YouthFamily Service 2

Reasons why pupils miss school

Truant more correctly describes youth who refuse to attend school primarily because of extramural social rewards are greater than those available at school.

Gradual development of nonattendance after history of absences.
Child is a poor and uninterested student
Child finds community more rewarding than school or home
Family is unaware of truancy
Nonattendance is sporadic
Child is independent
Child is older
Child is apathetic and unperturbed when faced with attending school

Youth & Family Counseling Services is there to help when a child is having problems like truancy. The STAR program at the agency will help a family cope with truancy issues.

As a Parent, what can I do to help?

Make sure that your child goes to school regularly, arrives on time and keeps to the rules on going to all lessons. Start these good habits at an early age, while your child is in primary school.

If your child starts missing school, help the school to put things right. Make sure your child understands that you do not approve of him or her missing school.

If your child is ill, contact the school on the first day of your child’s illness. Staff will be concerned if they do not hear anything.

If your child is ever off school, you must tell the school why. Do this by following the arrangements made by the school.

If you want permission for your child to miss school, for example because of a special occasion such as a wedding, you should ask for permission well in advance and give full details.

Do not expect the school to agree to shopping trips during school hours.

Take an interest in your child’s schoolwork.

Support the school in its efforts to control bad behavior.

Involve parents in all truancy prevention activities

Parents play the fundamental role in the education of their children. This applies to every family regardless of the parents’ station in life, their income, or their educational background. Nobody else commands greater influence in getting a young person to go to school every day and recognizing how good education can define his or her future.

For families and schools to work together to solve problems like truancy, there must be mutual trust and communication. Many truancy programs contain components which provide intensive monitoring, counseling and other family-strengthening services to truants and their families. Schools can help by being "family-friendly" and encouraging teachers and parents to make regular contact before problems arise. Schools may want to consider arranging convenient times and neutral settings for parent meetings, starting homework hotlines, training teachers to work with parents, hiring or appointing a parent liaison and giving parents a voice in school decisions.

Services To Runaways and At-Risk Youth Program (STAR)

The STAR Program offers many services throughout Brazoria County. These include:

24-hour crisis intervention for runaways
professional counseling
vocational and psychological testing
client advocacy and support
parenting skills training
life skills training for youth.

Who are truants and runaways? Truants are students who have unexcused voluntary absences from school for three or more days (full or partial) within a three-week period. Runaways are people not yet of legal age who are absent for a substantial length of time from their homes without consent of parents or guardians. The program also serves youth who are at risk of being runaways.

Contact Youth & Family Counseling Services for information or assistance. Or you can call these toll free numbers

Runaway Hotline 1-800-392-3352
National Runaway Switchboard 1-800-621-4000
Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-252-5400

Someone will listen and try to help at Youth & Family Counseling Services.