The truancy awareness course prevention programs promote school engagement, academic instruction and assistance, and safety and supportive schools. These programs must also include family support services and a variety of other strategies.
Definition
In the United States, truancy refers to unauthorized absence from school. The precise definition varies between schools and districts. Some consider students truant when they miss a full day of school, while others only count absences that are not excused.
Studies have shown that truancy is linked to delinquency and criminal behavior later in life, and many truant youths have serious psychosocial problems such as failing grades and drug use. A practical truancy awareness course may address all causes at community, student/family, and school levels of intervention. Many of these programs have also implemented problem-solving courts focusing on the underlying causes rather than punishment. These courts are often set up on school grounds or reorganized as special truancy dockets within juvenile and family courts.
Causes
Truancy is a serious problem that affects students, schools, and communities. It can lead to problems, including poor academic performance and social isolation. It can also increase the risk of adult criminal behavior. Boredom, peer pressure, and family issues contribute to truancy. In one study, the authors interviewed ten truant teenagers and found that three main themes emerged: boredom/disengagement, lack of punitive deterrence, and negative peer influence.
Other factors contributing to truancy include lack of parental involvement, poverty and financial hardship, drug and alcohol use, family violence, and the perception that education is unimportant. Students may also cite their dislike of particular classes or feel they waste time. These are issues that can be prevented with the help of school administrators and teachers.
Prevention
A student’s attendance issues can profoundly affect their life and future. They must be addressed quickly and effectively. In addition to addressing the underlying issues, schools can prevent truancy by ensuring parents/guardians are involved in their child’s education. This includes providing them the support and resources they need, including various online learning opportunities.
Also, a positive school culture can help to prevent truancy by making sure that students are engaged with their learning and not bored. This could include organizing exciting events like ‘Green Week’ or ‘Academic Week.’ In addition, they can provide extra learning opportunities, such as homework clubs and tutors, for those with many unplanned absences. These strategies are crucial for disadvantaged students.
Intervention
Truant students have significant educational and psychological problems that affect the entire family. They must be brought back into the classroom to improve their school performance and academic success. Successful truancy interventions require a continuum of care, including the student, parents/guardians, schools, community, and court involvement. Without such an approach, truancy programs can become merely punitive and fail to address the root causes of a youth’s problem with school attendance.
A truancy intervention program should offer positive alternatives that help students achieve their short- and long-term goals by keeping them out of trouble and in a supportive learning environment with caring people. Programs that provide these services effectively decrease truancy and improve academic achievement.
Evaluation
Truancy prevention programs should be evaluated for effectiveness. Several evaluation methods are available, such as participant observation, surveys, and performance monitoring. Moreover, program evaluations should take into account the influence of outside factors.
For example, school and community-based attendance improvement efforts are usually influenced by outside social problems such as troubled family situations and drug use. These social problems can lead to truancy and, in turn, impact the family’s ability to participate in education-related activities.
Attendance courts are one way of addressing truancy in a more structured and legal manner. These courts involve the student, parent, school, and a case manager who works with the family over time to help address the causes of their truancy.
