I do not think parents should be fined if their children are absent from school. They see them off in the morning and expect them to be at school; they may even get registered then nip off when classes change or during the break and arrive home in the afternoon.

My generation left school when we were 14 years old and soon got a job. To hang on until 16 is a bit much if you are not the studious kind.

I am reading Black Thorn Winter by Sarah Challis at the moment and in it is just such an instance - a mother who does many jobs to keep going has a son who nips off from school. She's had visits from school, social services and the police but he only has two weeks to go and will then have a job in a garage.

-E Sprague, Newhaven