http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2015/12/02/columbus-ohio-keeping-kids-in-school-and-out-of-courts-push-underway-to-reform-school-discipline-in-ohio.html
There is now a model coming from Delaware county on how to better manage students who are on the cusp of having truancy charges put against them in a courtroom. This story highlights the issues of children being out of school for not only themselves, but their families, and the communities around them. With a holistic approach to caring for the students, it is the hope that less students will end up in juvenile detention and more students will remain in the classroom receiving the education they need and have the right to.
This is a very interesting topic for me because I have always seen suspensions and explosions as somewhat of a reward for bad behavior. This allows students to remain at home or in their communities, which students would much rather do than be in school. Providing holistic treatment to these students and really finding the root cause of their actions is something that we as social workers and other behavioral health specialists need to work together to transform our education system alongside teachers and administrators. With our help it may be possible to put less of a load on teachers (who already work hard enough) and allow for better academic, social, and mental health outcomes for the students that we interact with on a daily basis. It is time that we rally around our schools and give them the resources and personnel that they need to better serve our students, no matter their socio-economic status or their physical location in the state. Every child deserves an equal education and with this equal education we can hopefully have more students becoming productive members of society and staying out of the trouble that so easily entangles them.
I think that you make a great point about how children view those punishments as rewards because I viewed the same reactions of some of my peers when we were in high school. Being comprehensive in addressing children's needs and looking deeper into what is causing the problem behaviors is not a consistent practice in schools across the country. We definitely need to advocate for change in this area. If we can eliminate that burden from an already strained education system while also positively impacting these kids who may otherwise be labeled as "troubled/bad/careless," we continue to do our part in the education system.
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ReplyDeleteOhio is currently working on two bills to address the issue of truancy. HB410 and a bill out of the Senate sponsored by Senator Lehner and Senator Thomas. The House Bill would eliminate truancy delinquency offenses by eliminating what is called double "double habitual"and modifying chronic truancy so that it is only an offense after a youth violates a court order. The Senate Bill would eliminate delinquency truancy offense all together (both double habitual and chronic truancy) from Ohio code so that truancy is only a status offense. Both bills create interventions teams so that their is a process before sending youth would go to court. The bills also eliminate the schools ability to suspend or expelled students based on truancy. The legislators are very active in the issue, however, like everything the major concern of these bills is the funding needed to implement.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very important topic. There are many reasons that children may be truant. As a children services worker, there is one reason that I happen to see more often than not. Parents are not being held accountable and parents are not holding their children accountable. A parent that does not foster, encourage, and support the education of their child, is not likely to have a child that will care about their education, excel, and attend. I am working with a child right now who is 7. Now he does not have truancy charges but I think it is a good story to get my point across. He is failing miserably in school. On his last report card, he got nothing higher than a D, but mostly Fs. He is currently in foster care. He is failing in school and is going to be held back. When I ask myself why, this is what I come up with based on what I know about him. He is an extremely bright and smart kid. His failing grades are most significantly tied to having incomplete homework all of the time. It is also associated with the fact that he is already behind because of how much school he missed in the last year. His biological parents did not care about his education, they physically abused and neglected him. This child has been focused on survival his whole life, which has put his education on hold. Further, his parents did not always send him to school (he is only 7, if they did not send him then he could not go). His parents never ensured that he got his school work done or asked him what he was learning. His education was not a priority for his family. If this child had not come into foster care, he would be at a very high risk of truancy charges sometime down the road (that's how poor his attendance was last year). Who should be held responsible in this case? I say the parent.
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