What do you think of schools having parents arrested for children's non-attendance?

Question

I heard on the radio the other day that two women were arrested and put in jail because their kids missed too many days of school. I found this ludicrous! I mean what are the kids going to do while their Mom is in jail? Who is really being punished? Also, were there ligitimate reasons why the kids missed school? And what about the father? Do we just pick on the Mother and forget about the Dad? Is the Mother always the one to blame?What if the Mother works? I guess there are allot of things I am still wondering about. I just think it is ridiculous, unless the parents were deliberately telling their kids not to go to school. I am just curiously as to what others think on this topic.

Answer 1

I think it is crazy. Some parents have driven their children to school see them walk in the door. When they drive away the kid skips out and is not there for attendance.
I had a son who had to have daily medical treatments and was always missing school.
Thankfully no one put me in jail.

Answer 2

Well it all depends on the situation and how old the kids are. If they are in High shool then the parents should not be punished the children should be. Now any younger there is no reason why they should not go to school other then parents lazyness. ( I am not including med reasons because then the school will take that into account and no one would get in trouble) As for as it beeing the moms in these cases I am sure the moms have custody of the kids. As for what will hapen with the kids i think that they should be removed from the homes that were not making them go to school and put in homes were they will make them. Education is the most important thing in a childs life (second only to Love) and that if a parent does not make a child go to shool that should be concidered neglect. I will end it there

Answer 3

No I don't find it strange at all. The law states that kids should go to school or have permission not to attend. Parents are responsible for ensuring this. If they do not and it is shown they were at fault, as in this case, then the law should absolutely be used. Schools/authorities do prosecute parents of regular truants. At least get your facts right before having a rant.

Answer 4

Having had a hand in a couple of these situations, I can assure you that charging the parent/parents criminally for failing to assure their child attended school is a last resort. Before that happens, as least in CA, parents are called on the telephone, they attend SARB hearings, deal with truancy officers, etc. When all else fails, charging the parents criminally is the last option that can be very effective in getting parents to realize they are legally bound to assuring their children are in school.

I think most people would be astounded to find out that there are students who's parents are called before truancy boards when the children are in elementary school... I had a client whose parents were charged... and his truancy problems started in Kindergarden, where he attended fewer than 60 days of the entire school year. That's not the child's fault.. it's the parents'.

About the mother vs father thing... if the child lives with only one parent, that parent will be charged. As with all criminal offenses, if the District Attorney can't prove that one parent in a two-parent household isn't criminallyl culpable, then that parent won't be charged. Perhaps the father leaves for work at 6:00 a.m. and doesn't return home until 7:00 pm? Charging him would be a little tough.

Answer 5

I think its pretty ridiculous. I missed a lot of school in high-school due to serious illnesses and depression. After you missed about 10 days of school (sparingly, not in a row) they'd call your parents (regardless if you had a doctor's note or not) and basically yell at them, send them a letter, telling them that your child needs to go to school and they basically threatened jail time.

I think if it is really a problem (missing tons of days for no reason), the child should be put in JJC and the parents fined... although it does depend on the scenario, if the parents are just deadbeats and the kid is very young and can't take care of themselves, they should probably put the parents in jail.

Answer 6

A friend of mine is going through this right now. He and his wife are going thru a divorce. She currently has the kids and is a lazy drunk.

Recently, the school called him to tell his they are moving forward to prosecute his soon to be ex-wife. The children missed too much school. I didn't believe they could do it but they are. Court date is next week and the school social worker is the witness.

So, he will get custody of the kids, which is what he wanted anyway.

Usually moms that don't send their kids to school have a lot of issues to deal with. It's not fair to the children.

Florida residents and the children are 6 and 8 years old

Answer 7

I think you should get arrested if you 7 year old is missing school because its your job to make sure they go and I doubt if your 7 year old can play hooky. Its the teens that are the tricky ones, You cant hold a 16 year olds hand and they are old enough to make the decision weather or not they are going to school but at the same time your still responsible for them. I think it should stop at a certain age like high school. Because if they had that law in effect when i was in high school my mom would be under the jail, but it wasn't her fault i didn't go to school enough. It was my own and my mother shouldn't be help responsible for me being stupid........... Hire a teenager now while they still know everything

Answer 8

Deliberately keeping your kids home from school because you're too lazy to wake them up, get them dressed, fix breakfast, etc, is a definite crime in my opinion. It's unfair to the children in every aspect - academic progress, social interaction, problem solving...the list is endless!

Now, let's paint a different scenario for a minute: You've got a high school child who continually skips school, even though you've done everything in your power to ensure she gets to the front doors. What then? Should parents have to go to jail?

Or is there a fine line here?

Personally, when my child gets to be middle and high school age, he better be in class because I'm not going to jail for anyone! LOL

Answer 9

Just passing a law doesn't make the problem disappear. It is a poor law. Social services can not do what parents need to do. If the kids aren't in school put them in boot camp. The parents should be responsible so there should be an intervention.

Answer 10

Depends on the children's age in my own opinion. If we are talking about elementary school age children that are not able to get themselves ready for school or even get to school without an adult, then those parents are responsible. Middle school and high school ages are a different story.