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Educating Your Child About the Legal Ramifications of Truancy

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So many kids these days play truant – because they can easily get away with it. They skip classes because they want to do other things other than study; and there are also some who just want to sit around and do nothing. But truancy or being absent from class has some serious consequences, especially if there’s no valid reason for an absence. Parents of truant kids could be fined, or worse, go to jail. Truant students could also be punished. Apart from punishment, children who don’t regularly go to their classes fall behind in class. This could lead to a variety of academic problems. For instance, they won’t be able to attain the grades that they need in order to get accepted into a good university, and they might also fail or get low scores on assessments and other examinations.

The Chronic and Habitual Truant

Is your child absent from school for 10% or more of the school days in a designated school year? If so, then he is classified, under Education Code Section 48263.6, as a chronic truant. Also, a child who has been reported for truancy 3 or more times in one school term is a habitual truant. In case a student is a habitual truant, the school will most likely have reported or have tried to communicate the truancy to the child’s parents, guardian or custodian.

Students – Penalties or Punishment for Truancy


Education Code 48264.5 defines the punishments for kids who play truant. In general, punishments for first-time offenders are not as severe compared with what’s in store for habitual or chronic truants. Schools can use several methods to punish truants, but actions should still be in accordance with EC 48264.5. For instance, the punishment for a teenager who plays truant for the first time will most likely include a written warning, and the student will have to go to makeup classes. Kids who always fail to attend their classes will endure more serious consequences. More serious penalties include community service, payment of fines, or suspension of learner’s permit or driver’s license. Some students may also be required by the court to attend truancy prevention programs.

Parents – Punishment for Child Truancy

The parents or guardians of a truant child can be punished under the Education Code and Penal Code. Parents of first-time truants will likely pay fines. But penalties will progress in case truancy persists. Fines will increase, and there is also possibility of conviction. Depending on the court’s decision, parents will also be required to meet with school representatives, including teachers, counselors, or psychologists. If parents have existing problems, such as addiction or lack of finances, the court might also refer them to government services, like those that help with child care and housing, or substance abuse treatment.

Dealing with Truancy

In order for parents to know the activities of their kids in school, they should regularly communicate with teachers and other school authorities. It is also essential for parents and children to have open lines of communication. This way, a child will be able to inform his parents why he doesn’t want to go to school. There might be issues regarding bullying or inability to cope with academic activities.

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  • Photo courtesy of Ambro at www.freedigitalphotos.net/.
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Claire Brown is a freelance writer. She blogs for many legal websites. She also writes for Bail Bonds Direct, CA which is a company that provides bail assistance to those who are having problems with the law.





How to Deal With a Teen Who Drinks

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Dealing with a teen who drinks is difficult. Not only will you have to deal with his defensive arguments and behavior, but you will also have to deal with his belligerence and some hostility as well. If you don’t know how to handle the situation properly, it could easily make things worse between the two of you.

Below are some tips for dealing with a teen who drinks.

Talk to Him

One of the reasons why teens drink is because they have problems. It could be problems in school or at home, and it could even be peer pressure. If you know the reasons why he drinks, then you will know how to help him break the habit.


However, when you talk to him, don’t be so critical and harsh. It could only push him away. Instead, approach the issue carefully. Talk with him when he’s in a good mood and relaxed. In fact, it’s better if you talk about mundane things first to make him feel comfortable before you address the issue of his drinking problem. You’ll find that it’s going to be easier for him to open up to you.

Remove Any Alcohol at Home

Once he’s opened up to you about his problems and you two have a good plan to address the issues, the next step is to remove all alcohol at home. If you always keep bottles of wine at home, then be sure to keep them in a locked cabinet. Keep the key with you at all times, and make sure that the lock is sturdy. If possible, hide the bottles where he can’t find them, instead of keeping them in the kitchen, the pantry, or cellar.

You don’t want to give him easy access to alcohol as this can tempt him to go on a drinking binge. If he feels that things are becoming too stressful for him to handle, encourage him to approach you. Together you can come up with better solutions, than your teen resorting to alcohol again to forget the problem.

Know Where He is

Make it a house rule to always know where he is, may it be at a friend’s house, the mall, or school. While it won’t assure you that he won’t drink, at least he knows that you can easily check on him if you want to.

If he’s going to a party or to a friend’s home, tell him that you’ll come pick him up if he needs a ride. It doesn’t matter if it’s late or where he is, and it doesn’t even matter if he’s drunk or not. The important thing is that he knows you’ll be there for him if he can no longer drive himself home. You don’t want your teen to be so afraid of your reaction that he’ll risk getting behind the wheel and drive home even if he’s had something to drink. If this happens and he’s caught, he could end up facing DUI charges or, worse, getting into a car accident.

Let him know that you trust him and that he can trust you as well. Let him know, too, that you’re always there to help him. If these don’t help though, then it’s time to seek professional help.

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Jennifer Dahline writes for a DUI attorney in Broward County. Teen drinking is a prevalent problem nowadays, but it can be stopped. If your teen has already been charged with DUI, then hire a good lawyer who can help him.

 

My favorite birthday meal

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Yum. There’s nothing like a delicious birthday meal. It was my birthday on Thursday and while my husband and I didn’t do anything major to celebrate it we didn’t have a very nice steak dinner that night. A lovely barbecued mesquite steak, with steamed asparagus and sweet potato fries.

Then, last night, my mother-in-law, came in to town. We were all supposed to go away this weekend but in the end I decided to stay home. However, since my mother-in-law was staying over last night before she and my husband took a long drive to the Ottawa area she offered to buy me a birthday dinner. She suggested Chinese food.

I’m a little leery of Asian food because I’m allergic to Shrimp and Shellfish but there is a very nice Thai restaurant near us that we’ve had take out from a few times since I discovered my Shrimp allergy and they totally start fresh for my order. They clean their pots and make sure that there’s no seafood or shellfish based sauces in any of the foods items we order and of course no shrimp either. So I feel very safe eating food from their restaurant.

So we ordered quite a bit of food from the Red Chilli Thai Restaurant on the Danforth in Toronto. I think it was forth or fifth time we’ve order food from that restaurant and as usual the food was delicious. I particularly love their Mango Chicken dish. It’s delicious.

There were three of us eating on Friday night and we ordered several tasty dishes. Let’s see, we ordered the Vegetarian Appetizer Plate, steamed rice, Green Curry Beef, Cashew Nut Chicken, mango chicken, and Satay Chicken, and chicken Phad Thai with three spring rolls. Now, because our order was over $50 we got the Pad Thai and spring rolls free. We also got a 10% discount for picking it up and paying cash. Pretty cool.

Needless to say we didn’t come close to finishing the food that we ordered since there were so many dishes. My husband and mother in law left early this morning on their trip and I’m here with a fridge literally full of tasty leftovers! Yum. Yep. That’s what I had for dinner tonight. Thai food. I love it. I could eat this birthday dinner every day.

What’s your favorite birthday dinner?

Red Chilli Thai Restaurant on Urbanspoon

So busy, so tired

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I am so tired today. I stayed up late last night and then I couldn’t get to sleep when I finally went to bed and I’m paying for it now. Yawn! Trouble is, I have a lot of work to get done today.

It doesn’t help that my phone keeps ringing and interrupting me from the work I’m doing on my computer. I’m seriously thinking of unplugging the phone. I have to get a few articles written, update some blogs, and do some behind the scenes work on a few of my sites. I’m not even going to include the housework that I need to get done because there’s no way I’m going to get to that today!

One of the phone calls that disrupted me was a friend calling me about a medical question. I guess he’s been trying to bulk up so he’s been drinking protein shakes and taking something called P6. I had to look that one up. He was wondering about p6 extreme side effects so I looked it up for him since I was in front of my computer – which I’m sure he knew I’d be and he felt a little better after our conversation. Personally I think he looks fine just the way he is and hope he doesn’t get cared away with these supplements etc.

Well, I’d better get back to work! Or have a nap … hmmm that sounds good.

A special anniversary

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I just found out that a very good friend of mine will be celebrating a special anniversary later this month. She’ll have worked in her job for 25 years at the end of the month.

I don’t just mean that she’s been working at the same career for 25 years, but that she’s also been working in the same company for that time as well. These days that’s pretty rare what with companies going out of business and layoffs and so on, not to mention people changing careers. A few days ago I realized that in June I’ll have been a nurse for 20 years, but I’ve worked in several private clinics and hospitals in that time.

I think I’m going to get my friend a special gift. I’ve been looking online and I found a site that has gourmet Anniversary gifts for her – things like delicious looking chocolate covered berries. Yum! I’m fairly certain she’ll love those. I’m going to order some for her and hope that she likes them.

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