By Karson Albert
LCS, Grade 6
Should parents be fined if their child skips school? Did you know in some schools this is the case? In many schools across the United States, parents are being fined if their child skips school. They are forced to pay fifty dollars for one day. Many parents disagree with being fined by the school. They have argued with the superintendent saying that it is not a fair punishment and that they don’t know if their child is skipping school or not.
A teacher wrote on the website ninemsn.com and said, “I am a teacher. I have kids in my class who say they skip school to get away from the fighting between their parents. Now they are being fined. That makes them want to skip even more. I do not agree with fining parents. I think we should punish the kids in school instead.” A parent commented as well saying, “Fining parents is not the right way to punish. Why are you fining the parents for the kids mistake? Why are you fining in the first place?”
Parents are going on strike in some towns. What they are doing is making signs that say “No fines.” They are making their child stay home from school and then are not paying the fine. They walk around and around the school yelling, “No fines, no fines.” They do this during lunch.
Research has shown that fining parents for their child skipping school isn’t the right thing to do. Also it’s not effective in schools. It has caused more problems than it has helped. Schools should not fine parents for their child skipping school.
