Truancy
From Free net encyclopedia
Truancy (in Great Britain, colloquially known as bunking off, wagging, skiving or Mitching. In the US, "playing hooky", "jigging", "ditching", "cutting") is a term widely used to describe an unexcused absence from compulsory schooling. The term truancy, typically refers to chronic absences. Other colloquial terms such as "playing hooky" and "wagging" typically do not carry the same implied abuse (and some of these terms, particulary "cutting", are used in reference to postsecondary students, for whom schooling is not compulsary).
Beyond the effect missed schooling may have on a student's academic record, chronic truancy may indicate more deeply embedded problems with the student, the education system, or both. Truancy is commonly associated with juvenile delinquency. In some countries, truancy may be penalized through severe consequences such as fines.
One intentional category of truancy during the Battle of Britain (1940) was somewhat encouraged by a safety edict that children returning to school at lunchtime should make their way to the nearest air raid shelter and stay there until the "All Clear" was signalled before making their way back to school - sensible advice, which was often debased by children staying outside to watch the overhead air battles.
Several studies indicate a high correlation between chronic truancy and poverty. Truancy may also be prevalent in dysfunctional families or children placed in the care of local authorities. Truancy is common to all socio-economic classes, with a high percentage of truants among pupils of public secondary and comprehensive schools.
Reasons for truancy
The reasons for truancy are varied, and may range from a student being bullied at school to an individual's desire to have fun or subvert authority. Sometimes, a child's own difficulty in socializing with others is more influential in causing truancy than are any particular school-related factors. In other instances, a student's pattern of truancy may begin after a particularly stressing event at school. With chronic truancy, when the pupil finally returns to school, they are often so far behind in the curriculum that the student feels that they have hopelessly fallen behind their classmates. The pupil thus returns to truancy with the hope of alleviating such feelings, further compounding the problem.
In the US, there are some cultural traditions that encourage truancy, such as "senior skip days", and other peer-initiated acts of disobedience. These are typically viewed by students as good fun, and while these activities are officially condemned and may result in disciplinary steps, are very much a part of coming of age.
The National Audit Office reported in 2005 on rates of absence in schools in England, the causes of absence, how national initiatives can improve attendance, and what schools can do to make a difference [1].
See also
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off a popular school ditching-themed film