Truancy Laws, were put into place for many different reasons. Some people are asking questions like, “Are they really working? Are they being taken seriously enough?” Some people may have different views on the Truancy Laws. Some teachers and school districts may be having trouble enforcing the Truancy Laws, and feel like their hands are tied and they can’t say anything to those who are ignoring the Truancy Laws. Some parents and guardians may not care about the consequences of the child or children’s truancy or the laws that have been put into place to protect it. Some people might even try to argue that the vacations they take, will teach the child or children more than they could ever learn in a classroom which in some people’s opinion, is a real insult to our educators.
People who home school their children can’t relate to this because they have a completely different daily structure than having to wake up in time to eat breakfast, pack a lunch if needed, catch the school bus, walk to school, or get a ride from someone. Some people have opted to do home school for many reasons and people not knowing about home school might label the parent, parents, or guardian or guardians as lazy, neglectful, and maybe even irresponsible.
Schools have a set number of days that they must attend, and although some schools take different holidays off and have different days for winter, spring, and summer vacation, they still have those days that must be accounted for, not to mention any missed days due to weather related circumstances. These dates are scheduled in advance to allow families to schedule their family vacation time away, so there really isn’t a need to have to take that time out of school to do these things unless there has been a true family emergency, like a terminally ill family member, or a death in the family. These are things that can’t be predicted or prevented, so these are valid excuses as to why someone might need to take some time out of class time to take care of these things, but not to go to a tropical island, or a theme park for a week while everyone else is sitting in a classroom learning. Some people take their children out of school a week early, or maybe even a week late, to avoid large crowds and maybe even long lines. The teachers may have assigned extra homework or asked that the child do a report on their vacation if they are going to a foreign country or something, but in reality, these children aren’t learning the same things that their friends and peers are learning in the classroom setting.
Some people feel that truancy laws are failing today’s children, some people could care less, and other people may not even know or understand what truancy laws are to begin with, and why they are in place. This needs to change for the sake of our children.