Truancy: Is there a solution?

A truant is described in the Oxford Dictionary as "a child who stays away from school" and most schools frown heavily on this sort of behaviour.

The reasons students wag school, skive off, or skip class vary, but generally fall under one of these areas:

• They feel angry about something, whether at school or at home
  
• Their friends or peers do it
  
• They want attention, even if it's for doing something negative
  
• They feel that there's better things to do than go to school
  
• They feel bullied
  
• They may have learning difficulties and find it easier to wag
  
• They get bored with school

These are just a few reasons why students decide not to go to school, and in general, schools will be very concerned if a student is absent without a letter or phone call from their parent or guardian.

The main reason schools are concerned about truancy is that it's a question of safety as well as developing skills.

Of course, most schools want to see children learn, more than anything else, but the safety aspect is a very important one.

Granted, when you are a student it often seems like there's so many other interesting things to do, but at the end of the day, teachers and staff aren't checking roles and asking questions because they're resentful people - it's a question of safety and responsibility.

According to the ABC's Stateline program, in South Australian public schools, around 1 in 10 students don't turn up for class, which equates to some 14,000 students per day. Some have excuses, but not all.

On average, this means that over a South Australian student's entire schooling life, more than one year's education is exchanged for hanging out at the mall, playing video games and generally spending time away from school.

At the same time, Victorian public schools seem to be suffering too. While more primary school students are present in class, Education Department figures show that for every year level in Victorian secondary schools, the rate of truancy is higher, with the average year nine student missing more than one month of school per year.

A lot of schools today have strict rules to stop truacy from getting out of hand, and at one Victorian school, it's using technology to do this.

Simply put, teachers use PDAs (personal digital assistants) or hand-held computers like the Palm Pilot instead of a regular paper-based roll call. The information is rapidly uploaded into the school's computer system and if a student is absent, the system would automatically notify the parents unless their absence had already been explained.

This system is in place at Box Hill Secondary School and has been running for four years now. Statistics show that in this four-year period truancy has dropped by more than 60 per cent.

At the end of the day however, the reasons behind truancy are so varied that sometimes confrontation isn't always the best way around it. While truancy may be dropping thanks to the use of fool-proof technology, a class full of unhappy students is not a complete solution.

Let us know about your thoughts on the reasons behind truancy.

Have you ever skipped class? If so, what would make you want to go school instead of wagging?

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