Truancy Prevention Trumps Enforcement

Re “Learning Truancy’s Lessons,” Editorial, March 10:

The community-based, nonprofit Orange County Youth & Family Services operates the Truancy Learning Center, where students and families in the Orange Unified School District receive crisis intervention, assessment, education, counseling and referrals. Strong enforcement is unnecessary when funding is available for school officials and centers that use preventive measures to provide counseling, mentoring of both parents and students, and education.

S.E. Kang, M.A.

Associate executive director

Orange County Youth

& Family Services

Truancy Learning Center

Orange

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I question Orange County’s motive in cracking down on parents of truants. Whom are we teaching a lesson? Granted, there are parents who dismiss the fact that sending their children to school is the law. However, most parents do not.

Parents can go only so far to try to protect their child from harm and wrongdoing. Believing that the court can have such power indirectly over children and their family is a mistake. Punishing parents will not lead to a decrease in truancies.

Megan Guernsey

San Luis Obispo