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Original poster

Mother's truancy conviction wrong

23 replies

Caligula · 18/03/2006 18:14

\link{http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4810140.stm\bbc news story}

I found this quite interesting, as it seems to be implying that LEA's are taking parents to court willy nilly, rather than looking at the individual circumstances in truancy cases.

OP posts:
Freckle · 18/03/2006 18:42

It does seem that the council and the magistrates in the first instance totally ignored the individual circumstances of the matter. Suggesting that she should have involved the child's father implies that (a) their relationship was such that she could contact him easily or without acrimony and (b) that he would have been any use or indeed wanted to be of any use.

Nice to see that some judges have some sense.

monkeytrousers · 18/03/2006 20:19

The boy said he was being bullied there for IMHO, it's the school that should have been

monkeytrousers · 18/03/2006 20:24

oops, a bit trigger happy tonight..what was I saying..yes, the school should be held to account surely? I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about this because I was a very good 'straight a' student (as they say) until I hit 3rd year (don't now what that is in today's money, sorry) and was bullied by a merciless gang of 5th yearers. I never went to school that year at all and missed a crucial part of my education...as you can see by the gaps in my grammar Grin

DominiConnor · 18/03/2006 20:33

Does seem a bit trigger happy. By their logic the father should have been done for not helping.

leogaela · 22/03/2006 14:17

on the same subject.

\link{http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/4831834.stm\mother jailed for daughters truancy}

Is this really the answer to the problem? I don't live in the UK and don't follow things like this much but I am shocked that a parent can go to jail because there child is a truant! How will this improve anything in the child's behaviour? Maybe i am missing something or being naive, article doesn't say much about the family background.

Callisto · 22/03/2006 14:23

The whole point of this is to try and get parents to take responsibility for their children. Not sure if it is a good idea or not.

leogaela · 22/03/2006 14:36

agree with trying to get parents to take more responsibility, but sending people to jail, how is an absent parent able to take responsibility.

Chandra · 22/03/2006 14:39

I really don't know... are children in care successfully forced out of truancy?

Original poster
Caligula · 22/03/2006 19:09

Good point Chandra. I bet children in care are disproportionately more likely to truant, and I wonder who is being made accountable for their truancy?

OP posts:
cod · 22/03/2006 19:14

il tel you the schol ben over bbackwards befor eit gets to court

Original poster
Caligula · 22/03/2006 19:25

I'm sure they do, it's only very extreme cases that get to court. But I would like to know about kids in care - what happens about their truanting?

OP posts:
Blandmum · 22/03/2006 19:30

I have worked with children in care. At the end of the lesson, knowing that they would be picked up by their social worker, they would abscond. Nothing was done about it. A social worker friend told me that if a child was going to absocond they would never stop them, but would contact the police. ( I had once stood in front of the door to stop one child doing a runner in the middle of the lesson)

Original poster
Caligula · 23/03/2006 10:47

So no-one can be held accountable for not making a child in care attend school then?

OP posts:
Callisto · 23/03/2006 10:56

Not very suprising really, though very sad for the children involved.

cod · 23/03/2006 10:59

cna i just adrees the applaing grammar nt hat articel

"Magistrates had found her guilty on the basis she had not done everything she could have, suggesting she should have tried to get the help of the boy's father"

i blame the delcine of empire

(!)

Callisto · 23/03/2006 11:04

Nice sentence structure - not!

Original poster
Caligula · 23/03/2006 11:26

I've just noticed that about the "suggestion" that she should have got the help of the boy's father.

Why on earth do these people assume help would be forthcoming? They really do live in a different world, don't they.

I hadn't noticed it before because of the bad sentence structure. Wink I have difficulty understanding so much gibberish nowadays.

OP posts:
Callisto · 23/03/2006 11:31

If women are from venus and men are from mars magistrates are from beyond the pegasus galaxy.

cod · 23/03/2006 14:08

excuse me?

Chandra · 23/03/2006 20:04

Or may be blinded by so much light? (in case they are from Venus?). I like to think magistrates know far more about the case than what is portrayed in the media...

monkeytrousers · 23/03/2006 20:14

than wot is portrayed in the media. tut.

Chandra · 23/03/2006 20:23

Excuse me?

monkeytrousers · 23/03/2006 21:00

I was just adding in some dodgy grammer Chandra, forra larf Grin

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