Mother in court over truant daughter (From The Argus)
Get involved: Send your news, views, pictures and video by texting SUPIC to 80360 or email us.
Mother in court over truant daughter
4:30pm Sunday 10th March 2013 in News
A mother said getting her teenage daughter to school was “like banging her head against a wall” after she appeared in court over her truancy.
The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said it was “a constant battle” to get her 15- year-old daughter to school which she attended on less than three quarters of the required days.
Brighton and Hove City Council brought the prosecution after the girl attended only 102 of 142 half-day sessions between September and January.
Since then the child’s attendance had dropped still further to just 32 of 68 half days between January and March.
Magistrates were sympathetic to the mother’s efforts, as well as those of her other daughters, to get her daughter to school.
They chose to sentence her to a six month conditional discharge as opposed to the maximum £1000 fine.
Comments(42)
fredaj
says...
5:33pm Sun 10 Mar 13
Maxwell's Ghost wrote:It can never be better to be uneducated and without education youngsters stand zero chance of getting a job, especially at so young an age.
The girl would probably better off going to work. Some kids are ready at 15 and school is just boring particularly if they aren't academic.
lillylou
says...
5:59pm Sun 10 Mar 13
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
6:21pm Sun 10 Mar 13
At the moment these jobs are inhabited by migrant workers when they could be taken up by the less academic British youth.
davyboy
says...
6:31pm Sun 10 Mar 13
lillylou wrote:the school cannot keep her there as that is imprisonment. it is a parents responsibility in law to ensure their child is educated, either at school or otherwise, until the age of 16 (now 18). this mother is lucky to escape with such a light sentence. it even says her other children attempt to get this child to school, without success. she can be home educated, but that seems like it won't happen. it is a shame that this girl doesn't understand the importance of an education. the school cannot be taken to court as they are supplying the education this girl doesn't seem to want. they have done nothing wrong.
and hows this the mothers fault its not her fault the school dont keep her there,how can a parant keep a kid at school stop blaming parants and take the school to court
Hove Actually
says...
6:32pm Sun 10 Mar 13
fredaj wrote:No far better to disrupt the education of the rest of her class by taking up more of the teachers time than is nesessary dealing with her.
Maxwell's Ghost wrote: The girl would probably better off going to work. Some kids are ready at 15 and school is just boring particularly if they aren't academic.It can never be better to be uneducated and without education youngsters stand zero chance of getting a job, especially at so young an age.
One day a pupil is going to take a school to court for pandering to the silly childern and failing to provide the education they should have to those who want to learn and better themselves.
fredaj
says...
7:11pm Sun 10 Mar 13
lillylou wrote:It is the parent's responsibility.
and hows this the mothers fault its not her fault the school dont keep her there,how can a parant keep a kid at school stop blaming parants and take the school to court
fredaj
says...
7:12pm Sun 10 Mar 13
Hove Actually wrote:Can't we do both?
fredaj wrote:No far better to disrupt the education of the rest of her class by taking up more of the teachers time than is nesessary dealing with her.
Maxwell's Ghost wrote: The girl would probably better off going to work. Some kids are ready at 15 and school is just boring particularly if they aren't academic.It can never be better to be uneducated and without education youngsters stand zero chance of getting a job, especially at so young an age.
One day a pupil is going to take a school to court for pandering to the silly childern and failing to provide the education they should have to those who want to learn and better themselves.
chilliman
says...
7:25pm Sun 10 Mar 13
Maxwell's Ghost wrote:I agree that a child should be able to do many jobs by the age of fifteen, but it seems that nowdays there are many child of that age who haven't learnt enough to tie their own shoe/trainer laces let alone work. They all seem to think that a degree is a right and anything else is against their human rights.
At 15 one would hope a child has learnt enough to work in many jobs. There's nothing wrong with skilled labour jobs which may not require GCSEs in geography or chemistry or PE.
At the moment these jobs are inhabited by migrant workers when they could be taken up by the less academic British youth.
A girl of fifteen can also be extremely unco-operative with anyone trying to talk some sense whether a parent, sibling, friend or teacher. Boys can be awkward but girls take it to another level.
puddingandpi
says...
9:09pm Sun 10 Mar 13
lillylou
says...
10:21pm Sun 10 Mar 13
HJarrs
says...
10:25pm Sun 10 Mar 13
The judgement here seems to be saying that in this case the law does not recognise the complexity of the situation.
lillylou
says...
10:27pm Sun 10 Mar 13
lillylou
says...
10:30pm Sun 10 Mar 13
Hoarder12345444
says...
10:49pm Sun 10 Mar 13
The woman is responsible but you can't stop the girl leaving and doing what she wants. She is the boss and her daughter is under her authority so she is held responsible until she is 18.
Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit
says...
5:56am Mon 11 Mar 13
Maxwell's Ghost wrote:Agreed. A combination of governments wanting to massage the unemployment figures, educationalists believing that passing academic exams is the way to a 'good job' and society wanting potentially problem teenagers to be legally corralled during daylight hours have led us to the current situation where people patently unsuited to any type of academic life are forced to endure it - to the detriment of everyone.
The girl would probably better off going to work. Some kids are ready at 15 and school is just boring particularly if they aren't academic.
Can't see it changing soon though.
Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit
says...
5:59am Mon 11 Mar 13
Maxwell's Ghost wrote:...and Maxwell, I think you're agreeing with HJarrs! That's a first isn't it? :-))
The girl would probably better off going to work. Some kids are ready at 15 and school is just boring particularly if they aren't academic.
Somethingsarejustwrong
says...
7:06am Mon 11 Mar 13
HJarrs wrote:No HJarrs. The situation is far from complex, its people like you who create complexity because you don't appear to have the ability to apply common sense and logic.
Some people for whatever reason are square pegs in round holes. I am sure everyone has met people that did not do well at school but thrived when given the right environment.
The judgement here seems to be saying that in this case the law does not recognise the complexity of the situation.
lillylou
says...
7:10am Mon 11 Mar 13
lillylou
says...
7:13am Mon 11 Mar 13
monkeymoo
says...
7:47am Mon 11 Mar 13
lillylou wrote:It seems you have been hurt in the past.
Mums are usually given mon to fri by the court yet the dads are given cosy weekend no stress with sch just a day at zoo n McDonald's than given to mother again for sch how verb unfair
There are many cases where EITHER parent can be blamed, but that it not what the ARTICLE is about.
It is about attending school for an education.
Maybe if your mother had made you stay in school, you would be able to write and spell properly....trying to decipher all the posts you have written is nearly impossible!!
HJarrs
says...
8:23am Mon 11 Mar 13
thevoiceoftruth
says...
11:51am Mon 11 Mar 13
I too hated my school and skived off - I ended up going to college/uni later in life and getting good qualifications but I regret not making the most of school.
Without any qualifications, she will be disadvantaged for life. So get back to school, missy! Unless you want to have a boring dead end job and no prospects.
lillylou
says...
12:16pm Mon 11 Mar 13
monkeymoo wrote:Your a thicko at least im using a touch screen iPhone. What you on a laptop der
lillylou wrote:It seems you have been hurt in the past.
Mums are usually given mon to fri by the court yet the dads are given cosy weekend no stress with sch just a day at zoo n McDonald's than given to mother again for sch how verb unfair
There are many cases where EITHER parent can be blamed, but that it not what the ARTICLE is about.
It is about attending school for an education.
Maybe if your mother had made you stay in school, you would be able to write and spell properly....trying to decipher all the posts you have written is nearly impossible!!
lillylou
says...
12:19pm Mon 11 Mar 13
lillylou wrote:I was bought up by two men actually and attended a very good school so smoke that monkey moooooooo
monkeymoo wrote:Your a thicko at least im using a touch screen iPhone. What you on a laptop der
lillylou wrote:It seems you have been hurt in the past.
Mums are usually given mon to fri by the court yet the dads are given cosy weekend no stress with sch just a day at zoo n McDonald's than given to mother again for sch how verb unfair
There are many cases where EITHER parent can be blamed, but that it not what the ARTICLE is about.
It is about attending school for an education.
Maybe if your mother had made you stay in school, you would be able to write and spell properly....trying to decipher all the posts you have written is nearly impossible!!
lillylou
says...
12:20pm Mon 11 Mar 13
HJarrs wrote:Thankyou someone a bit normal on here
Keep going lillylou! Too many people want a 'one size fits all' solution. The Judge in this case seems to have understood that the law is too simplistic for all cases of truancy. In this article we are not presented with any background information, so we don't know why the girl is truanting.
Mr_Tom
says...
12:59pm Mon 11 Mar 13
lillylou wrote:clearly you did well at school.. and aren't a **** mother at all! of course it's the parents fault.. early on children learn attitudes towards work and learning from those around them and parents.. if you're dole-scum relying on free handouts and a free house and you can barely string a sentence together then of course your child is going to be following in your footsteps.. what about waiting till you're in a financially and emotionally stable relationship before having kids rather than sh*gging some bloke down the pub after spending your JSA money on bacardi breezers and getting in the club before you even know his second name..
monkeymoo wrote:Your a thicko at least im using a touch screen iPhone. What you on a laptop der
lillylou wrote:It seems you have been hurt in the past.
Mums are usually given mon to fri by the court yet the dads are given cosy weekend no stress with sch just a day at zoo n McDonald's than given to mother again for sch how verb unfair
There are many cases where EITHER parent can be blamed, but that it not what the ARTICLE is about.
It is about attending school for an education.
Maybe if your mother had made you stay in school, you would be able to write and spell properly....trying to decipher all the posts you have written is nearly impossible!!
mazza1811
says...
1:00pm Mon 11 Mar 13
lillylou wrote:Oh dear.....
monkeymoo wrote:Your a thicko at least im using a touch screen iPhone. What you on a laptop derlillylou wrote: Mums are usually given mon to fri by the court yet the dads are given cosy weekend no stress with sch just a day at zoo n McDonald's than given to mother again for sch how verb unfairIt seems you have been hurt in the past. There are many cases where EITHER parent can be blamed, but that it not what the ARTICLE is about. It is about attending school for an education. Maybe if your mother had made you stay in school, you would be able to write and spell properly....trying to decipher all the posts you have written is nearly impossible!!
runnergirl
says...
2:06pm Mon 11 Mar 13
Mr_Tom
says...
2:48pm Mon 11 Mar 13
runnergirl wrote:or you could take responsibility for teaching your offspring the value of learning instead of just blaming somebody else.. it's not my fault,..
lillylou, I'm with you on this one, and I understand perfectly well what you are saying. Why indeed is all the blame being heaped on the girl's mother - has it nothing to do with the father? And of course you can't be in two places at once - how can you physically march a kid to school, especially if you are trying to hold down a job? No-one who hasn't experienced trying to get a truculent adolescent to attend school can understand what anguishes the parents go through. This local authority wield a very heavy stick, which ultimately does further damage.
it's all we hear these days...
monkeymoo
says...
3:10pm Mon 11 Mar 13
lillylou wrote:You poor, poor person.
lillylou wrote:I was bought up by two men actually and attended a very good school so smoke that monkey moooooooo
monkeymoo wrote:Your a thicko at least im using a touch screen iPhone. What you on a laptop der
lillylou wrote:It seems you have been hurt in the past.
Mums are usually given mon to fri by the court yet the dads are given cosy weekend no stress with sch just a day at zoo n McDonald's than given to mother again for sch how verb unfair
There are many cases where EITHER parent can be blamed, but that it not what the ARTICLE is about.
It is about attending school for an education.
Maybe if your mother had made you stay in school, you would be able to write and spell properly....trying to decipher all the posts you have written is nearly impossible!!
I really feel sorry for you. Your limited ability to construct a sentence let alone spell them.
I too have a smart phone to post comments, but i am able to control my fingers to type the words i require. They're not shaking from alcohol or drug abuse....like some!?
Smoke that!
runnergirl
says...
3:12pm Mon 11 Mar 13
Mr_Tom wrote:Mr_Tom has never had children ...
runnergirl wrote:or you could take responsibility for teaching your offspring the value of learning instead of just blaming somebody else.. it's not my fault,..
lillylou, I'm with you on this one, and I understand perfectly well what you are saying. Why indeed is all the blame being heaped on the girl's mother - has it nothing to do with the father? And of course you can't be in two places at once - how can you physically march a kid to school, especially if you are trying to hold down a job? No-one who hasn't experienced trying to get a truculent adolescent to attend school can understand what anguishes the parents go through. This local authority wield a very heavy stick, which ultimately does further damage.
it's all we hear these days...
monkeymoo
says...
3:13pm Mon 11 Mar 13
runnergirl wrote:You make this comment as if you know the girls father is still alive or even in this country.
lillylou, I'm with you on this one, and I understand perfectly well what you are saying. Why indeed is all the blame being heaped on the girl's mother - has it nothing to do with the father? And of course you can't be in two places at once - how can you physically march a kid to school, especially if you are trying to hold down a job? No-one who hasn't experienced trying to get a truculent adolescent to attend school can understand what anguishes the parents go through. This local authority wield a very heavy stick, which ultimately does further damage.
Until the facts are known, lets not judge EITHER parent.
John Steed
says...
3:24pm Mon 11 Mar 13
my sympathy is with the mother, its not always possible to be a perfect parent in this perfect world.
Peteinblack
says...
3:30pm Mon 11 Mar 13
monkeymoo
says...
4:39pm Mon 11 Mar 13
Peteinblack wrote:Do you mean the mother!!!?
If she's anything like a lot of teenage girls, she probably has absolutely no interest in anything except permanently texting or chatting on a pretty pink mobile phone, or dreaming of becoming a glamour model and then marrying a footballer or celebrity!
ghost bus driver
says...
6:11pm Mon 11 Mar 13
Maxwell's Ghost wrote:When I was 16 I tried getting a Saturday and after school job at McDonalds. Got turned down for it though. I ended up at homebase for a while before I went to college. Since then I've been in work for 13 years non stop at 3 separate jobs. The current one for B&H buses has been the longest lived so far. I really do understand that school can be boring to a 15 year old but its necessary, it's just up to the teachers to teach the lessons in a way that the kids understand and many teachers just waffle on and on about boring theory, pausing only to shout at the kids. What's needed is more engaging, practical lessons that keep their interest. I always excelled most at things like DT, computer skills and even Home Economics as they were something different that wasn't just reciting stuff out of textbooks. I think if I went back to school now I could probably do so much better.
The girl would probably better off going to work. Some kids are ready at 15 and school is just boring particularly if they aren't academic.
lillylou
says...
10:06pm Mon 11 Mar 13
monkeymoo wrote:Get stuffed peodo
lillylou wrote:You poor, poor person.
lillylou wrote:I was bought up by two men actually and attended a very good school so smoke that monkey moooooooo
monkeymoo wrote:Your a thicko at least im using a touch screen iPhone. What you on a laptop der
lillylou wrote:It seems you have been hurt in the past.
Mums are usually given mon to fri by the court yet the dads are given cosy weekend no stress with sch just a day at zoo n McDonald's than given to mother again for sch how verb unfair
There are many cases where EITHER parent can be blamed, but that it not what the ARTICLE is about.
It is about attending school for an education.
Maybe if your mother had made you stay in school, you would be able to write and spell properly....trying to decipher all the posts you have written is nearly impossible!!
I really feel sorry for you. Your limited ability to construct a sentence let alone spell them.
I too have a smart phone to post comments, but i am able to control my fingers to type the words i require. They're not shaking from alcohol or drug abuse....like some!?
Smoke that!
lillylou
says...
10:11pm Mon 11 Mar 13
Mr_Tom wrote:but I'm a man and have a mortgage and earn £ 80,000 annually so why are you saying I'm o n the dole you sado I suggest you meet a woman and breed or if you are a woman stop ponsin off yar fella and look after oneself
lillylou wrote:clearly you did well at school.. and aren't a **** mother at all! of course it's the parents fault.. early on children learn attitudes towards work and learning from those around them and parents.. if you're dole-scum relying on free handouts and a free house and you can barely string a sentence together then of course your child is going to be following in your footsteps.. what about waiting till you're in a financially and emotionally stable relationship before having kids rather than sh*gging some bloke down the pub after spending your JSA money on bacardi breezers and getting in the club before you even know his second name..
monkeymoo wrote:Your a thicko at least im using a touch screen iPhone. What you on a laptop der
lillylou wrote:It seems you have been hurt in the past.
Mums are usually given mon to fri by the court yet the dads are given cosy weekend no stress with sch just a day at zoo n McDonald's than given to mother again for sch how verb unfair
There are many cases where EITHER parent can be blamed, but that it not what the ARTICLE is about.
It is about attending school for an education.
Maybe if your mother had made you stay in school, you would be able to write and spell properly....trying to decipher all the posts you have written is nearly impossible!!
lillylou
says...
10:13pm Mon 11 Mar 13
monkeymoo
says...
5:28am Tue 12 Mar 13
lillylou wrote:Ha Ha Ha.....
Monkey moo got Prozac issues besides hating women yuk vomit
You make me smile....
(with how pathetic you are!)
Much love.
xxx
lillylou
says...
12:00pm Tue 12 Mar 13
monkeymoo wrote:touched a nerve oh dear
lillylou wrote:Ha Ha Ha.....
Monkey moo got Prozac issues besides hating women yuk vomit
You make me smile....
(with how pathetic you are!)
Much love.
xxx
Maxwell's Ghost says...
5:01pm Sun 10 Mar 13