: ''The Truant's Log'', 1899
Denmark In
Denmark, some welfare benefits may be confiscated for a period if the child does not attend school. However, not all cities use this approach to keep the children in school. Most cities watch for families who have not returned their children to school after the summer vacation because some groups
exiled their children to their ethnic home countries for
behavior modification. In the city of
Aarhus, 155 children had not attended one week after school started. In April 2009, research among 4,000 students showed that more than one in three had been absent during the past 14 days.
Finland In
Finland, truant pupils are usually punished with
detention in comprehensive schools. The police are not involved in truancy control, but teachers monitor the school and its surrounding area to avoid unauthorized absences. If a pupil is absent for a long period of time, the parents may be fined. The child will not be escorted to school, but the government may remove the child from the household if truancy continues.
Germany In
Germany, truancy is prohibited until the age of 18, and parents can be fined up to 1,250 euros or jailed if their child misses too much school. The students themselves can also be imprisoned for truancy from age 14 to 18, because the criminal responsibility age is 14 in Germany. The students older than 18 cannot be held criminally liable for truancy.
Italy In Italy, compulsory education starts at six years of age and finishes at 16, but truancy constitutes a crime only for the elementary-school level.
Taiwan Truancy is subject to an administrative fine, which may be continued until proper enrollment in the compulsory education.
United Kingdom In
England and Wales, truancy is a criminal offense for parents if the child concerned is registered at school. Truancy laws do not apply to children educated at home or otherwise under Section 7 of the
Education Act 1996. Since the passage of the
Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, parents of persistent truants may be imprisoned for up to three months. In 2002, the first parent was imprisoned under this provision. Since 1998, a police officer of or above the rank of superintendent may direct that for a specified time in a specified area a police officer may remove a child believed to be absent from a school without authority to that school or to another designated place. However, this is neither a power of arrest nor a power to detain, and it does not make truancy a criminal offense. A warning is issued to parents following the first instance of truancy, but for subsequent events, the parents are assessed a fine of at least £50. Some charities have highlighted an increasing prevalence of truancy among impoverished girls during
menstruation, especially among girls who do not have easy access to sanitary products.
United States In the
United States, truancy regulations are generally enforced by school officials under the context of parental responsibility. New automated calling systems allow the automated notification of parents when a child is not marked present in the computer, and truancy records for many states are available for inspection online. In large schools where law enforcement officers are present, the fine for truancy can range from $250 to as much as $500. About 12,000 students were ticketed for truancy in 2008 in
Los Angeles. Many states provide for the appointment of local truancy officers who have the authority to arrest habitually truant youths and bring them to their parents or to the school that they are supposed to attend. Many states also have the power to revoke a student's driver's license or permit. Where it exists, a school truancy officer is often concurrently a
constable or
sheriff. Children are required by
law to remain in school until the age of 16, although some states require schooling through age 18 unless an absence is formally excused by a school official or if the child has been
expelled. In the 1972 case of
Wisconsin v. Yoder, the Supreme Court determined that
Amish children could not be placed under compulsory education laws past the eighth grade. Children in
private school or
homeschooling are exempt from attending mandatory public schooling. == Truant's Day ==