Should parents be fined if their child has been excluded from school? Why or why not?

Question

Today's news shows that if children are found roaming the streets while they've been excluded from school, their parents can be fined up to £1,000:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20070904/tuk-parents-face-fines-over-excluded-kid-dba1618_1.html

Do you think this is right? What other ways can be used to build a better partnership between parents and children, in order to prevent them from going out while they've been excluded?

Answer 1

Yes and they should use the money to compensate the children whose education they've messed up.

Answer 2

Sucessive Labour governments and the EU are the problem in all cases. The reason why this government likes the idea of fines is that all money from fines goes to the Treasury and is thus a stealth tax.

As has been noted by many answers the government and the EU, through the use of the court of human rights, has erroded the abbility of parents, teachers and police to dicipiline children. The parents ate nolonger allowed to smack a child when this may be the best and quickest way to stop a tantrum or other willful act. Teachers nolonger have the cane as the final punishment and as exclusion from an institution that the child does not want to be at is the only final action now possible, as this is what the child wants it is some punnishment isn't it? The police can do nothing until the child is of an age that the law states is that of criminal resopnsability, when I was young ir I did something wrong the local bobby would have clipped me round the ear and then posibily told my parents, where I would have received another, and that would have been the end of it.

No, the whole problem is government inspired and is part of the 1984 dictatorship that is being thrust upon us. The less parental control the government allow the more pressure will be placed for these Borstal/Boot Camps to be formed and the children removed from society. At this point society breaks down as sucessive generations should be looking out for each other.

It is time to return the punishment and ability to give it to the parents. A smack in time saves nine. Infact a smack to bring a child in line will probably save lives as the recent murders show.

Answer 3

For the last couple of weeks there has been a program on the childrens cbbc on bbc 1 about Evacuation during WW11
In the beginning they hated the discipline, but now this week they are beginning to love it and understand the boundries they must not cross. I think that something like this in real life could be the answer. Send the older children to some sort of boot camp away from their own areas until they understand. Also with the younger ones, start a program of parenting skills. Lets face it so many young parents do not have the family back-up that they did years ago when familys lived near by. I think also that the last 2 years in mainstream schooling at least two days a week should be devoted to learning money management, child care, and all the things that the children will face in life after leaving school. Also take them to the hospitals, and let them see the effects of drug abuse etc. instead of foriegn holidays. Teach the teachers to respect the pupils and then the pupils may learn to respect the teachers, also teach the parents that teachers are NOT the enemy, they were pupils once and may have had bad experiences themselves. Lets try a lot more understanding and explanation.

I am a 76 yo great grandmother and think that I have enough experience to make these suggestions. I DO THINK that fining parents would not make the slightest difference Money is not the answer to todays problems, only that they have far too much.

Answer 4

It's not always the parents fault if their child does something wrong. If the parent is trying their hardest to supervise their children and bring them up properly, but the child won't listen then fining the parents will not change them at all and the kids will still continue as they will see it as whatever they do they won't get blamed.

You can't physically control what another person does, whether that is your own child or any other human being. You can talk to them, try to persuade them or even threaten them but you still cannot physically control what they do. This especially depends on the age of the child, as older children are responsible enough to know what is right and wrong and should be held accountable for their actions, and therefore it should not be the parents that are punished.

I think that each situation should be analysed separately, with the relationship between parents or legal guardians and the children looked at and the attitude of the parents towards their children etc. to see if it is the parent's or the child's fault - or both.

If it is decided that it is the parent's fault, then fines can be considered and things such as parenting classes can be discussed as possibilities. If, on the other hand, it is decided the child is to blame then they should receive the punishment, and ideas such as boot camps or special schools etc. can be considered for them.

I also do not agree with all children having to attend these camps or 'National Service' as this is then not punishment as it is compulsory, only having it as a punishment would mean it would have to be given as a punishment in the way a fine or prison sentence would be.

I'm not just saying this because I am a parent and I think I'll get fined or whatever it was someone said about that in their answer because I'm not a parent. I'm a 15-year-old and if I was excluded from school I wouldn't blame my parents for it.

Answer 5

As has been noted by many answers the government and the EU, through the use of the court of human rights, has erroded the abbility of parents, teachers and police to dicipiline children. The parents ate nolonger allowed to smack a child when this may be the best and quickest way to stop a tantrum or other willful act. Teachers nolonger have the cane as the final punishment and as exclusion from an institution that the child does not want to be at is the only final action now possible, as this is what the child wants it is some punnishment isn't it? The police can do nothing until the child is of an age that the law states is that of criminal resopnsability, when I was young ir I did something wrong the local bobby would have clipped me round the ear and then posibily told my parents, where I would have received another, and that would have been the end of it.

No, the whole problem is government inspired and is part of the 1984 dictatorship that is being thrust upon us. The less parental control the government allow the more pressure will be placed for these Borstal/Boot Camps to be formed and the children removed from society. At this point society breaks down as sucessive generations should be looking out for each other.

Answer 6

absolutely... Lets face it... A childs' discipline does not begin and end at the school gate... It's a life long obligation by both teachers, and more importantly parents/guardians. If a child is excluded from school, then we need to find out why... Is there a problem at school? if so, then find a solution with the school itself. Is the problem elsewhere? Again, if so... find out what and deal with it. Far too many parents these days seem to believe that they have no role to play in thier child's behaviour and that "school will take care of everything". This is simply not the case. In fact, I would say that discipline and teaching is just as important at home as it is at school. A behavioural contract is also a good idea... Bad behaviour is almost always a sign of trouble elsewhere... Bullying, stress at home, difficulty with subjects... Such contracts help to highlight that something needs to be done and as these contracts are two way, the school and the parents can formulate a plan to discover the problems and eliminate them. And I don't know of any parent who wouldn't want the opportunity to help thier child should it be needed. Clearly, if a child is excluded, there is a problem to be solved... and parents are responsible to help find that solution. If they don't or feel that they shouldn't, then in my opinion they are unfit parents and a fine is well deserved... It might just give them the kick in the *** they need to start acting like parents. As for kids pretending to go to school and then playing truent when thier parents have left, again... there is a problem to be dealt with. More importantly though, if the kid has been excluded, why would thier parent drive them or walk them to school? surely the school would have notified the parents of the fact... so again, if the parents decide to ignore it, they deserve a fine. I for one, should any kids of mine ever be caught in such a way would take the matter very seriously. Sure, I would not exactly like a fine, but I would pay it and I would be glad of the fatc that it was brough to my attention... That way I could be procative in dealing with whatever casued the truency in the first place. If this is the only way to make parents act like parents, then bring on the fines.

Answer 7

Why are kids excluded? Today i found out that there is currently 70 cases, of trunatcy from my sons school, out of a small 1000 pupil school in Cornwall. What does that tell you?

Speaking about myself, having left the court less then 7 hours ago. I was fined £100 for allowing my son to bunk lessons! (even though i thought i was resposible for getting him into schhol,i am also resposible for keeping him in class- even though i am not there)
For punishment for bunking the lessons he was given 3 days exclusion.- the kids all thinks it great, I was not always imformed of this until a few days or even 2 weeks later that he had bunked. Woould a pupil continue or not? The only time he was able to stay home with my permission was if he was ill.

Everybodies right have been taken away, they are excluded because the teachers can not punish them and so they pass the buck back!


I agree with;
Browner about the cane, it should be brought back!
Terence B How our right , everybody rights have been taken away.
Blue Head, about the reaction..
Andy and Jordan,- Curfew should be used , order put into use, have our rights return, too late for me perhaps but for the necxt generation of scallies.Obviously there are quite a few people that i agree with.

So in answer to you question; NO, fining the parent doesnt make a difference, my son should have been punished i told then to send him to boot camp! My son sincerly wants to make admends and rectify him self and sorry of course., and a fresh start for the new term. The school should start getting their rights back or they should be fined also.

Myself, having 2 teenagers, they are not bad boys, one is now working having left school this year , the other doesnt like some lessons . that doesnt mean he hangs around the murdering, breaking into places.
yes i am a single parent now , i am not currently working as i have had a big operation on my ear. I hope to return soon.


This was my question below asking last week. I answered undecided unintenionally because i pressed the wrong button.
Have a look .

Who's responsibility is it the school or the parent?

Answer 8

Other than chaining the children to their beds, what else can parents do? especially if both are working to make ends meet due this this Labour Governments love affair of taxing it's citizens to the hilt.

If the family are dependable on both incomes, surely having one at home while the child is excluded to make sure they don't "wander the streets" is going to cause more harm to the "family values" this society is trying to protect.

What about lone parents who cannot ensure their children are not wandering the streets? How do you stop someone from wandering the streets if you are not there? and if you are how do you enforce it? you can't dicipline a child these days, so what do you say? "get to bed and no supper!" pur-lease.

Again this is just another stealth tax created by this Labour Government. So rather than help theparents tackle the issue they "fine" the parents.

Plus wouldn't imprisoning the children indoors be an infrigement of their Human Rights? I can see the Human Rights Brigade having a field day with this one.

Tax, tax, tax, tax, tax, tax, tax, is all this Government seems to do and they try to camoflauge it as a "fine" and the best thing is, the British public, you and me buy it everytime.

The educational system in this country is a farce, I really wish I could have my daughter home schooled by myslef. I personally think home schooling is the way forward, schools nowadays don't give a monkeys unless there are lots of money involved.

Obviously those who wish parents to be penalized for a child's actions are clearly not parents themselves and have no clue how hard it is to raise a child, even in today's society. It's easy to sit and point and be self rightous from the sidelines, but put yourself in a parents position then you will realise that this "TAX" is not fair and won't work.

Children should be accountable for their own actions and to be punished by the schools in some form. Community Service is a good start. Though state punishment in this country normally means a day out to Alton Towers or a holiday abroad.

Answer 9

Why should the parents have to pay?? Its societys falt the children act the way that they do, if you could punish children like you could back in the day there would be a lot of less disrespect and a lot more yes mam' im on my way to school attitude, so why do the parents have to pay for something the school systems 1/2 to blame, with there if your parents spank you let me know crap, face it some kids need a good spanking and society won't realize that until the next generation of children come out 3x's as bad and defiant. If you want to fine any fine the kids, make them do community service, or go to military camp, if there old enought to think they can skip school and take care of themselves give them more responsibilites to see what it would be like, on occasion it is a worthless parents fault that just dont give a **** but the child should still no right from wrong if not and the parent has to pay who is ever going to teach the children right from wrong?

Answer 10

My family certainly couldn't afford a £1,000.00 fine. My granddaughter ,who had been bullied by a couple of girls since she was 5 eventually stood up for herself at 14.
(the school operated a zero tolerance against bullying - which in effect meant they wiped any complaints under the carpet - to look good) and was imediately excluded for fighting ! All her belongings and course work were destroyed by the Head and the whole family were banned from entering the school grounds -it has a right of way between 2 villages.That was in the February. The following September the next granddaughter started there -because she HAD to and although they allowed her to be a pupil she spent 6 years of being constantly reminded that her sister had been excluded and she was a bag of nerves and scared to speak in the wrong place. 2 weeks into the exclusion the truant officer called and asked why she wasn't in school!!?? My daughter explained the situation and the officer said he would try to arrange home tuition. 19 months went by and after lots of phone calls to the local education office ,a place was found for her at the local college to do some exams. In the meantime she did a paper round, house cleaning, babysitting,looking after the elderly etc to earn herself a few pounds.By the way, the education officer said they had no word from the school about an exclusion order,that's why she didn't get an education for nearly 2 years.
Another family member has had a Pakistani best friend since nursery. Their surname has about 36 letters and is virtually unpronouncable and for the last 20+ years the 2 families have been known in their locality as the P...kis and the Taffs -all very friendly. One day the boy was excluded after being heard calling to his mate using the 'P' word. Mrs.P...ki went straight up the school and demanded he be reinstated. Eventually he was.
What would have happened if these 2 mums had been fined £1,000.00 ? I know - more trouble for the familes - neither would have been able to raise that sort of cash - it would be almost 2 months wages for both families .
Let the teachers sort out their facts first before they start excluding kids for being kids. Let kids play ball/ride bikes on the village greens with their parents -encourage them all to act as a proper family -where have all the youth clubs gone?- National Service for boys and girls when they finish education and are out of work could be looked at.'Fines' are not going to work. It will lead to an increase in the homeless when the fine is paid rather than the rent/mortgage

Answer 11

Fined who by?
Some scruffy council official or the Courts.
This is typical of political part thinking without real thought in the run up to an election. Two points, the first is that very often those excluded (not always before someone starts) do not always have anyone at home to supervise them. A lot are from one parent or poorly paid families so that fining them will actually cause those who are working to make ends meet even greater hardship. Those who are out of work for good reason or bad will also be driven further down the economic scale.

I would be much happier if for once politicians stopped playing to the audience and started to think of how these exclusions and indeed the need for them can be better controlled. I accept that some children are so badly and dangerously behaved that exclusion is the only way out for the school. If that is the case a special unit is required either within the educational area or outside it to teach these young people that if they do not behave in a civilised manner nasty things are very likely to happen to them. Human rights are in fact not a right but a privilege under law for which in return we have certain duties. At least one for every right. I think a good many adults need to learn that lesson as well