Shitty [to] Parents

Crap Anti-Truancy Strategies

Civil Rights – A new Palm Beach truancy court is devising plans to lower the state’s absentee rate for children by punishing… the parents? Florida laws states that parents of children (under the age of 16) cannot let their kid miss 15 days of school within a sixty day period—that is unless the parents want to be sent to jail. -Yes, and how does this solve the problem?

The Sun-Sentinel reported that Palm Beach prosecutors are saying that the two-month jail sentence will only really be the last resort in truancy cases. A dozen Baltimore parents were sent to prison for their children’s truancy earlier this year and California picked up a new anti-truancy bill as well – which sent five Orange County parents to jail.

But are these anti-truancy bills effective? When it comes to negligent parents, there should be investigations. But with cases involving teens skipping (and most do), is the parent really at fault? How does punishing the parents actually prevent absences?

The NCAAP immediately saw the flaw in logic as they managed to sue a Pennsylvania school district for levying illegal fines on truant students and their parents.

The new bills pose a pretty faulty strategy, as they don’t target the actual problem. Take for example, Lenora Hummel, who received a whopping 8 thousand dollar fine after her kids stayed home from school because they were being harassed and bullied. What do you say to that, Palm Beach, FL?

Read more at Yahoo! News and at the Sun-Sentinel.