Thursday, Mar. 13, 2003 6:39 A.M.
Sometimes it DOES take a village. Hooray for my town!! Not only are they taking a step in the right direction, but they are seeing it through instead of dropping the ball. This is an article that appeared today in the Westerly Sun. TRUANCY COURT NOW IN SESSION By Phoebe Hall The Sun Staff WESTERLY - The teen-ager stood nervously before the magistrate, shifting from one foot to the other, looking at anything but the stern man in the black robes, awaiting his judgment. Her crime? Missing 53 days of high school this year. Her sentence? Go to class, be on time, do your work, and behave. Welcome to the Westerly Family Truancy Court, which opened for business at the school administration building Tuesday, albeit a little bit late because the girl and her mother got lost. The Westerly court, the 18th of its kind in Rhode Island and the first in Washington County, had been in the works for about a year. There, middle school and high school students will have to answer to the state if they fail to come to school on time, or fail to come at all. The court's backers hope intervention now will not only get the 14-year-old girl back in school, but will keep her out of trouble. Studies show that truancy can be something of a gateway to a life of habitual crime. "This is about investing in the future of our students," state Rep. Peter Lewiss, D-Westerly, told the gathering of educators and state officials before court proceedings began. "Early intervention can only help on the way to adulthood." The statistics seem to bear him out. In the three years since Rhode Island's truancy courts came into being, attendance has increased 81 percent in communities with courts, and grade point averages have gone up 67 percent, said Chief Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah, Jr., of the state Family Court. Before the advent of truancy courts, attendance problems were heard within the state's four family courts. Westerly children and school officials had to go to Wakefield, where it took weeks to get a hearing and months to follow up. Truancy didn't get priority amid problems such as abuse, divorce and custody disputes, so most of the time, the absences and tardiness continued. Unfortunately, ignoring truancy often allows other problems to flourish, Atty. Gen. Patrick Lynch said. He noted that 75 percent of all prisoners in the United States were habitually truant. Furthermore, he added, 45 percent of all violent juvenile crime in Rhode Island takes place during school hours. But Lynch emphasized the court doesn't simply get students into class. It also makes sure they feel safe there. He said 8 or 9 percent of children who skip school are afraid to go. Court magistrates uncover problems at home and at school, and provide whatever resources are necessary to meet children's curricular and extracurricular needs. As children miss more and more school and fall further and further behind in their classes, they are more likely to drop out. But without a high school diploma, their chances of getting a job and establishing a career drop precipitously. Thus truancy court aims not only to improve attendance, but combat crime, improve grades, increase graduation rate, and ensure children's futures in the job market. It's a tall order, and the courts take it on with a twofold approach: they tell students to study, and they tell parents to parent. Edward Newman, a local lawyer sworn in as truancy court magistrate in December, is administering the proceedings at the new court. Tuesday, he took on his first Westerly case -- the 14-year-old high school student who has missed so many days of school she is failing all of her classes. Her repeated absences concerned teachers and administrators, who even went to her home to bring her to school on a few occasions. "Why don't you go to school?" Newman asked the girl, who stood throughout her arraignment while her mother, who is required to attend, sat beside her. "I can't sleep," the girl mumbled, and added later, "I'm stressed out completely." The teen's problems are multifold, her mother explains. She doesn't go to bed until 3 a.m. She's worried about her father, whom she hasn't seen since he was deported two years ago. She didn't have the required vaccinations and wasn't allowed to come to school for several days. And last month, she saw her friend raped and now has to testify against the attackers. Newman addressed each issue in turn. He told the mother, who is raising three teen-agers alone, that she must get her children in bed when she comes home from work at 11 each night. "If you tell her to get in bed, she'll listen to you," he said. "One of the conditions is that she listen to you." He told the school police officer, who also attended the hearing, to escort the mother home to get the medical documentation proving the girl's vaccinations were current. "I want her back in school today," he said. Newman also suggested consulting a doctor about a possible sleeping disorder, and a counselor to discuss the rape and other problems. Her mother enthusiastically endorsed that idea. "She needs a one-on-one person to talk to," she said. Newman then turned to the school administrators and counselors present. "Can she pass (her classes)?" he asked. "Because she needs a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. She has to be encouraged to that extent." Dinoto and the girl's mother agreed summer school would allow the failing teen to catch up with her work and move on to the next year. Keeping her back would only heighten her sense of despair and hopelessness in the school system, Newman explained. And finally, Newman told the mother to escort her daughter to school each day to make sure she wasn't tardy. If mom doesn't live up to her end of the bargain, Newman warned her, she could face fines and even prison time. Next week, the 14-year-old will return to court, where Newman and school officials will make sure she's been attending classes, she's doing her homework and class work, and she's behaving at school and at home. She'll return weekly as long as is necessary. If the girl's case is like most of the hundreds of others Rhode Island's truancy courts have seen over the past three years, she will improve and maybe even excel. "These children want to learn, but they need encouragement," Newman said. "(At family court), the results were a long time coming. The results here are instantaneous." I'm glad to see sonething constructive being done that involves school and the the whole family and finds solutions instead of a quick fix. When a child has problems and rebels, it isn't always just the childs problem, nor should it be just the schools duty to help. It takes the school, the child and the parents. This just might help. Later... Later,
Cosmic
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