The law says that parents must ensure that their
children receive a proper, full time education and they
can be prosecuted if their child does not attend school
regularly and on time. Children who miss school are
much more likely to have problems with their learning
and getting the job or college place that they would
like. They will often find it harder to make and keep
friends and they are at much greater risk of getting
into trouble in and out of school. If they are skipping
school or lessons, they are more likely to come across
adults or other young people who might want to cause
them harm.
When children miss school without their parents’
knowing, this is called truancy. Children who truant
regularly often do this because they are worried about
something. There might be something happening on the
way to or from school that is causing them concern.
They might be being bullied. They might be finding some
lessons or subjects too hard (or too easy) or they might
be having problems in completing their homework. Sometimes,
children will be reluctant to leave home because they
are worried that their parent might come to some harm
whilst they are at school.
Children from all sorts of backgrounds run away from
home for a variety of reasons. Many of us will remember
planning to run away when we were younger because we
felt unable to cope with our problems, that nobody cared
about us or because we had been treated unfairly. Usually,
if a child does go missing from home, it will be for
a very short period - usually until the child thinks
that the parents have noticed. Often, they will turn
up at the home of a friend or relative.
When children run away, they are not being naughty
- they are trying to tell us that they are unhappy or
trying to find out just how much we do care about them.
However, if a child goes missing from home repeatedly,
receives unexplained gifts, and possibly has an older
‘friend’, there is a possibility they could
be being sexually exploited.
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