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A friend of mine posted this   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/21/anaheim-gps-truant-students_n_826100.html

What do you think ?

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I think it's an interesting way of influencing children to exercise their creativity, but not necessarily in a good way. If they're willing to skip school, then who's to say that such kids wouldn't bribe, bully, etc, other non-truant kids to carry the devices for them? To me, this feels rather passive. I think it's better to address the reason WHY the kids are truant in the first place.

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I like this idea, in extreme situations. There are kids who do not need this extra attention and then there are kids who do. Out of three myself, two (boys) are excellent at self-monitoring ... one (girl), not so much. For those kids who can't this might save their high school career rather than being out on the streets getting in trouble.   Unfortunately some kids (people) need intervention outside of the norm.

I would have thought the same thing, Shawn ... until I experienced a child who constantly skipped school. She would not stop no matter what I did, no matter what the school did, regardless of what help we gave, offered ... extra love and positive attention ... tough love and intervention. Nothing worked. Believe me, the "causes" behind her actions have been addresses at length.  This is for extreme cases.

There is a proven link between truant students and illegal activities ... my daughter was one of those statistics. She never actually DID anything BUT was with some kids who did ... in the State of Kansas just being there implicates you and you get charged. Being put into the judicial system is absolutely no fun at all especially for a juvenile. I do not know if this type of monitoring or accountability would have helped ... but I sure would have been willing to try in lieu of what we are going through now.

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Originally Posted by Teri Lacy:
I like this idea, in extreme situations. There are kids who do not need this extra attention and then there are kids who do. Out of three myself, two (boys) are excellent at self-monitoring ... one (girl), not so much. For those kids who can't this might save their high school career rather than being out on the streets getting in trouble.   Unfortunately some kids (people) need intervention outside of the norm.

I would have thought the same thing, Shawn ... until I experienced a child who constantly skipped school. She would not stop no matter what I did, no matter what the school did, regardless of what help we gave, offered ... extra love and positive attention ... tough love and intervention. Nothing worked. Believe me, the "causes" behind her actions have been addresses at length.  This is for extreme cases.

There is a proven link between truant students and illegal activities ... my daughter was one of those statistics. She never actually DID anything BUT was with some kids who did ... in the State of Kansas just being there implicates you and you get charged. Being put into the judicial system is absolutely no fun at all especially for a juvenile. I do not know if this type of monitoring or accountability would have helped ... but I sure would have been willing to try in lieu of what we are going through now.

Sorry to hear about your daughter. Not being a parent I can't really imagine how difficult that might be.

I think the one thing I'm having difficulty understanding is if a kid is truant, then how would their having this device influence their feeling any more enthused about attending school, and what keeps a kid from simply discarding the device altogether? If they're truant, does temporary or permanent suspension, or even the threat of some kind of 'record' really bother or threaten them? In thinking back to my childhood, I remember the idea of having a 'record' implied some kind of elevated status.

I'm all for this idea if I could only understand how it's actually effective.

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Having had a "skipper" myself, I like the idea of making it like a shock collar (ankle) that the kids wear.  And if they get 'x' feet away from the school, Mom/Dad have this  little box with a shiny red button ...

Video would be a nice upgrade.

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I still like the way you think, Scott.  And I sympathize with you ... it's absolutely draining and exasperating dealing with this type of child.

Shawn, when you have a child who participates in this sort of behavior you have to break it down and try to figure out why.   Despite how the system has categorized my daughter, she is not an addict ... she was given the lowest treatment option (6 weeks) which includes group and individual therapy.  She smokes pot because she likes to get high, she does not "need" it but she likes how it calms her.  (Frankly, I can relate ... I do not smoke now and have never around her ... but I would if I could).

She starts her psych therapy in a couple weeks and I think that is the key.  Like many teens, she very very smart, bright, talented, beautiful.  She has problems with lying and compulsive behavior, mixed and unresolved issues about her Dad.  I've never dealt with anything like this ... at this point I would try anything.  Therapy and slowly giving the child responsibility and accountability is part of it.  The GPS is a tool in making her accountable for her actions.

As a parent, you can NEVER give up.  Sure enforce some tough love, make them earn your trust back ... and on and on ... but always, always let them know they are loved (DIFFICULT !).  Once they get to the point where they might want to try again ... this tool would be something I would have tried.

She's burned so many bridges in the school system here (even in alternative programs)  ... that's it's no longer an option and she is going for her GED next month.  She passed the pre-test in the upper 90%, so does not even need to take classes before the real deal.  I am disappointed but at least we can put this part of her life behind us and give her an opportunity to move forward.  

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Originally Posted by Teri Lacy:

She's burned so many bridges in the school system here (even in alternative programs)  ... that's it's no longer an option and she is going for her GED next month.  She passed the pre-test in the upper 90%, so does not even need to take classes before the real deal.  I am disappointed but at least we can put this part of her life behind us and give her an opportunity to move forward.  

Sounds familiar.

My skipper's also really bright.  And your mileage may vary but the school system here sucks the big one.  Teaching and keeping their interest on subject matter has become the minority of what teachers do here.  They spend most of their time cattle herding and CYA'ng (which is another aggravation).

I think a lot of kids are simply bored because public school's offer little and  demand little in comparison to what we experienced.

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Originally Posted by Scott Terry:

Originally Posted by Teri Lacy:

She's burned so many bridges in the school system here (even in alternative programs)  ... that's it's no longer an option and she is going for her GED next month.  She passed the pre-test in the upper 90%, so does not even need to take classes before the real deal.  I am disappointed but at least we can put this part of her life behind us and give her an opportunity to move forward.  

Sounds familiar.

My skipper's also really bright.  And your mileage may vary but the school system here sucks the big one.  Teaching and keeping their interest on subject matter has become the minority of what teachers do here.  They spend most of their time cattle herding and CYA'ng (which is another aggravation).

I think a lot of kids are simply bored because public school's offer little and  demand little in comparison to what we experienced.

I know your guy is also bright ... hence part of the problem, I suspect.

Our schools are fantastic ... top of the top ... the expectations are really very, very high for the college bound student who knows exactly where they are heading.  Anyone who veers from that norm gets lost ... and they want to "scoot" them along and out the door so as not to harm state funding, reputation, ratings and so on ... blah blah blah.  This was excellent for my eldest who "knew" exactly what he wanted ... and was willing to put nose to the grindstone to get there.  Let's just say for the the biggest part of his life, he's been a student and cannot get enough.  This is great, I am so proud BUT no every kid is like that.  So it's not a matter of little expectations on the school's part ... but the extreme opposite.

Jess is just not the sort of kid who digs school ... she wants to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it ... Ugh !  The idea that sometime you just have to dig in, bear it and get er done does not bode well with her.   She needs a adventure ...

I'm exhausted dealing with it ... *sigh*