November 18, 2022
The silver bullet for truancy – feed the kids, don’t blame the parents!
The silver bullet for truancy – feed the kids, don’t blame the parents!
Our appalling truancy rates are a major social problem.
Children require education to be able to become their fullest and truest selves.
The reason we as a liberal progressive democracy promote free education is because we understand the enormous boon to our society and culture and economy well educated citizens who have critical thinking skills bring.
The power to think for yourself is the gift of modern society.
A technical and scientific world require workers who can comprehend those skills.
Without education, that path towards agency and future employment is made enormously more difficult.
That is why our recently released truancy rates are so concerning.
We need to urgently focus on solutions rather than play petty political blame games.
Unfortunately that is where the debate has immediately descended to.
National Party Leader Chris Luxon has come out blaming parents and schools for the high level of truancy.
Such broadstroke statements simply don’t help.
We need to understand the many precarious, vulnerable and desperate issues that cause the high truancy rates we are seeing.
We need solutions that help heal those issues so that children come to school and parents encourage it.
Towards that end, name calling and demands to prosecute are nothing more than performance art for reactionary voters.
Poverty, inequality and desperation drive truancy.
If we are serious about reversing these rates, we must make coming to school an immediate material benefit.
Free nutritious school breakfasts and lunches utilising local community and school gardens while providing paid work for local parents, alongside free tampons would do more to lift attendance rates than anything else while building food security and generating immediate goodwill.
That would have more impact than blaming parents and schools and pushing for prosecutions.
We need to be adults here and fight to provide well resourced positive environments that make material difference in the lives of our kids.
We deserve better ideas than punishment.
Martyn Bradbury
Editor – TheDailyBlog.nz
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