Cities Take Aim at Truancy

http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2011/03/04/cities-take-aim-at-truancy?s_cid=rss:cities-take-aim-at-truancy

This article discusses the ongoing problem of truancy within schools nationwide and some of the new techniques being employed to help curb the "epidemic." One thing researchers realize is the importance of making students want to go to school early in childhood. In New York, 79 percent of children in the juvenile justice system had been chronically absent, meaning they missed 20 days or more of school. About 90 percent of high school dropouts had missed significant portions of school prior to withdrawing. Truancy has also been linked to teen pregnancy, drug use, and poverty. "There isn't a city in this country that doesn't face this problem," says John Feinblatt, the mayor's chief policy adviser who oversees the task force. School districts in Anaheim, Calif. have begun piloting a GPS-monitoring system developed by Aim Truancy Solutions. In New York, students will receive automated phone calls from celebrities through the Wake Up! NYC program. Students who have missed at least 10 cumulative days of school will receive automated calls each morning from celebrities like Johnson, rapper Trey Songz, and New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes urging them to go to school. My belief on this issue is that you have to instill the proper motivation within your child and lay down the importance of receiving a quality education. You can try all the gimicks and gadgets you want, but it still has to come from within the child to want to learn, not from a system that we develop.