and sexual relations so it should be outlawed.
@B2Y4V363mos3MO
School truancy is simply the act of skipping school without a formal excuse. Although it CAN be used to participate in those things, so can anything else that frees up time that would otherwise be spent in a governmental institution. Should everyone's entire days be government-operated to prevent crime?
@9H2C4ZF1yr1Y
I agree with this statement because its saying that good kids get punished for what bad kids do and they dont get punished for it
@9H2KZLK1yr1Y
Those students may be good kids but no matter what is going on at home there should be a valiant effort in trying to come to school. There should be that conversation had with the family and the student but there needs to be some consequence on not coming to school each day.
@9H2DDNL1yr1Y
If a child is not going to school, it is harming their education. If they are close to falling under that title of truancy, finding a way to continue education is important. Life is hard but a good school system can help a child who is missing too much school to stay on track.
If the government shouldn't decriminalize school truancy, what will you do to make school more-engaging and educational? How will you provide better access to school for those who can't get to school easily? Etc.
Basically, how would you make school worth going to? At the moment, school isn't very worth going to, so I feel like it's not fair to punish kids for truancy. But, Idk.
@9FSV9892yrs2Y
It should only be towards children who do not attend school on their own accord. If it is for a good reason they should not be marked truant as you never know what they are going through.
@9H22JZH1yr1Y
My argument is that some kids can have problems at home, family emergencies, or lack of a way to get to school. They should not be criminalized if they're less than 10 minutes late or don't have transportation.
@ISIDEWITH8mos8MO
Should parents be punished for their children's truancy, or is that unfair to parents facing difficult circumstances?
@9TTJ644Independent8mos8MO
If the parent purposefully and forcefully isolate their kids from important educational activity, then they should be apprehended for indirect truancy and give the child educational assistance. If the child skips school too much, not being disciplined by his/her parents/guardian, then they should be imprisoned for truancy. Lack of discipline is not an excuse.
@9TVN6GN 8mos8MO
It is most definitely unfair to parents that are in a time of struggle.
@9TVN2938mos8MO
Parents that are perfectly capable of taking their children to school should be punished, but parents under certain circumstances, such as the lack of transportation, should not.
@9TVLXKQ8mos8MO
I think it's unfair because some people cant attend school all of the time.
@8JJ29SS5yrs5Y
Yes, however, if the absence is clearly a day that was skipped, students should not receive credit for anything due that day or assignments handed out that day. Fall on their own sword.
It should depend on the reason for truancy.. Sickness, death, injury, should excuse it but, missing the bus or oversleeping is not an excuse.
@8LG9KGY5yrs5Y
depends on what the problem is like doing school online ,its really easy to forget to do it because you can get busy with stuff at home
@8HW3FSG5yrs5Y
I don’t really know much about this subject.
@9B55G432yrs2Y
Yes, but only up to a point
@8TP3S49Republican4yrs4Y
No, and increase penalties for school truancy.
@ISIDEWITH8mos8MO
If a student skips school, do you think they should be punished or rather helped to figure out why they're skipping?
We need to figure out why they're skipping, punishing them may only make the situation worse.
@9TQVXNK8mos8MO
I think they should be punished is they are old enough to understand that you shouldn't
@9TQSKPT8mos8MO
Figure out as punishing will only counter-incentivise them more, but in the case of a serial truant then punish if there's been no resolve.
@9WY3V2N 7mos7MO
Helped first, punishment if help doesn’t do anytning
@ISIDEWITH8mos8MO
Have you ever felt that school wasn't a priority for you, and if so, why?
@9YFVPC4 6mos6MO
During primary school, I didn’t think my education was important. It began to become more important as I became older, though. Especially since I am a male, all of my teachers until middle school were women and they treated us boys horribly. The teachers were highly unqualified because they did not know how to work with the other gender. I wish I had male teachers during primary school. I would have taken my education seriously.
@9YFSM5C6mos6MO
I believe that the American education system fails majority of kids (including me), due to the lack of exploration, outdated curriculum, lack of student-teacher bonding, and producing hive mind thinking rather than individual and critical thinking.
Yes, because a private school had incredibly abusive policies and I felt like my education wasn't valued, but rather my punishment.
@9TQTFDL8mos8MO
I think school has always been a priority for me. It has taught me many things that I would not have learned about without it.
@8NPMJB35yrs5Y
I don't think people should be thrown in jail for missing school.
@9RXP9KX9mos9MO
Yes, it is the school’s responsibility to punish students for unreasonable absence, not the government
@8FR5YWN5yrs5Y
Yes, but only for those who have a good reason.
@8FGKSQX5yrs5Y
Truant students should not recieve jail time, but fines and other punishment are suitable.
They should incentivize attendance instead.
@8FK3M945yrs5Y
It shouldn't be jail time for the parents if the kids are giving them a hard time. Not only that, but when school systems are paying attention to attendance they tend to notice absence of children being abused at home. The schools shouldn't make it criminal for the parents because 10 absences at my high school was a truancy. Kids have doctor's and sick days not covered by insurance. Kids need mental health days and sometimes just need a day off.
No, but provide more exemptions for parents in the case that a student cannot go to school for a valid reason, including sickness/health issues.
@9ZKPQXZ6mos6MO
No, but instead of jail time/fines, it should be examined at the parental level. Oftentimes truancy is the cause of trouble at home.
@9TP3NXB8mos8MO
It would be better to support and care for children and their families rather than simply punishing them.
@9D3RPBQ2yrs2Y
Yes of course, and make sure it’s rehabilitative
@9LF5SCS1yr1Y
a student should not be criminalized for not attending school. More money and effort should be invested in school communities to address the core reasons why students drop out or avoid attending regularly.
@9L74FFC1yr1Y
To an extent, yes; minor-aged students shouldn’t be jailed for it, but the parents absolutely should. This should be considered on an individual level, and the focus should be on the family dynamics that may be leading to truancy
@9GZDTYYIndependent1yr1Y
School truancy laws should be left to the most local level of government that primarily controls education. That being said, I believe that deliberate absence from school without a reasonable excuse should not be a crime since for young individuals, school is essentially their job, which would make criminalizing school truancy akin to declaring skipping a work shift illegal, which is unreasonable since the consequences for skipping work should be determined by the employer and not the government, the exception of course being government institutions.
@9FZMFMVIndependent2yrs2Y
No, it is OK to miss school if you’re sick, injured or mourning the loss of a loved one, but allowing students to skip school whenever they feel like it, for no reason, will certainly lead to a dramatic climb in dropout and crime rates.
@8MMWQX25yrs5Y
No, but only fine parents
No but each truancy case should be looked at individually and parents should not get jail time or fined if it is not their fault
@8DMKCRG5yrs5Y
Yes, but there should be programs to deal with this better as to penalize the parent and figure out better solutions but for law enforcement to get involved it's too much.
@8F4ZCHC5yrs5Y
Sometimes the kid learns more out of school than in school, but truancy is still bad.
@8F4HDNV5yrs5Y
Yes, unless the student has committed other crimes along with the truancy, the discipline should be up to the school system itself.
@8QBRNB74yrs4Y
Yes school truancy should not be a charge in the first place.
@8DYSJSLRepublican5yrs5Y
Yes, students who refuse to learn should not be required to do so, though the consequences of that failure should be made clear to both student and parents.
@97X39DJ2yrs2Y
No, but only in certain circumstances
Yes, but only for students, not parents.
@8Q973B6Republican4yrs4Y
No, but penalties should be less severe
@8FJH78D5yrs5Y
@97876C33yrs3Y
Yes, but leave it up to the states.
@9725NDH3yrs3Y
Yes, depending on the circumstance.
@8DYCYVZ5yrs5Y
Yes but offer more social services to repeat offenders
@8DWQ5C65yrs5Y
Yes, decriminalize at the federal level.
@8DGDGGV5yrs5Y
Yes. Students in poverty suffer from truancy more than middle class or wealthy students. Criminalizing truancy sets students up for failure. Instead school districts need to hire more case/ social workers to find out what is going on at home that leads to a child’s truancy.
@8QFD7JG4yrs4Y
It should entirely depend on the circumstance and reason behind truancy.
@8FJ6TQS5yrs5Y
@9BM25MV2yrs2Y
@98YB59S2yrs2Y
No, skipping school is never going to be decriminalized. But I do think schools should implement mental health days whereas students have up to 10 mental health days they can use per semester. Teachers will offer support for those that didn't receive instructions to do certain assignments if they were not there on a certain day.
@8WGJZB24yrs4Y
No, but it depends on the situation
@B58Z9BHLibertarian7 days7D
No. The government should promote the creation of trade schools, with emphasis placed on worksite skills, professional licensure, and job placement upon graduation.
@MJStevens94Republican 1wk1W
However, if the absence is a skipped day, students should not receive credit for anything due that day or assignments handed out that day. Fall on their sword.
@B54Q5HD 2wks2W
Decriminalize it, but that doesn't mean it should be okay, definitely use whatever tools we can to make it a rarity
@B54LP462wks2W
I feel that truancy should have some exceptions. Specifically for medical reasons. If you are sick and can't afford to go to a doctor to get it diagnosed, then you wouldn't be able to get a doctor's note and would be unexcused absences for those days. It isn't fair to those kids.
@B523NYC2wks2W
Truancy shouldn't be decriminalized but penalties should only be fines for the parents who let their child skip school without any reason.
@B4Y9MVV2wks2W
Yes because if they want to skip then it gets reflected in their grades so why make it a legal problem. They’re just hurting themselves. If their grades aren’t affected and their skip rate just keeps going up then maybe they clearly didn’t need to be there or they aren’t being challenged enough academically.
@B4WYC6R 3wks3W
No, but a system needs to be investigated as to the competency of the parents' ability to provide for the child and their attendance
@B4VTMPL3wks3W
I feel as if it depends on the reasoning for missing so much school. If it's for skipping since the child doesn't want to go make it illegal but if a child just is sick very often make it legal.
@B4VRCZ53wks3W
it depends on why kids are missing school. students have more things going on in their life other than school and I think schools should be more aware of this.
@B4VC3JN3wks3W
No, but there should be different criteria on what counts as a truancy. School funding should not be based on a students' attendance, and there should be more leniency around illness and missing school.
@B4VBZQB3wks3W
Yes, but with conditions. Every child deserves an education, but compassion and context must guide how we enforce that right. Before punishing families for truancy, we must first understand why a student is not attending school. If the cause is something serious like health issues, bullying, or abuse, then schools and communities should respond with support, not punishment. However, if a parent is deliberately keeping a child out of school or is neglectful or abusive, then legal consequences may be necessary. But they should not criminalize families who are facing hardship or whose children are struggling for reasons beyond their control.
@B4S4QRZ3wks3W
No, parents should be held criminally accountable for their minor child's truancy if they negligently failed to ensure their child was attending school.
@B4RKPS23wks3W
Yes, but the school can punish the student by holding them back a grade or expelling if they miss a majority of the year
@B4PTLK24wks4W
I believe it should have more leniency on school truancy, everybody don't have the financial position to get to school on time
I think that if there is an excessive amount of truancies then it is acceptable to be punished but inn circumstances where the adult is in control, students should not be getting punished.
@B4PKTK5 4wks4W
yes, so long as students are completing enrichment activities and are learning and being educated in come productive way.
@B4NTR6G4wks4W
No, unless there are specific medical reasons that physically prevent the child from going to school.
Yes, but only for students who have no control over their absences because of personal and or more medical reasons.
@B4ML2J91mo1MO
No, but we should handle each case with respect to the situation. The answer is not to jail every kid and parent for not attending. We should increase the resources available to help the source of the problem rather than punishing the symptoms.
@B4M7J5M1mo1MO
Some students may have either physical or mental disability's making it hard for them to go and be in school. Students with chronic illnesses should not be punished for being absent. If the student truly did not have a good reason for being absent and just, did it because they simply did not want to go rather than not being able to go then yes, they should be punished for that and their parent to if they allowed it.
@B4KXH3Y1mo1MO
No but it should only be used in extreme cases. In most cases I believe it should be sorted out between the students and their parents or guardian
@B4KLCSB1mo1MO
No if a parent doesn't ensure that their children aren't receiving a proper education then they should be placed in the states custody
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