Truancy not the ticket
JOE Biden’s recently announced running mate for the November presidential election has been criticised for her previous far-right stance on truancy as opposed to her farleft stance on demonstrations.
Kamala Harris dared to prosecute parents for school absenteeism.
The getting tough on crime agenda of the Californian attorney-general included $2500 fines and jail sentences.
The “fearless fighter” on Biden’s ticket is now coming under attack from media figures in the black community for the “unintentional consequences” of the legislation she enthusiastically embraced a decade ago.
She denied any black mother was ever arrested and handcuffed in her pyjamas on her watch.
In poetry truancy was always a figure of speech for lack of dedication or commitment. It was one of Shakespeare’s go-to psychological or political metaphors.
From Tom Sawyer to Tom Brown’s School Days, 19th century trans-atlantic fiction, however, tended to romanticise truancy irrespective of social class.
The truant officer was a regular character in the longest running Australian comic strip from the 1920s, Ginger Meggs.
Modern films about truancy tend to be either short educational cautionary tales or long picaresque existential dramas.
The Democratic vice-presidential candidate cited numerous studies where truancy was a good predictor of future adult criminal behaviour, not to mention contemporary juvenile crime. She took credit for the greatly improved attendance rates which came in the wake of her campaign.
California has a “truancy ticket” for more than two missed 30-minute classes per year.
While the dystopian fantasy Minority Report was based on the premise crime could be predicted and thus prevented, truancy in America was viewed as a social problem for minority groups.
Australia has always been soft on truancy.
It is many years since Townsville police have returned truants to school. It was only when the student allowance was terminated that parents ensured that their offspring were immediately re-enrolled.
Although there are laws on the books in various Australian states to fine parents for their child’s skipping school or wagging it, they are never implemented.
All that can be said is that when it comes to politics, “truancy” is not the ticket.
WILLIAM ROSS, Cranbrook.