Truancy is defined as the unexcused absence from school which also applies to students who are frequently late. There are a number of reasons that make children commit truancy like drugs, alcohol, verbal abuse and frequent moving from place to place and a hostile school environment.
Causes of Truancy
There have been a number of reasons why students opt for missing school days. Some of the main reasons leading to truancy are:
- Lack of encouragement from parents.
- Too much freedom that is given to students from their parents.
- Lack of encouragement from teachers in schools.
Effects of Truancy
Truancy has diverse effects not only on a student or a school, it holds it’s effect on the community as a whole. The effects of it are delinquency, criminal and gang activities while the long-term effects include poor physical and mental health, family poverty and a great risk of addiction and incarceration. A student’s education is wasted, thus leading to all these problems. As students are truants, there is not much that an education system can do but to inform the parents of the child or initiate a court hearing.
Combating Truant Behavior
A number of strategies have been put into force in order to tackle truant behavior. Some of the recommendations include instructional, behavioral and community-based interventions. Children are encouraged to attend interventions that will encourage them in receiving a better education while showing them the effects of not getting one. This approach is a better solution than a court hearing for that child, which ends up discouraging him/her even more from attending school.
In relation to this, there are a number of students who commit truancy when the standard of education that is being taught in the educational institute does not supply the right demand that they want. This can be for any reason like a different curriculum, the subjects or the way of teaching itself.
How Do We Fix This?
To fix this, schools are advised to encourage their pupils in speaking out their inadequacy and figuring out a way for changing it. Schools must be responsive to the needs of the students and not ignore them because education is a two-way process. An environment where students are encouraged to speak out their troubles reduces the chances for students committing truancy and encouraging them to get an education.