Posted on 05/14/2002 9:56:32 AM PDT by NYer
LONDON (AP) _ A woman has been jailed for 60 days for failing to stop her teen-age daughters from skipping school _ a punishment that her family called unfair but education officials applauded on Tuesday.
Patricia Amos, 43, was sentenced by magistrates at Banbury in southern England last week for not ensuring that her daughters Jackie, 13, and Emma, 15, regularly attended school.
It is believed to be the first time that the courts have jailed a parent under powers gained in November 2000, when the maximum penalty for allowing a child to skip school was raised from $1,400 to $3,650 and up to three months in prison.
``Condoned truancy and absence is one of the besetting sins of the education service,'' said David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers. ``This does send out a strong message to all concerned that the powers available will be used where justified.''
In remarks in several newspapers Tuesday, Amos's eldest daughter, Kerry Cowman, who is married and has children of her own, said the family is devastated. ``My mum has done nothing wrong,'' said Cowman, 25. ``She used to get my sisters dressed and send them to school. It's not her fault they would play truant,'' The Guardian quoted her as saying. ``There must be another way of teaching kids a lesson without locking their mother up.'' She said her sisters have now returned to school.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has made cutting truancy and combatting a growing problem of bad behavior in schools a priority of his government. More than 50,000 students skip school every day in Britain. The Education Department blamed 40 percent of street crime and 25 percent of burglaries on 10 to 16-year-olds who skipped classes.
Education Secretary Estelle Morris said it was unfortunate Amos went to jail, ``but if this is a sign that magistrates are taking tackling truancy seriously then I welcome it. The government also plans to station uniformed police in up to 110 of Britain's most troubled schools and to introduce electronic swipe-card IDs to prove students have attended classes. Blair has also proposed withholding some welfare payments from parents whose children skip school. AP-ES-05-14-02 1130EDT
"What's that? You say I can't?"
"No problem! I'll just ditch school again and have you sent to the pokey for another few months."
"Yup, I thought that'd change your mind. And while I'm at it, why don't you hand over the car keys and all the money in your purse too. SeeYa!"
Pure genius.
Now, is punishing the mother the answer - not unless the mother actively encouraged and promoted her children to skip school, but if they skipped despite her best efforts to get them in school - then it's no loner her problem - punish the kids. I don't think jail time is the answer.
Society today does not allow parents to discipline their children. A swat to a child's backside can now land you with charges for abuse/assault. Ok - so lets pursue other options for discipline - "time out" or "grounding"? wow - so the kid doesn't really learn a lesson - get's in trouble with the law and the parent pays the price - further encouraging the behavior....where does it end?
I've got an idea! --- Let's let the schools raise and discipline our children ------- While they are at it - the schools can teach values, morals, politics, atheism, and whatever else they want. It's run by the government, so it's got to be good!
Don't be so proud - we've got plenty of that here, and it's growing by leaps and bounds. And barely a peep from the peasants.
Nope. There's a growing homeschool movement here which is perfectly legal.
Don't bother straw man-ing me.
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