PDN Article: August
24, 2013
This is a good time, as school has just
started, to pay attention to the issue of school truancy, which is a problem on
our island. We all need to work on preventing it so that our young people can
graduate from high school successfully.
We are not alone with this problem, as it
seems to be worldwide, and each jurisdiction has it own laws about it and set
of consequences. Each country also has its own slang expression such as
"skulling," "ditching," "doggin',"
"sluff," "bunking," "playing hookey,"
"cutting," etc. But it all comes down to mean not going to classes or
to school.
It also means not making the grades to
graduate, not being able to find a job and maybe even worst -- getting into juvenile
delinquency and further into the legal system.
What we can do to prevent students from
skipping school and being truant must be a concern for everyone. Truancy is a
problem with many of our young people and, for some, it starts very early in
elementary school.
Truancy is a red flag. It is a risk factor --
one of the early warning signs that a youth potentially is headed for
delinquent activity, social isolation or educational failure.
These early patterns have long-term costs for
both the individual and society. We all must work on preventing school truancy
and increasing high-school graduation rates.
What parents can do
So what can be done? For starters, parents
need to compel their children to attend school and not give in to excuses for
not going. Explore the reasons why your children don't want to go to school and
seek help if the reasons are serious, requiring school and other professional
attention. If the reason isn't valid explain to your children the consequences,
and enforce the penalty for not going to school.
Parents, guardians and caretakers must not
allow a child who skips school to stay home and have access to social media
technology and related activities that only reinforce the truancy behavior.
Instead, make the child work, do school or house work, do something so they
realize that going to school is better than staying home.
If a child doesn't want to go to school, don't
allow him or her to go out and hang out with friends. This is just waiting for
trouble.
According to Guam Public Law 21-11, a student
is a habitual truant if the he or she has incurred 12 or more unexcused
absences in a school year and is of compulsory attendance age. This could land
the student in the court system.
The worst thing, however, is that the student
isn't learning skills that will prepare him or her for the future, for a job
and a decent livelihood as a productive member of the community.
If you know of a youth who is truant, talk to
the parent and the child, and get him or her the needed help. If this means
reporting it to the school truant officer and it becomes a court case because
it is a violation of Guam's compulsory education/truancy law, then something is
being done to get the help that the young person needs.
We all benefit from the success or our young
people, ... and we also all pay for whatever they become.
Annie F.B. Unpingco,
LCSW, is administrator of I Famagu'on-ta at the Guam Behavioral Health and
Wellness Center.
