Editorial: Truancy Individual attention required

Truancy is one of those tricky problems for which there is no one answer. There is also no one way to point the finger of blame.

Figures published in The Daily Post yesterday reveal an average 745 children are missing from Rotorua classrooms every day, the equivalent of the entire roll at Rotorua Boys' High School.

It seems shocking - hundreds of children away from school without good reason. Where are they? What are they doing? How do we ensure they return to school and stay there?

In some cases parents may be to blame for being too lax and not caring enough about where children are but they are surely in the minority. There are also families in difficult situations who may need support and guidance.

Regular truants wouldn't think twice about their futures but of course we know that wagging puts them at risk of dropping out of school altogether and that could adversely affect the rest of their lives. They will invariably regret it.

Even usually good children wag school or classes at least sometimes.

Most parents wouldn't condone their children wagging school and don't know about it until perhaps the school notifies them of ongoing unexplained absences. Most parents send their children to school each day assuming they will stay there but just like adults, children ultimately decide how to behave at any given time and bad decisions can be made.

Consequences when they misbehave are an important part of helping to curb the problem of truancy but it's not the only answer.

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh says students wag when, for whatever reason, they become disengaged with school and who can say, hand on heart, that they were never disengaged, even if only for a short time.

So consequences are part of the answer, as is support for families who need it. What also needs to be part of the solution is finding ways to re-engage with students in such a way that they want to be at school.

It's not easy. Schools have their work cut out for them.

Students are interested in different things, come from different backgrounds and with different ideas, they have their own unique personalities and issues and respond differently to situations, to teachers and teaching methods.

Unfortunately, as in pretty much everything in life, one size does not fit all when it comes to education.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

email editor@dailypost.co.nz, text DP then your message to 021 241 4568, or write to editor, PO Box 1442, Rotorua.