Government has repeatedly demonstrated a tough carrot-and-stick approach to tackling anti-social and negative behaviour in children and young people. However, this can oversimplify problems. For example, when a child plays truant who is to blame? The "misbehaving" child; the "condoning" parent; the education system that fails to engage the youngster; or wider society? The reality, of course, is that truancy is always complex, so extreme measures such as locking up parents tend to make headlines rather than address the cause. In their desire to be seen to be pushing a policy package that includes tough final sanctions, the Government can sometimes rely on criminalisation.
When relationships between schools, parents and children have broken down, the benefit of blunt instruments such as fines and custodial sentences are questionable. Maybe a short, sharp shock can change behaviour in some cases, but in the majority of cases, fines and prison sentences will fail to tackle the cause of the problem and, often, will make life more difficult, at least in the short term, for the children involved.
Truancy is the consequence rather than the cause of difficulties in a child's life; whether there are problems at home, with friends or at school.
Therefore, challenging truancy when it occurs requires a more co-ordinated approach. For example, Westminster City Council has approved a plan to co-ordinate its anti-truancy strategy with 13 London boroughs. Recognising that a multi-agency, cross-authority approach is most effective, the councils' Behaviour and Support Plan will set tough attendance targets and involve patrols and door-knock schemes, as well as measures to support parents and re-engage pupils with their education.
Many of the Government's measures introduced to engage children and their parents in education are to be welcomed (and are far from the soft touch that they are portrayed as by some). There will always be parents who refuse to co-operate with support services to ensure their children stay in school. That said, the general approach should not be skewed disproportionately towards dealing with extreme cases. Ministers should understand that the most obvious sanction is not always the toughest, less still the most effective.
