To Curb Truancy, Dallas Tries Electronic Monitoring

The New York Times is reporting that a school district in Texas is trying a new angle in combating truancy. Instead of punishing students with detention they are tagging them with electronic monitoring devices. "But the future of the Dallas program is uncertain. Mr. Pottinger's company, the Center for Criminal Justice Solutions, is seeking $365,000 from the county to expand the program beyond Bryan Adams. But the effort has met with political opposition after a state senator complained that ankle cuffs used in an earlier version were reminiscent of slave chains. Dave Leis, a spokesman for NovaTracker, which makes the system used in Dallas, said electronic monitoring did not have to be punitive. 'You can paint this thing as either Big Brother, or this is a device that connects you to a buddy who wants to keep you safe and help you graduate.'"

Comments

Re:Or like an actual PARENT

[MythoBeast]

Not the least bit absurd. Every person has the right to pursue their own happiness. If someone wants to be a complete screw-up, then it is a requirement of a free society that we let them be a screw-up.

Children are a somewhat different case because, in theory, they don't have all of the information that they need to make effective decisions about their future. Unfortunately, physical enforcement of what you think they should be doing isn't going to improve them, it's just going to let them know that they need to be trickier if they're going to avoid an oppressive state.

For children you have three paths. The first is to help them realize that cooperating with those around them and being productive is the most effective long-term strategy for pursuing their happiness. The second is to convince them that the entire world is a bunch of screw-ups that are only vaguely kept in order through threat of violence. The third is to let them screw up and take their lumps. Of the three, the second is actually the one most likely to result in violent, oppressive, and harmful adults.

Re:Not big brother?

[Dachannien]

Schools should be places where those interested can get ahead, not some sort of prison. What's amusing about that statement is that those who decide they're not interested in the former are far more likely to end up in the latter.

Re:Or like an actual PARENT

[QuantumRiff]

This is the reason that about 12 years ago, A little town called Silverton, OR, started arresting Parents if their kids skipped school too much. Its amazing how much the parents would scream and cry about it being unfair, but when they were subjected to Jail time or fines, the kids got to school. (at least until the parents got together and sued the city and school district!)