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| Thread: Truancy |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 · NEXT» |
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Corribus
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The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted August 26, 2011 03:15 PM |
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Truancy
On the radio this morning, the hosts were talking comparatively about two anti-truancy programs here in the US.
In one program, based in a school district in Camden, NJ, administrators plan to pay select students with a history of truancy $100 each to come to the first day of school. (Ostensibly so that the district can collect extra federal funding dollars, which are awarded partially based on attendance records.)
LINK
In another program, based in Arlington, Texas, administrators plan to pay $20 to any student who reports a truant student to the authorities, or $40 if they report a student who has been truant for several days.
LINK
With that as context, I'd like to discuss truancy. Do you think either of these programs would work to reduce truancy? Are they ethical? Do you think truancy should be illegal, as it is in many US districts (parents can be fined and go to jail)? Were you ever truant in school? What are the social costs of truancy, and is it up to society to try to reduce it? If you were in charge of a school district, what would YOU do to reduce truancy rates?
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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Fauch
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posted August 26, 2011 03:38 PM |
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what do you mean by truancy?
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OmegaDestroyer
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posted August 26, 2011 03:47 PM |
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According to Black's Law Dictionary:
Truancy - n. The act or state of shirking responsibility; esp., willful and unjustified failure to attend school by one who is required to attend.
Basically it's the thing most of us did in high school.
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baklava
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Mostly harmless
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posted August 26, 2011 04:05 PM |
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Quote:
administrators plan to pay $20 to any student who reports a truant student to the authorities, or $40 if they report a student who has been truant for several days.
This is indeed a step forward. Back during the Cold War, people snitched on their neighbours, friends and colleagues for free. Now they're getting money for it.
You can't stop progress, I suppose.
Also, imagine the generation that this will spawn. Ethics aren't very profitable anyway. The sooner they learn it, the better.
____________
"Let me tell you what the blues
is. When you ain't got no
money,
you got the blues."
Howlin Wolf
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Fauch
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posted August 26, 2011 04:06 PM |
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Edited by Fauch at 16:08, 26 Aug 2011.
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oh ok, because in french, truand is a synonym of gangster. so in that case that would have made sense, but if those guys are doing nothing worse than skipping some classes...
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baklava
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Mostly harmless
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posted August 26, 2011 04:11 PM |
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If you let them skip class today, tomorrow they could murder someone. Or download an mp3. Or break into Elodin's house and die a horrible death.
____________
"Let me tell you what the blues
is. When you ain't got no
money,
you got the blues."
Howlin Wolf
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Fauch
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posted August 26, 2011 04:17 PM |
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lol, then they should lock them in school. I wonder how many murders there are on sundays?
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Aculias
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posted August 26, 2011 04:38 PM |
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Never heard of a Trauncy before.
We used to call it playing Hookey lol.
I did it all the time.
Yea i would go back to school for 100 bucks, then I would play hookey again after with 100 bucks lol.
Basically the kid will not change.
They wont learn anything at school & they will think about their friends & what to do after school.
Someone will need to reach out to the troubled student, not pay them off.
Paying them off on anything in life is teaching them nothing.
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Corribus
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posted August 26, 2011 04:39 PM |
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I guess I'm an ubernerd or something. I never skipped school. Not once.
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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lizardwarrior
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posted August 26, 2011 04:43 PM |
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With this program students will report themselves 
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JollyJoker
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posted August 26, 2011 04:54 PM |
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Are those people kidding?
I mean, that's easy money for everyone, right? Just take turns in not going/snitching.
Anyway, it's silly. If a pupil or student is absent from school, that is noted, and if there is no real excuse, it falls back to the parents to make sure their children attend school - and if they deliver them personally to the classroom.
If they don't do that, fine the hell out of them. It's their kids - THEY have to make sure that their kids do what they are supposed to.
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Zenofex
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posted August 26, 2011 04:55 PM |
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That's nonsense - paying them to attend does not guarantee that they'll actually listen to whatever is being taught there but only that they will be physically present. And it indeed sends a wrong message. In this regard, introducing serious fines for not attending during the mandatory time that one has to spend in school will have better effect although they are not exactly a remedy.
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Fauch
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posted August 26, 2011 05:08 PM |
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Edited by Fauch at 17:11, 26 Aug 2011.
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maybe they should fine teachers for being too boring 
though, not sure it is a problem from teachers themselves. there are motivated teachers who want to make their classes interesting, but they can't take much liberties, or there is not enough money.
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blizzardboy
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posted August 26, 2011 07:34 PM |
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Quote:
maybe they should fine teachers for being too boring
though, not sure it is a problem from teachers themselves. there are motivated teachers who want to make their classes interesting, but they can't take much liberties, or there is not enough money.
Yes, I would say the primary problem is with the teachers actually, namely because teachers are what are more immediately within the DoE's control. They need to better clean up their act first, and then you're in a better position to whine about bad parents/students. It is too difficult to fire/chastise a teacher in the U.S. in my opinion due to the maze of hoops you need to jump through thanks to teacher's unions. It diminishes the incentive for high performance and accountability among teachers and in general it can haul in a less-than-impressive crop.
There are many schools that are veritable marble temples with swimming pools and computer labs that are constantly being updated, and yet funding isn't going to giving teachers a moderate raise. It is not that education isn't getting enough money, it's that the money going into education is being poorly spent. Although I largely can't blame school districts for not wanting to give them raises, since the mediocre teachers would be sucking in more money right next to the good ones, so once again, it goes back to teacher unions. Schools outside of the public system are freed up from a lot of this and not surprisingly they have much better records on average, and I'm not just talking about ritzy private schools - I'm talking about penny-pinching charter schools as well. Of course there are plenty of good public schools too, but it can be hit and miss. One school might be great and the next one 30 minutes down the road might be horrible and carpet bomb the state's grade average into the 9th circle of hell.
About these experimental truancy laws these schools are trying: I think it's self-destructive. Of course, K-12 attendance should be mandatory, but you should just be calling out and punishing the parents for it (which in turn would lead to discipline for the kid). Then you can also do an in-school detention for the student or something. Paying kids to rat out other kids sets up a bad atmosphere. As if teenagers weren't divisive enough as it were.
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xerox
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posted August 26, 2011 08:02 PM |
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They should be fined, not paid for doing that. Unless if it is for psychosocial reasons etc.
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Over himself, over his own
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- John Stuart Mill
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Fauch
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posted August 26, 2011 08:29 PM |
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Edited by Fauch at 20:32, 26 Aug 2011.
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Quote:
About these experimental truancy laws these schools are trying: I think it's self-destructive. Of course, K-12 attendance should be mandatory, but you should just be calling out and punishing the parents for it (which in turn would lead to discipline for the kid). Then you can also do an in-school detention for the student or something. Paying kids to rat out other kids sets up a bad atmosphere. As if teenagers weren't divisive enough as it were.
you could say that sadly, it somewhat prepares them for adult life, when you should expect more people to try to screw you up than the contrary. (though, not always intentionaly. for example, the guy who got a job instead of you)
I don't know about you, but when I was in school, they pretty much just said that if you worked well, then everything would just fall from the sky for you. in reality, that's more the whole sky falling on you.
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JollyJoker
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posted August 26, 2011 11:02 PM |
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The school I was in, we had made a business out of it.
I think, I was in a good school. Most of the time it was fun. I missed a couple of classes later on, but it was only only a few. I don't think I missed more than ten hours willingly.
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Elodin
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posted August 27, 2011 12:12 AM |
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I don't think taxpayers should bribe children to go to school. Parents need to step up and parent their children. If parents are unwilling to parent their children they should give the children up for adoption.
Spanking younger children, grounding older children, taking away video games, ect. Being a parent is about more than "making a baby."
Parents should also be required to go to school to paddle their child (if the child needs it) or sign a document stating that the teachers can paddle their children in order for the child to attend public school. School should be a place that fosters learning, and a disciplined atmosphere is needed for that.
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Shyranis
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posted August 27, 2011 12:36 AM |
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Edited by Shyranis at 00:37, 27 Aug 2011.
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I'm not afraid to hit my children if I need to. The good thing is that they are actually (mostly) good children and do not need it. Usually being stern with them when they are bad will make them cry and eventually learn their lesson. As I said, good kids. Well, actually I guess the 11 month old is a little young to REALLY judge but he seems pretty good so far =)
(except his nightmarish episodes at night when his teeth come in)
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JollyJoker
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posted August 27, 2011 09:09 AM |
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Hitting children is abuse of power.
Parents should be able to discipline their children without needing to resort to violence.
You should realize what it teaches your children when you discipline them with violence.
One reason is - there is no clear line. Sure, smacking children on the fingers to teach them to ask before they take something (for example), doesn't seem to be much of a problem. It's a short hurtful reminder, more of a shock than an actual hurt. Sure, a smack on the behind may not that bad - but home is no court room or penitentiary. You are not supposed to have a catalogue of violent punishments, ending with a full-out spanking with a leather belt or something.
In the end violence will always lead to more violence.
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