Truancy--An Old Problem and a New Solution?

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is poised to sign a bill that would make it possible to deny teenagers a driver's license if they have too many unexcused absences from school.

During the same session, some lawmakers in Prince George's proposed strapping ankle bracelets on students to electronically monitor the whereabouts of those who constantly skip school. That bill did not advance. But the county's police announced April 11 that they had caught 425 truants in a crackdown that began in February.

At Rockville High School, officials led a crackdown of their own when they suspended 26 students after they were caught skipping class to attend a party at the house of two students whose parents were not home.

Leaving aside the stupidity of suspending students who don't want to be in school in the first, place, there is a larger problem with the truancy issue.

First, the punishment of putting kids back in the classroom does far more than punish the wayward student. The "solution" also punishes the students who want to be in class and the teacher. The truant will, eventually, take some opportunity to disrupt the class and most teachers lack teh authority to really impose discipline in their class, so they send the kid to the principals office, effectively forcing the kid out the class--which is where he wants to be in the first place.

Second, while I certainly applaud the idea of withholding drivers' licenses from truants, beyond that I am not sure that the state is punishing the right people. The proper people to punish are not the students, at least not totally, but the parents as well. I am not suggesting jail time, but I think a little financial penality would go a long way. The theory is that the parents are delinquent in their duty and why should they get off without consequence.

The ankle leash might be a little much though.