Wise County, Texas. is going high-tech on truants.
To keep tabs on students who are habitually absent, Justice of the Peace Terri Johnson can now place a GPS ankle monitor on them for 30 days. “I’m not looking to convict students but to help them,” said Johnson, who presides over Precinct 2 in Decatur. “We want to help them go to school, and 30 days can do a lot to change up their behavior.”
No students have been sanctioned with the monitor yet, but doing so would allow Johnson to know where they are at all times.
The monitors, which are more commonly used to keep track of convicted felons on probation, are the latest move in stepped-up efforts across North Texas to curb truancy and help turn around climbing dropout rates…
Johnson said she saw about 320 truancy cases last year.
Oftentimes, students will correct their behavior if they are held more accountable, Johnson said. She said students who have already appeared before her court and are cited again for truancy could be candidates to use the new system.
Har!
Where there is a will there is an “A”. Where there is not a will there is technology and the infrastructure to monitor it.
If you are going to screw up your life by skipping out on an education then get used to being monitored by the authorities!
If I had one of them forced on me for 30 days, I would spend the rest of my life pursueing revenge.
Twelve year old pot heads, alcoholics, recidivist sneak thieves and playground shakedown artists that I went to school with, would have had that lock picked in seven minutes with a bent paper clip.
#1 – DoucheDay, tell that to Bernie Madoff!
Want to bet they are out running wild all night most nights?
The down side to me is I can see the day coming when every citizen will be wearing these things.
#5 nearly every citizen does, it is called a cell phone.. all the latest ones come with gps built in..
‘“I’m not looking to convict students but to help them,” said Johnson’
I think it was Reagan who said the most dangerous words are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.”
wtf this can’t be legal ..
its truancy and putting one of these uber expensive tracking systems on someone is about as much overkill as putting a 5yr.o on deathrow for stealing a nickel candy piece
seriously.. there’s gotta be a better way to spend state money than tracking truants
put em in , in school suspension and apply them for 30days or lets say 100hours Community service , i.e cleaning roadways, work in a ol’folks home kitchen .. give em the jobs that they’d have w/out a education …
welll looking at the future .. the jobs they’ll get anyways w/ a highschool diploma dependent on their social economic status and what not.