Truancy: Difference between revisions
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{{Redirect|Truant|the [[Alien Ant Farm]] album|truANT}} |
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[[File:Truancy hotline.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Truancy [[hotline]] road sign in Savannah, USA]] |
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'''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 has no relation to [[homeschooling]], although sometimes parents who practice homeschooling have been charged with this.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thesouthern.com/news/article_6f60775c-2b4a-51d4-b621-59fa361bb2ab.html|title=Home-school mom charged with allowing truancy|date=25 April 2005|accessdate=29 January 2011}}</ref> |
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It may also refer to students who attend school but do not go to classes. |
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In some schools, truancy may result to not be able to graduate or to receive credit for class attended, until the time lost to truancy is made up through a combination of [[Detention (academia)|detention]], [[Fine (penalty)|fines]], or [[summer school]]. |
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Truancy is a frequent subject of popular culture; perhaps most famously ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]]'', which is entirely about the titular character's (played by [[Matthew Broderick]]) day of truancy in [[Chicago]] with his girlfriend and best friend. ''[[Truancy (novel)|Truancy]]'' is also the title of a 2008 novel about a student uprising against a dictatorial educational system. |
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==List of slang expressions== |
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There are a number of expressions in [[English language|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''. In [[Antigua and Barbuda]], it is called ''skudding''. In [[Australia]] truancy is called ''wagging'', ''ditching'', or ''skipping school''. It is called ''bunking (off)'' or ''skiving'' or ''wagging'' in [[England]] and [[India]], ''mitching'', ''wanging the monkey'', ''wagging'' or ''on the knock''. In [[Wales]], ''sagging''. In [[Liverpool]], ''bunking'' or ''cutting class'', ''doggin'', ''skiving'', ''playing tickie'' or ''puggin''. In [[Scotland]], ''on the hop'', ''on the bunk'', ''mitching'', ''beaking'', ''skiving'', ''doggin it'' or ''on the beak''. In [[Ireland]], ''on the hop'', ''dossing'', ''or on the duck''. In the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] expressions include ''hookey'', ''playing hookey'', ''ditching'', ''dipping'', ''jigging'', ''sluffing'', ''skipping'', ''cutting class'', or simply just ''cutting''. In the province of [[Newfoundland and Labrador]], the act of truancy is known amongst youths as "pipping off", and truant students are described as being "on the pip". In Trinidad and Tobago, it is referred to as ''breaking biche''. And Niggers In Singapore and Malaysia, it is referred to as ''fly'', and in Malay, ''ponteng'', or simply just ''pon''. |
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==Punishments imposed for truancy== |
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[[File:Ralph Hedley The truant's log 1899.jpg|thumb|[[Ralph Hedley]]: ''The Truant's Log'', 1899]] |
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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.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}} 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|text]] 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 computers. This way of checking if a student is absent, is a more accurate{{vague|Depends strongly on implementation. Systems such as swipe cards are readily circumvented. Fingerprint methods may be seen as "criminalising"|date=December 2011}} way to identify if the student is wagging and in what class.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} |
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In many [[Provinces and territories of Canada|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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} |
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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.<ref>[http://www.dr.dk/Regioner/Kbh/Nyheder/Hovedstadsomraadet/2007/10/25/072056.htm Det virker at inddrage børnechecken] (It works confiscating the child benefit check), by Anette Sørensen, Denmarks Radio, October 25, 2008</ref> Most cities watch for families who have not returned their children to school after the summer vacation because some groups [[exile]]d 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.<ref>[http://www.aarhus.dk/default.asp?Id=359&LcId=da&AjrDcmntId=3046&AjrThmId=0&AjrThmPg=0 155 elever er ikke mødt op] (155 children have not started), by Majken Klintø, aarhus.dk, August 26, 2008</ref> April 2009 a research among 4,000 students showed that more than every third student had been absent during the last 14 days.<ref>[http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2009/04/30/043947.htm Børn pjækker mere fra skole], DR News, April 30, 2009</ref> |
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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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/artikkeli/%C3%84idille+sakkoja+lasten+oppivelvollisuuden+laiminly%C3%B6misest%C3%A4/1135249315433|title=Äidille sakkoja lasten oppivelvollisuuden laiminlyömisestä - HS.fi - Kotimaa|accessdate=1 February 2011|language=Finnish}}</ref> The aim of fining is to try to force parents to put their children into school. The child will not be escorted to school or taken from parents. |
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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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} |
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In the [[England and Wales]], the legal maximum for truancy is 11 days per term, after which it is a criminal offence for parents.<ref>S.7 Education act 1996</ref> 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. However this is not a power of arrest and it is not a power to detain, furthermore it does not make truancy a criminal offence. This power has existed since 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ERORecords/HO/421/2/cdact/truancy.htm |title=Electronic Records Online |publisher=Nationalarchives.gov.uk |date= |accessdate=2012-01-21}}</ref> There is a warning given the first time the parents allow the child to commit truancy more than allowed, then there is a fine if continued, starting from £50. |
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In the [[United States]], the fine for truancy can range from $250 to as much as $5000{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}. 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]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09ehrenreich.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all|title=OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR; Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?|last=Ehrenreich|first=Barbara|date=9 August 2009|work=The New York Times|page=9|accessdate=1 February 2011}}</ref> 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{{Clarify|date=February 2011}} also have the power to revoke a student's 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{{Weasel-inline|date=February 2011}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} |
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==Truant's Day== |
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In Poland, the first day of spring ([[March 21]]) is an unofficial occasion popular among children, who traditionally play truant on that day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.staypoland.com/poland-holidays.htm |title=Public Holidays in Poland |publisher=Staypoland.com |date= |accessdate=2012-01-21}}</ref> Similarly, students in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] have [[Senior Skip Day]]. The date for skip day varies among different schools. <ref>{{cite news|last=Dyer|first=Elisabeth|title=Life's a beach for many students on senior skip day|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2006/04/14/Citytimes/Life_s_a_beach_for_ma.shtml|accessdate=23 November 2010|newspaper=St. Petersburg times|date=14 April 2006}}</ref> |
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==Related articles== |
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* [[AWOL]] (Absent Without Leave) |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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[[Category:School and classroom behaviour]] |
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[[Category:Student culture]] |
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[[ca:Absentisme escolar]] |
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[[de:Schulverweigerung]] |
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[[es:Absentismo escolar]] |
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[[eo:Lernej-evitado]] |
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[[ms:Ponteng]] |
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[[nl:Spijbelen]] |
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[[pl:Wagary]] |
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[[pt:Absenteísmo escolar]] |
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[[sv:Skolk]] |
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[[th:การหนีเรียน]] |
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