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Should she have been jailed?
IT'S daft to jail a mum whose daughters keep missing school. But what's the alternative? What could have been done?
When your son or daughter bunks off school there is only one loser. The child.
If it is through illness, well, that's tough luck. But every child deserves an education. Apart from being loved, it is the greatest gift they can be given. And the tragedy is that many children don't have the experience to realise it.
Sending a Poole mum to jail for eight weeks will trigger debate on whether it is a wise course of action. After all, we know our prisons are full to bursting and you have to wonder what this woman will really gain from incarceration? Or society? Locking her up with seasoned criminals seems a ridiculous measure to take to teach her the importance of schooling.
But the problem isn't new. It's been going on for years and she's had no fewer than 10 previous convictions for similar offences.
I don't know anything about her particular case but I can imagine how stressful it must be for some mums and dads to get a child who doesn't want to attend school to go. Day after day. And day after day.
But truanting children are being robbed of their education. And it is hard for them to make up for lost time when they are old enough to appreciate what they've missed.
I don't think jail for this mother is a satisfactory answer. I don't suppose anyone does. It means her children are deprived not only of school but of their mum and what good will that do?
Weeping, the mother mouthed, "I love you" to her daughters as she was taken away.
But what would teach her the lesson that she, evidently, has failed to learn?
7:00pm Friday 5th September 2008
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CommentPosted by: paul, poole on 6:04pm Sat 6 Sep 08
It's a shame that someone can bring a human being into this world and not have the choice whether or not to send them to school. Ok so we need brainy kids to make Money = Taxes but to Jail her was wrong and against her Human right as a Mother, it's not as if all the kids are staying at home because the system sucks. Those that do go to school obviously Tow the line, hook and sinker included.
TBO you're more than likely to learn more off the Internet.
It's a shame that someone can bring a human being into this world and not have the choice whether or not to send them to school. Ok so we need brainy kids to make Money = Taxes but to Jail her was wrong and against her Human right as a Mother, it's not as if all the kids are staying at home because the system sucks. Those that do go to school obviously Tow the line, hook and sinker included.
TBO you're more than likely to learn more off the Internet.
Posted by: debbie2110, bournemouth on 11:37pm Sat 6 Sep 08
Most parents that allow their children to miss school for are failing in their responsibility to those children. The kids that played truant when I was at school were always the troublemakers: the ones that smoked, the underage mothers, the glue sniffers who’d mug old ladies (sorry, it was only glue in my days, probably more likely to be pot nowadays).
If there was a reason why this mother did not send her children to school she should have (and probably did get) the offers of help and support from various agencies and the school its self. I do sympathise, I have a colleague with a dyslexic daughter who gets bullied. She keeps inventing illnesses and cries at the thought of going to school. In this instance the school has suggested counselling and remedial teaching but the main problem of the bullying has never been addressed.
I kept my own daughter out of school for 6 months teaching her at home during that period as I could not get her into a school with sufficient standards of learning when I moved to London. I did not want her starting from scratch with ABC and basic numbers at aged 7 when she was already learning a second language, playing violin and reading books without pictures! The school (the only one offered) had to start with the basics as English was not the first language of most of the children there and those that were English still could not read or write at 7! There was also a 10 year old who stabbed another child in the arm over some cannabis just after we moved there. Mothers, and fathers, need to know they are sending their children to a safe and healthy environment. Should this not be the case then withholding their attendance is totally understandable and reasonable.
Not knowing the full facts and whether the mother was acting reasonably in allowing her children to miss school or whether she was merely trying to protect from further harm all I can say is that 10 previous convictions and over several years does seem unreasonable. If she had issues with the school perhaps she should have sought a move to another area and taken steps to ensure her girls were given every chance that I’m sure they deserve. If steps are not taken to ensure children have support to fulfil their full potential in later life we’ll just end up with these kids doomed to a life on benefits and low self-esteem.
For this alone she would deserve a prison sentence in my opinion.
It’s not just a matter of how much you can learn off the Internet Paul from Poole, what if the child cannot read or write? What about the social interaction and chances for friendship? And on your argument about it being ‘a shame someone can bring a human being into this world and not have the choice on whether to send them to school’, does this mean that all parents should be able to do as they please? I do hope not, some children desperately need protection from their parents. We are such an insular society these days relying on the police to deal with crime with little or no cooperation from the communities – we are the least likely in Europe to ‘have-a-go’ and attempt to stop a crime in progress. We also have a pretty bad reputation for not assisting police in their enquiries, as too many people just don’t want to get involved.
Most parents that allow their children to miss school for are failing in their responsibility to those children. The kids that played truant when I was at school were always the troublemakers: the ones that smoked, the underage mothers, the glue sniffers who’d mug old ladies (sorry, it was only glue in my days, probably more likely to be pot nowadays).
If there was a reason why this mother did not send her children to school she should have (and probably did get) the offers of help and support from various agencies and the school its self. I do sympathise, I have a colleague with a dyslexic daughter who gets bullied. She keeps inventing illnesses and cries at the thought of going to school. In this instance the school has suggested counselling and remedial teaching but the main problem of the bullying has never been addressed.
I kept my own daughter out of school for 6 months teaching her at home during that period as I could not get her into a school with sufficient standards of learning when I moved to London. I did not want her starting from scratch with ABC and basic numbers at aged 7 when she was already learning a second language, playing violin and reading books without pictures! The school (the only one offered) had to start with the basics as English was not the first language of most of the children there and those that were English still could not read or write at 7! There was also a 10 year old who stabbed another child in the arm over some cannabis just after we moved there. Mothers, and fathers, need to know they are sending their children to a safe and healthy environment. Should this not be the case then withholding their attendance is totally understandable and reasonable.
Not knowing the full facts and whether the mother was acting reasonably in allowing her children to miss school or whether she was merely trying to protect from further harm all I can say is that 10 previous convictions and over several years does seem unreasonable. If she had issues with the school perhaps she should have sought a move to another area and taken steps to ensure her girls were given every chance that I’m sure they deserve. If steps are not taken to ensure children have support to fulfil their full potential in later life we’ll just end up with these kids doomed to a life on benefits and low self-esteem.
For this alone she would deserve a prison sentence in my opinion.
It’s not just a matter of how much you can learn off the Internet Paul from Poole, what if the child cannot read or write? What about the social interaction and chances for friendship? And on your argument about it being ‘a shame someone can bring a human being into this world and not have the choice on whether to send them to school’, does this mean that all parents should be able to do as they please? I do hope not, some children desperately need protection from their parents. We are such an insular society these days relying on the police to deal with crime with little or no cooperation from the communities – we are the least likely in Europe to ‘have-a-go’ and attempt to stop a crime in progress. We also have a pretty bad reputation for not assisting police in their enquiries, as too many people just don’t want to get involved.
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