AIBU to think laws that fine and jail parents for school absence, outside term time holidays, are ridiculous?

I don't think fines are the answer. For parents taking children on holiday in term time I would remove the passports from serial offenders, not sure what the best sanction would be for parents not making enough effort to get a child in school.

Thing is rich, wealthy parents who can afford none-term time holidays will just pay it and count it as holiday expense. Those of us who can’t, will not be able to risk it and will end up taking our children on expensive holidays to try and give a similar childhood experience to their wealthier peers.
These children have to be together for a long time, all of primary and secondary school, but you don’t see the richer parents kids suffering from lack of learning. Actually they seem to go on and get top grades, simply because their parents can afford things like tutors.
And this doesn’t target the actual truant kids, ones who’s parents are addicts, or parents who can’t be bothered waking up and taking their child to school, or the kids who abscond from school because they find it too boring or difficult. Or the kids who don’t come in because their older brother has taken the last pair of shoes in the house, or the ones who looked after younger siblings last night and now are too tired to get the bus into school.
These kids need social services help, more support, charity, not fines that their parents can’t pay anyway. The kids who aren’t leaving for a holiday but aren’t in school for 1001 other reasons that have social services written all over them. (I’m not including health because anyone who’s sick should be at home end of)

Thank you for all the comments, it's interesting to see that many people think it is reasonable to penalise, fine or even jail parents, relating to school absence. I wonder if those who never experienced the difficulties of trying to get their teen who refused to attend, to school, somehow cannot see, the side of how ridiculous this is, and has little or no compassion for those who suffer and struggle.

You're brave posting this. Have you not seen all the threads on here (every year); that parents can't even deal with their children in the holidays we have? How the holidays are too long and often?
Anyway wouldn't the travel companies just put the prices up for longer? If schools extend holidays travel companies will expand expensive holidays.

We need longer holidays in this country, that way it would be less condensed into a very short, busy, expensive time so parents would have more choices. I also think that children's mental health and wellbeing would be improved. I've never understood why this country has such limited holidays.

How would you make parents accountable for low attendance?

How would you ensure those children not in school are safe, not committing crime and are not associating with criminals?

There is lots of discussion atm, about how we deal with feral youths who steal cars and drive them into police cars (killing the officers), a common answer is ‘blame the parents, make them accountable’.

For some, absence from school is part of the slide into criminality. The police do not have the resources to find/return/arrest, criminal children.

It would be interesting to see the data since fines were introduced, has it led to an improvement in attendance? TBH I would be surprised if it has.

I would say be appreciative of good teachers but being told to be “grateful” because a service you pay for via taxation is “free” is exactly how state services get away with poor service.

Its not free. That doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate good individual teachers, doctors, whatever. It does mean we should not be told to shut up and be grateful when they are poor or deliver poor services/care (which happens on pretty much every NHS or education thread).

I tell my children all the time to be grateful for their education. I’m grateful for it. That doesn’t mean I’d never question anyone or raise an issue. But I’ve seen the impact a good teacher can have on my child - it’s amazing.

Do you honestly think holiday companies will not cotton on to that?

Instead of it being a 6 week peak summer period (+ Christmas, + Easter etc), it will be peak prices every single day there is a school holiday.

It would also condense the time that off peak holidaymakers can travel, thus meaning more of them could end up travelling in peak and then...

You are being unreasonable, it is a good law.
Decades of repeatable and valid research shows that children whose parents prioritise education have better educational outcomes than those who don't.

You don't want to discuss term-time holidays but it is obvious that because the majority of families do value education and won't choose those weeks, therefore demand is lower and prices are cheaper.
Irresponsible, neglectful parents who don't value education do choose those weeks, and their children's educational outcomes suffer in a measurable demonstrable way that damages them long-term.

The parents who would rather have the cheap holidays do not care about the evidence, and do not care that their decisions are harming their children. The only thing the law can do is impose fines that should be big enough to exceed the difference between the price of a termtime holiday vs the price of the same holiday in actual holiday time. The fines are not big enough.

Imprisonment is rare and only happens if a parent is so pig-headed about being above the law that such drastic action is a positive benefit to the children.

My neighbours have two primary aged kids and they have been off all summer, the frail granny who is 80 picks them up every day and has cared for the kids while the parents WFH. In late September they are taking the kids out of school for a holiday in the med somewhere for 2 weeks. This seems bonkers to me. Missing two weeks of school in September is really irresponsible. The kids have been out of their mind with boredom for the last weeks!! I hope they get a fine to be honest.

I’d love them to fix it so we don’t have to have this debate every school holiday.

I haven’t read any responses but I’m assuming the bingo card will be filled soon enough:

Hotels rip people off (they don’t)
Holidays are educational (they aren’t)
Teachers can’t take term holidays (they chose the job)
I’m glad I home educate (happy for you)
Attendance is important (not for all kids, all the time)
It’s my right (those come with responsibilities)
Holidays are too long/too short/at the wrong time (makes no difference)
The evidence shows (no it doesn’t)

Did I miss any?

You missed “education is free, be grateful and know your place” which is also on the thread.

1 in 4 children leave school without passing maths and english GCSE. to me this says that our education system has some huge problems if we cant after 12 years in formal education turn out young people with basic skills. we dont need an overhaul of the education system we need an overhaul of parenting. 1 in 4 youngsters start reception without being potty trained. and if I hear of another oh its adh whatever I think I will scream. it isnt. its laziness. parents who dont know or dont want to parent. taking them out of school on a holiday and fining them for it really is the least of this countries worries. Turning out a generation of kids who think having a label means they dont have to work, get PIP or who just cant read, write or add up is alarming and it seems like we are just sleepwalking into a tragedy here.