hmm..yeah students might sit at home and study but i dont think majority do so. half of the students bunk off just because want to hang out with their friends like they go watch movies, bowling or there are students who do vandalism around destroy public properties and stuff. just because students not been caught for playing truant therefore social problems are increasing rapidly in our country. students involving in destructive habits such as taking drugs.besides that, there are few numbers of students who do part time job during school hours therefore they take studies for granted and concentrate more on their work..im not saying that its wrong to do part time job because may be they just want to help out their parents in financial matter but i tihnk they should just work on weekend instead of weekdays during school hours they should know how to manage their time and equally give importance to their studies as well as their job.. furthermore, one more thing that students normally do when they play truant is that they go for a vacations with their family. the thing we should concern about this is that why the parents encourage and bring their kids for vacation during school time?

hi it's me kokila here......so,now we have move on to our next research question that is what do student do when they play truant?....as what eliza had posted many most of the student nowadays play truant to study at home because students feel they understand better when they study at home.If you all still remember my post about the news that students play truant to be with their boyfriend so this also anoyher thing what syudent do when they play truant. student will spend time with their boyfriend/girlfriend by playing truant.Other than if all of us know is student used to hang out with friends and they are some student play truant just to watch their favourite tv program....that's all from me for now but will be back with new updates....bye

What Do Students Do When They Play Truant?

Firstly, we would like to thank Dr. Zaini for going through our blog yesterday and giving us suggestions as well as advices to improve our blog. Thank you my fellow members for your contribution on the post regarding factors that leads to truancy. As we can see, there are many reasons on why students play truant in their daily lives. Now, we are going to move on with our next topic of discussion which is..what do students do when they play truant. In my very own opinion, students hang out with their friends when they play truant. Parents are usually strict. Therefore, children are allowed to go out on school days. Hence, this resorts students to play truant just to be with their friends. Besides that, students stay back home to watch television and this may or may not be without their parents knowledge. I remember the time when I skipped school on a school day in 2002 just to watch the World Cup on live telecast. Believe it or not, some students study at home when they play truant. These students find it difficult to study at school due to certain reasons such as noisy environment, bad facilities and improper class placement. Thus, students feels they can concentrate on their studies better when they are at home. That is all for now. Thank you.



posted by Eliza Maria Benjamine

Hi friends! Thank you for the feedback on reasons students play truant. I must say that is an interesting article posted by Kokila. It is actually not to my surprise because it happens here, in Malaysia too. Few years back, I had a friend who skips school and classes just to be with her guy. She did so because her family does not approve her of being in an relationship while she is still pursuing her studies in school. As for the points posted by Zainab, she explained the causes in detail. I have forgotten to mention that parents are also the cause for students playing truant. There are some parents that encourage their child to play truant...to go for family vacation during schooling days and even when parents themselves are not able to wake up early in the morning to drop their kids to school. As for my parents, they do encourage me to skip school at times for a family vacation. Besides that, there are some students who are forced to earn a living while pursuing their studies because of parents..to help their family who experiences financial problems. Many parents do not explain to their kids on the importance of education in life. This is the main reason why students do not care for the times they play truant and continue to do it.

Eliza Maria Benjamine

hi kokila here just wanna add little bit about what had been posted by my Friends about what is the cause of truancy........... truancy is not only caused by the students but its also caused by the family, school, and community... i know everyone already know about that after u all read our posts in the blog........but just wanna inform that generally, truancy is a three-fold problem...here are some list of causes that i found about truancy is caused by student, family, school and community.......


student

1. Poor self-concept; low self-esteem
2. Low academics; particularly behind in reading and math
3. Socially isolated; poor inter-personal skills; lack of positive peer relationships at school
4. Feeling of not belonging at school, of being different
5. Feeling of lack of control over life (i.e. 'No matter how hard I try I will not succeed.')
6. Little or no extra-curricular involvement
7. Mental and/or emotional instability; childhood depression
8. Unidentified learning disabilities
9. Vision and/or auditory problems that have gone undiagnosed
10. Language barriers
11. Poor health
12. Negative peer relationships; older, non-school oriented friends
13. Substance abuse
14. Fear of school, teachers, and/or administrators
15. Experienced recent traumatic event (divorce, death of a loved one)
16. Fear of physical protection going to or at school
17. Teenage pregnancy and/or parenting.

Family
1. Parents lack appreciation for value of education
2. Parents are high-school dropouts
3. Financial difficulties (lack of adequate nutrition, clothing, transportation; inability to pay fees)
4. Ineffective parenting; lack of parental control and supervision
5. Familial instability (one-parent household; parental discord; poor parent-child relationship;
frequent moving)
6. Inappropriate role models
7. Child abuse and/or neglect (physical, psychological, sexual)
8. Substance abuse; alcoholic parent
9. Parental convenience (older sibling kept home to babysit for young children)

School
1. Uninteresting and irrelevant curriculum
2. Improper class placement (above or below abilities)
3. Failure to identify and provide services for problem students
4. Poor pupil-teacher relationships
5. Insufficient counseling and guidance staff
6. High student/teacher ratio
7. Low teacher expectations
8. Lack of parent - school communication and involvement
9. Too weak, or too rigid administration of policies

Community
1. Lack of support for school
2. Lack of, or unresponsive community service agencies
3. Community upheaval and social change
4. Loss of neighborhood schools and sense of 'ownership' of schools
5. Negative peer influences
6. High incidence of substance abuse, criminal activity
7. Gang activity
8. Inadequate provision for transportation

i know its a long list but we can know what caused truancy based on those list.....

http://mcdonough.k12.il.us/optionaleducation/TAOEP/truancy.htm

posted by kokila

i think there is a point in eliza's post that we all should give attention..that students play traunt coz their parents encourage them. parents bring their children for vacation during school time. even statistic shows that the highest numbers of youngsters missing school for family vacation. http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Increasing-number-of-pupils-playing.5023123.jp. and yeah i agree there are parents who does not give importance to their children's education especially those who are from rural areas.they prefer their children take over their family business rather than wasting their time studying in schools.therefore, they dont really care whether their children doing well in their studies or not. anyways i found another reasons for students bunking off from school which is the students who suffering from dyslexia( having difficulties in studies ) which is not been discovered or recognised by his or her parents or any other parties and as to avoid to be treaten unsympathetically by his friends , teachers or parents they will stop going school at all.
zainab bt ibrahim

there are many reasons why students play truant in their lives. evrybody in society should be responsible over this social problem. i would like to add few more points that I discovered from a book.

1. Poor parental supervision

• parents these days are just too busy with their career to earn a living for their families. kids are left by their own wondering around while parents are at work. children are well aware that their parents are busy at work that they have the guts to bunk off school and chill out with other truants.

2. School atmosphere

• it is obvious that there are many students in a school. therefore, this leads to a noisy environment. there are some students who cant agree to this environment while studying..which eventually leads them to play truant. they rather be at home studying for a better concentration.

3. Lack of attention

• some classes are just over-crowded with students probably because the school lack of classes. in each classes, there are students who need personal attention and expects the teachers to offer such attention. but this is quite impossible for a class with many students. hence, these students make their own decisions to stay back home and get their parents to teach them.

source: helping troubled people by chris kyriacou

eliza maria benjamine

hi i'm kokila here...i have just read what eliza and zainab had posted......
i agree with what they said about why student are playing truant?...........
but i would like to add on a bit because recently i have read a new in a web that tells many student play truant just to be with their boyfriend.....hmmmmm its interesting right.......maybe u all want to read the news so i have also post the news in the blog........read that post because its quite interesting

Many Students Play Truant to Be With Boyfriends Badea Abu Al-Naja, Arab News

MAKKAH, 11 March 2007 — Schoolgirls and female university and college students playing truant and hanging out at coffee shops, shopping malls, restaurants and hotel foyers to meet boyfriends and flirt with men is a widespread problem, which many families and educational institutes are largely oblivious about. Many of these girls are just out for adventure and looking for opportunities to hang out with friends and have fun. Meanwhile, others are out truanting to meet boyfriends. Fundamentally, this sort of behavior is a clear indication that there is a serious problem in the way some families operate and how educational institutes keep a check on truanting students. “It happens all the time. You get lots of young women coming in and making loud noises during college and university time,” said a waiter at a popular restaurant in Makkah, who preferred to remain anonymous. “Many of these women are regulars. They shout and laugh loudly and usually come and meet their boyfriends here. Sometimes, their boyfriends come outside in cars and they go off with them,” he added. The waiter said he knows that the women are students because their conversations are usually “peppered” with talk about their places of study, teachers and their education. “They usually make advance bookings and book an entire table sitting in groups. Their boyfriends usually pay for everything,” he added. The type of behavior that takes place and the fact that students are truanting can lead the women into trouble and even sexual harassment. Sometimes, the women are arrested by local police and members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. “Their families express a lot of regret and shock that their young darlings are involved in such activities,” said a commission member. Ahmad ibn Qasim Al-Ghamdi, the commission’s general manager in Makkah, said that young women are regularly arrested in public places. “They usually get picked up during school, college and university hours. We don’t just go around looking for young women to arrest. We only stop them if they are definitely involved in things that are contrary to the standard moral practices of the Kingdom,” he said. Al-Ghamdi called on places of education and families to assert a more positive role in stopping the problem from becoming further widespread. What Al-Ghamdi alludes to is possibly true. However, on the other hand some women abuse their parents’ trust and take advantage of the freedom accorded to them at universities, colleges and schools. In fact, some students merely register at university to be able to leave home for a few hours a day and then meet friends and boyfriends. At restaurants they indulge in food and drink and smoke the shisha and cigarettes — activities in an atmosphere that parents would definitely not approve of. According to one waiter at another restaurant, some girls go as far as to take off their headscarves and don make up in spite of there being non-related men around. “It’s a bit of a problem,” he said, adding, “People get annoyed since they go to the extreme of raising their voices and laughing loudly without respecting customers. Some young men hang around just to watch these young women and exchange numbers.” According to the waiter, as the women leave the restaurant they end up being followed by a barrage of men wanting their numbers. The men follow them all the way back to school, college or university. A receptionist at a five-star hotel in Makkah said that one morning a woman came to the hotel foyer, sat around and then moved onto the hotel’s restaurant. “She was dressed in a school uniform and was seated at a table putting on make up. Whenever the waiter would approach her to take her order she would tell him to come later. She was busy all the time speaking on her cell phone,” he said. “After 20 minutes a young man came and she left with him. She also forgot a bag at the table. We looked inside and there were some lingerie and a satin nightdress. I don’t know what she was up to,” he added. Groups of young women who wander around in shopping malls frequenting restaurants and coffee shops are also at risk of harassment and are followed by young men who send them Bluetooth messages via cell phones. A security guard at a popular shopping mall said, “After moving from one shop to the next they usually go into restaurants and coffee shops to relax and unwind. They hang around for quite a few hours and I think they usually head back to their places of study when it is home time there.” He added, “They go back and return home like as if nothing has happened. You can tell they are students by their clothes. Most wear uniforms.” A waiter at a coffee shop mentioned how a student came into the coffee shop. “She was dressed modestly but then went into the bathroom and came out smelling of perfume, wearing make up and had changed her outfit. She was dressed in some sexually provocative clothing. A young man came and off they went in his car,” he added. At the outset it seems there is a host of reasons behind women truanting from school. Some of these women have boyfriends and are prevented by their parents from leaving home unaccompanied and so play truant. “Girls like to flirt with men and hang out together because they like to be pampered and not pay the bill. Some women just find pleasure in manipulating the feelings of men,” said a young Saudi who has had a lot of student girlfriends. Psychologists and sociologists blame the girls’ families and places of study for the problem. Universities, colleges and schools do not stringently keep a check on students and provide far too much free time between one lecture and an another. “It is crucial that there are strict rules preventing students from being absent. Absentees should be able to provide a reasonable excuse. Universities must also inform parents when students are absent,” said sociologist Samir Al-Ghamdi. Al-Ghamdi added that children from broken families are more prone to behaving in a irresponsible fashion. “Parents are so naive, they even trust their maids and drivers and do not realize that the drivers know exactly what is happening,” he added.

url: www.arabnews.com

Academic Problems
As kids move up into the higher grades, work becomes more challenging and problems are more likely to surface. Without proper supports, students can become easily frustrated and overwhelmed. If school becomes a place where kids feel unsuccessful, they may want to avoid it altogether. Unfortunately, school avoidance in these types of situations usually only makes matters worse, as more class time is missed and grades continue to slip. To combat this problem, be sure to analyze a truant student’s academic record to assess whether or not additional in school academic supports can be provided.
Mental Health Issues
School truancy problems may be a red flag to a more serious problem. More kids than ever are suffering from problems such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. These problems can impact with a students’ ability to get themselves to school each morning. Undiagnosed and untreated, these problems can interfere with a student’s overall functioning. If students show symptoms of these problems, a school student assistance or crisis team may be able to intervene and provide some direction.
Family Dynamics
Unfortunately, not all students arrive at school well-rested, well-fed, and ready to start their day. Many students homes are chaotic, some even dysfunctional, and this may impact student’s ability to attend school regularly. Being able to get to sleep at a reasonable hour, get up on time, get ready, and leave in time for school are critical for school attendance and may be difficult in a family that is in crisis. Some students may also be reluctant to leave ill or unstable family members at home alone, or may be used to care for younger siblings or otherwise help out at home during school hours. Families may need help accessing social agencies that can help with some of these issues.
Social Problems
Many students experience social problems, such as bullying or isolation, in school on a regular basis. Fear and shame may cause them to avoid the environment that creates these feelings. These kids may need support in learning social skills or help accessing resources to report and stop bullying. Other students may have friends, but lack a true connection to the larger school community. They may not see themselves as excelling in athletics, music, academics, or any of the other areas schools tend to focus on. For these students, finding a niche where they feel successful, is key.
http://at-risk-youth-support.suite101.com/article.cfm/student_truancy_causes_and_solutions

i totally agree with what aliza has post. i found an interesting article and the causes they given is almost same as eliza's has found however in my opinion the most common factor of trauncy is academic problem. in the article above. it says students play traunt as they cant understand the subject or when they find difficulties in any subject they wont take any insiative t ask teachers and the teacher itself dont bother to know whether everyone i the class understood wat she taught in the class. therefore, once the student fail to understand the previous topic, it will be hard for him to understand the rest of the topics.therefore, once the interest gone, students will start involving in social problem like the most common one is playign truant. besides that, the lack of interest in studies like what eliza han mentioned may be because the method the teacher uses in class to teach the student not interesting enough. the other reason which i think is also very common is social problem. normally it happens in boarding school like bullying, ragging and stuff. all these social problem will make student afraid to come school!
zainab bt ibrahim