The case shows how difficult, legally and otherwise, it can be to hold aparent responsible for a child's truancy. In this case, the mother couldnot drag her son to school, and the boy himself was adamant that he wasbeing bullied.
In modern times, to what extent can we expect absolute parentalauthority to be a reality? When the concept was introduced in 1944,children left school at 14. The majority of prosecutions for truancytoday concern young people aged 14 to 16. Sometimes even the most lovingand supportive parent is unable to influence aspects of their child'sbehaviour, especially when there are other factors at play such as theschool, peer group and, indeed, the young person's ownself-determination.
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