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Truancy sweeps begin
STAFF REPORT
YOUNGSTOWN — A 12-year-old Delaware Avenue boy’s attempt to skip school almost succeeded.
He was spotted in front of his house about 10:45 a.m. Thursday by police officers and Mahoning County juvenile probation officers doing a truancy sweep.
As the officers approached, the boy’s mother came out of the house, explaining why he was home and not in school. He tried to leave in dirty clothes, she said.
That didn’t quite explain why he was about to get in a car with an adult when first seen.
Officers told the boy to get dressed in school clothes. The boy complied and was escorted to Hayes Middle School on Ford Avenue.
The truancy squad then turned their attention to a 14-year-old girl on the porch. The teenager should have been at East High School.
“Please take her,” the mother told police. “She keeps running away.”
Detective Sgt. Kevin Mercer said the girl would be charged as unruly because she would not comply with her mother’s order to go to school. “We need to help you get her under control,” Mercer told the mother.
He said parents have a responsibility to make sure their children go to school, adding parents should call police if they can’t make it happen.
Because the girl was not on the street, she could not be charged with violating the city’s ordinance for compulsory school attendance, Mercer said. School-age children found wandering the streets weekdays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. can be cited for violating the city’s daytime curfew.
Thursday’s truancy sweep ran from 9 a.m. to around 1 p.m. It began with a briefing by Mercer at the Youngstown Northside Weed and Seed office on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Weed and Seed is a program that aims to prevent violent crime, drug abuse and gang activity in target areas.
Officers limited their sweep to the North Side. The team consisted of George Anderson and Bridget Quinn, both city police officers, and four probation officers — Mike Trolio, Brian Carnie, Pat Campbell and Monica Kirkland.
The probation officers had a list of roughly 100 children wanted by juvenile court, most of whom have failed to show for court hearings. They also had a list of about 400 children on probation to juvenile court. The idea was to check the name of any youngster they found against the lists.
The team began with a walk through the Westlake Terrace Homes, a housing project on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. No truants were found, but a man and woman were picked up on warrants.
The sweep continued with a check of the Western Reserve Transit Authority bus station on Federal Street, a popular hangout for truants. Young people at the station were asked for identification and checked against the probation officers’ lists. None were truant or wanted by juvenile court.
Next came a check of North Side convenience stores. Again, no truants.
“Maybe this is the day everyone went to school,” Carnie said.
Ted Terlesky, the schools’ chief of security, said it’s essential that students receive an education and be in the classroom where they belong. He said his staff, police and juvenile probation officers are always on the lookout for truants.
Mike McNair, city schools spokesman, said truancy sweeps send a positive signal to the community and to young people who think they can ignore the daytime curfew. “They’re a good way to attack and solve the problem,” he said.
McNair didn’t have any recent truancy statistics.
Terri Bryant, Weed and Seed program coordinator, said truancy enforcement is effective in getting to the core of why children skip school.
To ensure school attendance and reduce criminal activity, a two-year $230,335 anti-gang initiative grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services was awarded to the Youngstown Police Department in January. The grant ends in October 2009.
clayor (281 comments)posted 1 year, 1 month agoHello!! They don't care if they get ahead, that is NOT on their agenda. Getting ahead is selling the most dope, having the most "bling", the nicest car, the nicest clothes. There is No interest in going to college, bettering themselves for a career in the real world, so they can in turn help others to get ahead. It is what it is and that is so sad.
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This is a very good thing for the city and for the school system. Kudos to whoever thought of this plan.
Because someone has to.
If the parents won't/can't do it, that's no reason to just write off another generation of kids who need help. Perhaps if someone steps in and gets these kids on the right path, the cycle won't be repeated.
But, Old Man, I think you're actually rooting for failure, aren't you? You want to see Youngstown continue to do poorly in order to feel superior in your judgment of other people. That really is pitiful.
Well, if you ask a student why they don't want to attend school I'll bet that 9 times out of 10 they'll say "It's boring!" There is a plethora of new technology available to make the school day more interesting... the problem is that the money needed for it isn't there. When I taught summer school in YCSD I saw plenty of waste... When I taught after-school reading in YCSD I saw inappropriately leveled materials... so again, more waste. We need new leadership for the students in Youngstown, perhaps someone who has been in the trenches teaching children, who knows what does and doesn't work? My thoughts...
It's a shame that the police actually have to enforce this. We had a truancy officer at our school that would show up at your door if you didn't come to school.... that was one person.... it takes a police task force to get Y-town kids into school! The best part of this story is that some would rather go to JJC than attend school... huh! I think there needs to be some kind of early intervention program for parents and students... The cycle needs to be broken. These parent and kids need to WANT a better life. It has to start from day one. My parents one wish was for their children was for us to have more than they did. I just can't imagine that any of these parents wish for their children to perpetuate the life they are leading now. I'm not an educator by profession so I don't know if there are any programs like this.... does anybody know?
Just about every city school in the nation has intervention programs of the kind you described. It doesn't mean anything though if the kids don't come, and there are only two people responsible for making sure that happens: the student and the parent.
Kids have been saying school is boring for decades. I'm of the opinion that school isn't necessarily a place to go for entertainment.
Does Y-town utilize one of these programs? If compliance is a problem, make it mandatory to attend, or withold all public assistance. No attendance, no food stamps... no attendance, no ADC, etc. Jail for parents, foster placement for non-attendance are enforcement incentives that could be used, as well.
Yeah htat wil lwork and ame people even madder. Using the force of the law can sometimes backfire you know. Even wen parents send their kids to school they sometimes don't go and instead end up hanging out with firends. parets can't know or i nalot of cases work so how can they?
Metz... do you have a better idea? It is the parent's responsibility to ensure their children are educated. If they are unable to control their children then they need to call the police. If a working parent doesn't turn in their paystubs to Medicaid, they will cut your benefits, why would stopping their benefits be such a bad thing. I know that if my employer held back my check unless I met certain conditions I'd surely comply.
Mini the sad part is, it's the mantality of many residents in Youngstown. They are in a box and want their kids to stay with in the walls. I have seen it with my own sister in law. I mean her daughter had a change last year and this year to go to a better school district, yet she still has decided against the will of her father to send her to subpar school. One in acedmic warning. While the other schools she good have gone to, one was rated excellent the other is a private. They just want to keep people in their box and not give them the tools to get up and out of the city. That is if they want to choose that path once old enough to do so. Putting the child first is hugh, and their are to many selfish people who only care about themselves. Open up your eyes and see these children have hugh potential, so give them a fighting chance.
To the punishing the parents. It is the parent responsibility to get htheir kids to school. But they can't sit there all day making sure they are there. Once they get to school it is the staff's responsibility to make sur ethe children stay in school. So the paents should not be jailed or punished if their kids did end up at school and in class. If they decide to skip out throughout the day, then should the staff be held responsible and sent to jail? There should not be a double standard put in place there. Something does need to happen but jailing parents it not the answer.
Truancy: The root of all school safety problems by Dale Yeager
“No child falls through the cracks. They are dropped through or shoved through by lazy, emotionally immature adults and unethical professionals”
After the Columbine shootings I made this statement during an interview on national television. The reporter asked if I really believed that statement and I replied, “absolutely!”
But you may ask what this statement has to do with the issue of truancy? Simple, truant children – who are routinely late or absent – come from dysfunctional homes. Those homes in my experience are lead by caregivers who are more concerned about their own pleasures and convenience than the welfare of their children. Some may say that this is an unkind assessment. My response to them is simple, visit these homes and you will see that this is not an aberration.
While some caregivers have a difficult time because of poverty, work schedules or transitioning to a single parent household; the majority simply refuse to exercise self control or basic order in their homes.
And this assessment is supported by various national studies. Research from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the U.S. Department of Education have found that child neglect and family disorganization are major factors in truancy. The OJJDP also found that “Truancy has been clearly identified as one of the early warning signs of students headed for potential delinquent activity, social isolation, or educational failure via suspension, expulsion, or dropping out.”
Dr Gerald Patterson sums up the issue this way, “Parenting plays a critical role in the development process of children. Early discipline failures are a primary casual factor in the development of conduct problems. Harsh discipline, low supervision, lack of parental involvement all add to the development of aggressive children”
Bullying, sexual harassment, negative behavior cliques and aggression towards staff are all done by children who come from dysfunctional homes. But beyond the home environment, schools have a big stake in controlling truancy. Not only is it a major part of NCLB compliance but it affects all school safety issues. The US DOE has tracked the following school issues that directly contribute to truancy.
• Lack of effective and consistently applied attendance policies.
• Poor record-keeping, making truancy difficult to spot.
• Teacher characteristics, such as lack of respect for students and neglect of diverse student needs.
• Unsafe environment, for example a school with ineffective discipline policies where bullying is tolerated. [5 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 skipped school because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school.]
Truancy happens in rural, suburban and urban schools and all classes of families. School must take control of their truancy problems or they are bound to be overtaken by it.
nicely said
I'd like to point out that dmets seems to be advocating locking children into school and their classrooms. That's a great educational environment.
The blessing of parental responsibility can be the curse of parental responsibility. Parents have the right over just about everything in their child's life. Children don't have the right to make decisions contrary to their parents' wishes, unless they are emancipated or ruled to be unruly and placed into state custody. Equating a school official's or staff member's responsibility to that of the child's actual parent is ridiculous. State law would also seem to agree.
TB... you're dead on! The state requires an education be had. In response to dmets, I know where my children are while I'm at work. They would rather die than disobey me. The punishment for breaking any house or school rules are unbending. My parents would never have tolerated one single phone call from the school, let alone a visit from the police on our doorstep. And finally, teachers are responsible for their education and safety while on school grounds, if children bolt out of there why should it be their fault. In addition to that, they have far more children to oversee than the average parent has... be involved in you children's lives and insist on an education. To do anything less is negligent.
You two are making me out to be this horrible parent. I do know where my kids are too at all times! They know the importance of education. They know the roles and punshishment of breaking those roles. So don't act holier than thou!
TB: I did not imply children should be locked in school. So please don't put words into my mouth. That would be a hugh fire code violation!! I just think that teachers and staff need to make their presence more known during those times kids my decide to leave school.
How do you propose they do this? Do you think teachers and school staff aren't telling the kids not to leave or skip class? I'm willing to guess every district in America has rules prohibiting that behavior, and that just about every school reviews those rules on the first day of school. What other courses of action should they take?
To be honest, if your kids are running out of the building, it's because they've learned that it's acceptable behavior or that there's no consequence at home.
See it's one thing to telling kids to not skip class. It's another thing to make your presence known when the kid are switching classes, go to lunch or are at lunch. There are kids that don't have the right values about school and it is their parents' fault and does start at home. I'm not arguing that point with you. Take Chaney for instance, I know kids who have gone there in the past, and they laugh cause the had cops in the parking lot and did nothing when kids would leave during school hours. That really blew my mind. Where I when to high school we had a class, whoever applied for the class, that had us out of the school two period mon thu thurs. Kids when to the place they were supposed to be and came back to school. Noone left and didn't come back. We were to scared of what they school and our parents would do to us! Kids are not fearful of anything and more. They might need the fear of God put into them!
dmets.... I didn't say or imply that you were a bad parent. I am speaking in regards to truancy. Teachers are assigned to the lunchroom. As far as the police at Chaney, they are there to make sure it is safe... again... it is the parents responsibility to ensure their children are where they are supposed to be. If I had to sit on my child to make sure she was in school, I'd do it. And before the "people have to work" comment is made, I'd work midnights if I had to. It comes down to having some sort of role model at home, discipline and the want for a better life. That can be reinforced in school but has to start at home.
Stil lyou knows kids do not alwas liten ot htier paents,i nfact they o te opposite. WHat you want to do put gun to thier head?
As far as I know, every school district in Ohio has hallway and lunchroom supervision. In fact, not doing so is a direct violation of state law, and would definitely open a school to some serious lawsuits.
I still don't see how you can blame a student failing to attend school on anyone other than the student and his or her parent.
If someone doesn't pay a bill on time, you don't blame the company providing the bill. If someone fails to show up at court, you don't blame the judge and jury.
Hey metz87, du mi a fafior nad yuse sepl kek. You are driving me nuts.
Yeah I type too fast alot. State law huh? Well thats' funny becuase I know some schools don't have monitors or they are just studnets themselves.
Make one of the parents have to spend an entire week sitting in the desk next to their truant son or daughter and I am certain that after the parent loses one week of work having to babysit their teenager; then add a little corporal punishment when the parent gets their child home every night after they BOTH attended school, and I GUARANTEE you that the child will make it a point not to be truant again.
So here we go again , BIG brother raising your kids. Oh those evil teachers they are so bad. How dare they ask those kids to read and do other school work. Teachers why are those kids so BORED? Do you not know that its up to you to to make sure Johnny is entertained? Maybe you teachers can do a puppet show or how about you have show and tell. The kids can bring in there dead beat parents crack pipes. Or maybe you can take the kids on a field trip to show the proper way to sign up for welfare. How about to the county jail to visit the guy who calls himself dad.Or maybe just focus on life skills like the proper way to do a drive by. HEY ITS JUST AN IDEA
TB, your are something else.
You know this problem is hugh in inner city schools. At most school they have one truancy officer who deals with the students. In the city they have a whole group. To be honest I am glad they have a truancy force in youngstown. Those kids will not be out causing trouble and making problems!
If parents don't send their kids to school and let them skip, then the parents should be charged with child neglect! The students need to be punished too. Either JJC with all day school, or even in school suspension, so they still have to do work. They won't have the freedom of watch tv and running the streets!
Yes the studnets should get the same thing the parents get otherwise it kinda is unfair.
I'd like to know specifically which schools do not monitor their students during the school day then. The children at this school are at high risk.
I know the problem of truancy is high all over the country. The state would not have made attendance a point on the state report card if it had just been an inner city problem.
I guess I don't know how I am something else. Possibly because I said all schools in Ohio have attendance tracking programs in place, or plans for students who fail to regularly attend. The city has a group to enforce the law because the school district is bigger. The city is bigger. The population is bigger.
metz, the main point you are missing is that kids don't all of a sudden decide not to attend school. Parents have control over that. Or at least they did before they decided not to parent.
Lets pay them to go to school. It will be the only job they ever have in life. Oh thats not true we all know they will be a drug dealer someday if they do not finish school. can some one tell me why the parents cannot control the kids? Is it because the parent is afraid of the kid? Well how about a foot in the a--.
What about kids who decide one day to just skip school for the heck of it with friends? Is that there oarents fault to? Or is that peer pressure and a different story?
TB: I said that, cause some school may have the system put in place. But did you see my post about the cops in the parking lot to watch for kids skipping? They didn't stop or care if the kids were skipping. They need to inforce the system, not just put it there. I'm not saying all the school do this either.
No it isn't since there parents would not know they did and never told them to. they did it themselves so it's the kids fault.
Once again the police are there to maintain order and safety. The school has truancy officers to ensure school attendance. The police you see at the school are there to make sure fights, etc are squashed as soon as they start. They also man the metal detectors and scanners.
Not at the school I am talking about. The cops are in the parking lot all day so kids will not skip school. The do that stuff in the morning and end of the school day. If a fight that teachers can not break up during happens they are called into the school. But they are also there to catch kids skipping. They kids are informed for it!
Still some kids skip no matter what.
Two of you are missing the most basic point in this matter: parenting. It's plain and simple. If you have done your job and raised your kids to respect your wishes and those of the community, etc., then your kids will not skip school. They will not get into fights at school. They will not get suspended. The overwhelming number of students in area schools fall into this category.
You can blame peer pressure or whatever, but at the end of the day responsibility lies with two people in this situation: the parent and the student. If you raise your kids right, peer pressure won't convince them to skip school.
If children miss school, the school notifies the parent at the contact number given to the school. Parents know, or at least should if their information is up to date and accurate.
I saw the post about cops in the parking lot. I can't speak to that. While you can point to the police not stopping these students from leaving, (and don't forget some kids leave for good reasons: work programs, off site instruction, etc.) the basic responsibility for staying at school rests on the students who are leaving and their families.
Ever heard of kids not lsitning to htier parents. a lot of kids do stuff they know their parents would not like you now. No matter how good you aprent they can stil lgo the wrong way. Less likely yes but there is no such thing as perfect kids.
TB if you read some of my earlier post i do blame the parents and their lack of parenting. I do get it! I also agree that some kids do make mistakes or have a brain fart. That doesn't make them bad a kid or make their parents bad.
People I have a plan that will solve this problem and some others in the area. We all know North side hospital will close someday, so here is my plan. 1st we turn 1/2 the old place into low income housing run by the city. This way the city gets all the govt housing money vs some landlord. 2nd we turn the other half into a school. Now we put all the kids and there parents who have a problem with skipping school in the apartments. This way we can make sure the kids in school. 3rd we turn the Stambaugh golf course into a farm. The parents who do not work can plant the food for all the free lunches at the school. There may be room left to drill some gas wells so we can heat the place.
This plan helps in many other ways . Now the parents can walk to Wal-Mart and get a job in the winter after the crops are harvested. They would be within walking distance of everything they need in that area. Now the police are free to work on real crime. The city saves money on school buses because the kids will already be there. Now we take the money we saved from this and give to to WRTA so others can get around town. Just think since 1/2 the kids will be at the new place we can close some of the other schools and we can also get shorter school buses that will save on fuel costs. Heck you can even have a mini hospital there. The parking would be great too. Just a thought.
Sound like a commune to me.
Maybe that's what they need!
I understand full well that kids will make mistakes. It's a part of the learning process and part of growing up. However, truancy procedures aren't started until a well-established pattern of behavior exists.
With few exceptions, truant officers aren't going after a kid or a parent who has missed two or three days of school. These are kids and families that implicitly or explicitly allow their child(ren) to miss dozens of days of school.
In truancy cases, the parent is to blame as much as the student.
If you can't control your kids, maybe you shouldn't have them.
True and those that mis like 30 days Ican see their aprnets bieng aprt of the problem but no a couple of days.
So, our police department is now in charge of babysitting and getting kids off to school?? Like thet don't have crimes to solve?? If the parents got their butts out of bed to make sure their kids were going to, or taking them to school half the problem would be solved. We pay enough taxes to the schools, I don't want my tax money being spent on babysitters. How many truant officer do you think the schoolboard must hire to keep track of these kids? Obviously almost none of you have ever been in a today school and seen the attendance records. Do you realize that state funding for the schools is based on attendance? If the school runs out of snow days money is cut. In turn, it comes out of your taxpayer dollars. We all "skipped" school, but your ages are showing, we didn't make a career out of it.This is NO Way how it used to be.
I hope you don't mean me when you said you, TB. I am very able to control my children. But yeah parents who don't care what their children do, should not have had them in the first place.
Police are mat to make sure the laws are follwed not to keep watch on school kids. That is the parents problem and the school's no who is not there and is skipping.
metz87 they are putting the cops there to watch kids for skipping class though. Of course the school does know. Or they might know. You never know who can be calling off these kids and saying they are their mom or dad. But it does come down to the parenting or lack of in almost all cases.
Sorry about that dmets. I was using "you" to mean a more general group of people, not you specifically.
Of course they are bt is that really what they are for? crime fighting is what they used to be thier job. Heck osme of these kids problaby only com to schoo lonce a week and by attendance records they know that and should expel them.
It ok TB I just wanted clearity. I figured you were you as a general term toward them. Metz87: I think they don't expel them cause of the "no student left behind" program.
Well thats' messed up. never going to school should get you the same rslut as figtining. How can you get ahead in school when you are never there?