ABSTRACT
There are many good reasons for encouraging regular school attendance. Research (Reid, 1999, 2013) indicates that pupils who become absentees and truants are more likely than their peers to confront a range of difficult challenges throughout the rest of their adult lives. A wide range of studies show that truancy and school absenteeism is closely linked to:
juvenile and adult crime
adult psychiatric problems (e.g. frequent temper tantrums)
pathological disorders
depression
frequent bouts of unemployment and/or job changing
low-level employment tasks
low income levels
constant need for help from the state through income support and housing benefit
poverty
higher rates of separation, marital disharmony and divorce
marrying someone who also missed a lot of school and played truant
higher rates of involvement with social services and health agencies
higher rates of becoming a teenage parent
low self-esteem in adult life and living a lonely and isolated adult life
illiteracy
having poor reading skills
having no, few or very poor academic qualifications
becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training)
becoming homeless in later life
suffering from more mental health problems, drug- and alcohol-related issues in adult life
becoming engaged in such worthless time-filling activities as persistently whiling away time through aimless ‘street wandering’, especially in inner-city areas
having children who become truants (second, third and fourth generation truancy)
being excluded from school
having poor attitudes towards school and their children’s education both at home (e.g. with homework) and by being more reluctant than other parental groups to participate in school functions or other activities (e.g. parents’ evenings or parent–teacher associations).
