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Truancy and coercive consent: is there an alternative?

This paper suggests that rather than criminalising or pathologising truancy as a “deviant” behaviour in need of either treatment or punishment, truancy should be considered as a rational enactment of dissatisfaction with State educational provision. It should be of little surprise that attempts to “solve” the truancy “problem” by recourse to coercion or legal action have proved ineffective. Indeed, such practices may exacerbate rather that ameliorate the truancy and exclusion “problem”. While attempts to improve staff–student relations, curriculum relevance and the school environment may prove beneficial in encouraging some absentees to return to school, further attention should be paid to alternative educational provision, and in particular to raising the awareness among staff, students and parents of the legality and potential benefits home education may offer for persistent school refusers.