Truancy Prevention
Habitual truancy can be defined as unexcused absences from school by a minor that exceed the
number of such absences allowed under state law. Each state has its own school attendance
laws, which specify
• The age at which a child must begin school
• The age at which a youth can legally drop out of school
• The number of unexcused absences that constitute truancy under the law (National
Center for School Engagement N.d.)
There are variations across the states in the mandatory starting age for school and the legal
dropout age and variations across jurisdictions in the legally permissible number of unexcused
absences from school (Education Commission of the States 2007)
While truancy is widely acknowledged to be a nationwide problem, data collection and
reporting issues at the school, local, and state levels make it difficult to find data that delineates
the full extent of the problem (Heilbrunn 2007). Data is available from petitioned truancy cases,
but since most truancy cases never reach a petition status this data can only suggest the breadth
of the truancy problem. Between 1995 and 2005, the number of petitioned truancy cases
increased from 32,800 to 52,400, an increase of 60 percent (Puzzanchera and Sickmund 2008).
The largest relative increases were seen for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Chronic truancy and absence (which includes excused and unexcused absences) often start
early. Nauer, White, and Yerneni (2008), for instance, reported that 20 percent of elementary
school students (90,000) in New York City schools missed at least a month of school during the
2007–08 school year. There were five districts where 30 percent of more of the elementary school
students were chronically absent. Data from the Baltimore (Md.) Education Research Project
showed that more than one third of the first grade cohort was chronically absent (that is, missed
1 or more months of schooling in 1 year) during at least 1 of the first 5 years in school (Balfanz
et al. 2008). This early pattern lays the groundwork for the poor graduation rates from high
school.
The costs of truancy are high. Truancy has been clearly identified as one of the early warning
signs that youths potentially are headed for delinquent activity, social isolation, or educational
failure. Research has shown that truancy is related to delinquency, substance use and abuse,
high school dropout, suicidal thoughts and attempts, and early sexual intercourse (Chang and
Romero 2008; Henry and Huizinga 2005, as reported in Heilbrunn 2007; Henry and Huizinga
2007; Kelley et al. 1997; Loeber and Farrington 2000; Seeley 2008a). For instance, recent research
shows that truancy is not only the most significant risk factor for predicting first-time marijuana
use, but it also predicts 97 percent of first-time drug use (Seeley 2008a). These early patterns
have long-term costs for both the individual and society at large: according to the 2000 census,
while 83 percent of college graduates and 71 percent of high school graduates were employed,
high school dropouts had an employment rate of only 52 percent (Walker 2007). In addition,
decades of research have also identified a link between truancy and later problems in marriage,
Alzate, C. (2016)
