Random_Essay~

Truancy is any intentional unauthorized absence from compulsory schooling. The term typically describes absences caused by students of their own free will, and usually does not refer to legitimate "excused" absences, such as ones related to medical conditions. The term's exact meaning differs from school to school, and is usually explicitly defined in the school's handbook of policies and procedures.It may also refer to students who attend school but do not go to classes.In some schools, truancy may result in an ineligibility to graduate or to receive credit for class attended, until the time lost to truancy is made up through a combination of detention,fines, or summer school. There are a number of expressions in English which refer to truancy. In South Africa, the slang used is bunking, skipping or jippo. In Jamaica, it is called skulling. In Guyana skulking. InAntigua and Barbuda, it is called skudding. In Australia truancy is called wagging, ditching, skipping school, jigging, dogging or bludging. It is called bunking off or skiving in England,mitching, wagging or on the knock in Wales, sagging in Liverpool, bunking or cutting class, doggin, skiving or puggin in Scotland and on the hop, on the bunk, mitching, scheming ordossing in Ireland. In the United States and Canada expressions include (playing) hookey, ditching, jigging, sluffing, skipping, or cutting class. In the United Kingdom, failure to secure regular school attendance of a registered pupil is a criminal offence for parents. Also, a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent may direct that for a specified time in a specified area a police officer may remove a child believed to be absent from a school without authority to that school or to another designated place. This is commonly known as a "truancy sweep". In many Canadian provinces, a police officer who suspects a child of the correct age to be deliberately missing school for no legitimate reason has the authority to take that child to the school he or she is supposed to attend. In the United States, the fine for truancy can range from $250 to as much as $5000. In some cities teenagers found on the streets during school hours are sometimes even handcuffed. About 12,000 students were ticketed for truancy in 2008 in Los Angeles.[1] Many states provide for the appointment of local truancy officers who have the authority to arrest habitually truant youths and bring them to their parents or to the school they are supposed to attend. Many states also have the power to revoke a students driver's license. It is an office which, where it exists, is often held by a person also a constable or sheriff. However, the position of a full-time truancy officer is generally viewed as being a relic from the 19th century when mandatory school attendance was relatively new. Truancy regulations today are generally enforced by school officials under the context of parental responsibility. New automated calling systems allow the automated notification of parents when a child is not marked present in the computer, and truancy records for many states are available for inspection online. In Australia, schools, in most cases, contact and keep a close relationship with local police to combat 'wagging'. Most schools, who have a nearby police station, have police vehicles monitoring the areas around the school grounds who look for truant students. In most cases the students are returned to the schools. The Australian Government threatened to take action on parents who have truanting students by withdrawing child support payments to any parent whose child is caught multiple times. Recently, schools have started a system whereby if students are not marked as present, the school computers will automatically SMS the parent(s) of the child to notify of their absence. Also, the use of marking present lists at schools has been taken over by that of computers. This way of checking if a student is absent, is a more accurate way to identify if the student is wagging and in what class. In Germany, the parents of a child absent from school without a legitimate excuse are notified by the school. If the parents refuse to send their child to school or are unable to control their child, local child services or social services officers may request the police to escort the child to school, and in extreme cases can petition a court to partially or completely remove child custody from the parents. Parents may also be fined in cases of refusal. In Denmark, some welfare benefits can be confiscated for a period if the child does not attend school. However, not all cities use this approach to keep the children in school.[2] Most cities watch for families who have not returned their children to school after the summer vacation because some groups exiled their children to their ethnic home countries for behavior modification. In the city of Aarhus, 155 children had not turned up one week after the school started.[3] April 2009 a research among 4,000 students showed that more than every third student had been absent during the last 14 days.[4] In Finland truant pupils usually get detention in comprehensive schools. The police are not involved in truancy controlling but the teachers of the school monitor the school area and sometimes the nearby areas during recess to avoid unauthorized leaving from the school area. If the pupil is absent for a long period of time the parents can be fined.[5] Anyway, fining is the only way to force parents to put their children into school. The child will not be escorted to school or taken from parents.