Contributing Factors Affecting Truancy Among Senior High School Students
Role of education
In the early 1800s to the late 1900s, the growing number of refugees from the world wars and civil wars left a lot of children uneducated and in need of agents for socialization. Laws were written in order to compel school attendance. At the time, education was seen by the public and the government as a way to protect children from exploitation, while at the same time serves in preparing youth for life outside the home. This also served the purpose of helping the next generation of citizens to acquire the learning needed to achieve a better standard of living in adulthood. (Tonisha, 2011)
Definition of truancy
There is no universal definition for the term truancy. The absence of a consistent and uniform definition for such a phenomenon stem mainly from the fact that most districts and local juvenile courts have already established their own definitions of what truancy is and what constitutes the coverage of policies in response to truancy. Consequently, there are also striking varieties in the concept of truancy as defined by scholars.
Although there are different definitions of school truancy made by different authors, the central basis of most authors is the study done by Kearney (2008) in which he defined truancy is an inexcusable absence of students. This is because, generally, an absence is classified as either excused or unexcused absence. The latter also being referred to as truancy or refusal to attend school (Ozgur, 2016). Thus, with regards to absenteeism, both classes of absence are included--a key factor that differentiates it from truancy.
In one study regarding the causes of truancy, it is described as 'any intentional, unjustified, unauthorized, or illegal absence from compulsory education which is caused by students of their own free will” (S Prabha & Maheswari, 2017). Another study described children subject to compulsory continual education who are absent from school without a valid cause for a school day, a portion thereof, is considered to be truant (Bools et al., 1990). However, given the complexity of truancy as a phenomenon, some aspects were absent from this definition. In 2015, a study that looks into developing a combined definition of truancy referred to it as 'non-home school student’s act of non-attendance evidenced by missing part or all of the school day without it being authorized by a medical practitioner or sanctioned by parent/s and/or legitimately excused by the school or per state law' (Gentle-Genitty, 2015). In short, students who are subject to compulsory continual education who have missed part or all of the school day without a valid excuse from an acknowledged figure of authority is considered truant.
A valid cause of absence is often limited to student illness, a death in the immediate family, a family emergency, a situation beyond the control of the student, a determination of appropriate punishment by the school’s governing body is decided based on the merits of the excuse. This is because such acts, especially without the knowledge of the guardians, may raise reasonable concern for the health and/or safety of the student (Rumberger, 1987). A few institutions may consider accepting special circumstances as an additional valid reason to excuse a student’s absence from school, of note are things like a temporary assignment to duties abroad of a family caretaker, preplanned family vacations, symbolic days and special events (Pasternak, 1996).
The problem of truancy
Truancy is one of the major problems in schools, that detrimentally affects an individual’s future. School truancy is an alarming problem for administrators, teachers, parents, as well as for the students and ultimately society, in general. Parents would have to take an additional financial burden due to the fact that their children will have to be re-enrolled in subjects where they fail due to excessive absences; as a result, they will have to stay longer in the institution. Absenteeism according to Buccat and Cuntapay (2006) was a perennial problem of educational institutions. The truancy of students could be attributed to passive and low-performing teachers, students who are not satisfied with the school system and the service afforded to them, or sometimes it may be due to poor academic and non-academic policies that address the factors influencing the truant behaviour (Clores, 2009).
With this growing issue of absenteeism, in August 2019 a Davao City councilor went as far as to propose an ordinance that “seeks to penalize the guardians of truant students” according to BusinessWorld News. The ordinance that was proposed, states that children between six and 17 must be in school, the counselor defined Truant students as those who, at minimum, miss 30 minutes of class without reason five times within a school year.
In a study about Absenteeism of LPU- Batangas students, a multitude of causes was cited as with regard to truant behavior. Examples are. financial problems, difficulties in accessing and utilizing transportation, health reasons, undone or forgotten assignments, and last but not least, peer pressure to skip school. Public transportation going to school has its own set of difficulties, adding to the pressure that students are expected to arrive in time for their classes in order to not be marked as late/ tardy The national rate of chronic absenteeism is estimated to be at 10 percent, though the study suspects that the rate may actually be closer to 15 percent. (Counseling & Testing Center LPU-Batangas, 2008).This means to say that almost 5 million to 7.5 million of students are, or maybe absent from 18 to 20 days of the school year. Finances, as well as location, directly influence whether a child will be absent or not; to compare. In poor rural areas, about 25% are absent on a frequent basis, whereas in high-poverty urban areas, up to 33% of the students miss school.
Chronic truancy often starts early, analysis done by the National Center for Children in Poverty was able to find that almost 9 percent of pupils in the first grade and about 11 percent of children in kindergarten we’re tabulated as chronically absent, these rates are more than likely to be conservative, due to the fact that there is a trend of underreporting among schools (Chang and Romero, 2008). This early pattern lays the foundation for the low graduation percentages in high school (Balfanz et al., 2008). In another study examining the risk factors leading to school dropouts, it was identified that engagement in school (poor attendance, low expectations, underwhelming effort, uncommitted to school works, lack of extracurriculars) and low-performance ins school (low achievement and grades) as the dominant factors that adversely affect the student. Low achievement and poor attendance were cited by the study to significantly influence dropout rates, not limited to just grade schoolers but on all levels. (Hammond, Smink, & Drew, 2007)
