Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
I have worked with countless parents over the years who are struggling with their children’s school attendance. The reasons why a child may have school attendance issues can vary. However, I read an article this week in The Guardian, which reported on statements made by Michael Gove. He is the former Education Secretary in the UK and stated that parents could have their child benefit payments stopped, if they do not ensure their children attend school regularly.
Michael Gove’s statements:
“We need to, particularly after Covid, get back to an absolute rigorous focus on school attendance, on supporting children to be in school. It is often the case that it is truanting or persistent absenteeism that leads to involvement in antisocial behaviour. So one of the ideas that we floated in the coalition years, which the Liberal Democrats rejected, is the idea that if children are persistently absent then child benefit should be stopped. I think what we need to do is to think radically about restoring an ethic of responsibility.”
My initial reaction upon reading these statements, was one of anger and frustration. A feeling I am sure that other parents will share. Personally, I feel it is both ridiculous and insulting to parents. Especially to suggest that the government are “supporting children to be in school”, by taking money away from the family.
Reading the article, Michael Gove is linking school attendance/truancy to future anti-social behaviour. This link may indeed be supported by some data or case studies. However, is it really supporting the child? The parent? Or the family as a whole, by pushing some of these families further towards poverty?
Some parents are trying their best!
I have worked in both primary and secondary education in the past, holding responsibilities for school attendance and student safeguarding/welfare. As a result, I have had my fair share of experience working with parents struggling with getting their child into school. In my experience, the vast majority of parents in these situations, are doing their utmost to get their child into school. Very few parents simply do not care or do not try to promote their child’s attendance.
The reality is, that many parents struggle with the practicalities of how to get their child into school more often. Some children have mental health issues, Special Educational Needs or are being bullied. All of which require a supportive and collaborative approach. There usually are no quick fixes or simple answers to resolve these issues. I would certainly not class taking away child benefit payments as a way of supporting these parents.
Another issue I have with these statements, is that is creates a culture of blaming the parent. “Restoring an ethic of responsibility”, suggesting that some parents needs to be more responsible for their child’s attendance. Whilst this may be true in some instances, I would argue where does the responsibility fall for actually supporting parents who are doing their best and struggling? There are far more of these parents, than the parents who do not care at all.
Availability of support.
I currently work in the Early Intervention/Early Help sector of supporting families. Funding for early intervention services changes with each new government. Currently, my observations over the years is that early support for families is reducing and a higher workload is being places on those services who remain. This is leading to longer waiting lists and slower responses for families needing help and support.
This is particularly noticeable in areas like Mental Health and Special Educational Needs. These are two huge areas that can underpin school attendance concerns. So what is a parent to do if they need help with school attendance? Parents are faced with long waiting lists, a lack of support and are not only faced with school fines, but now also the potential risk of losing child benefit payments. Surely, the responsibility falls on the government to ensure that support and funding is available for the early intervention services to support families earlier? Prevention is better than the cure.
In addition, the majority of families are currently going through a time of financial hardship. House bills and living costs are higher than they have been for years. I can’t help but think the timing of such statements like the above, is incredibly poor.
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Ignoring the underlying causes.
As I mentioned above, there can be many underlying reasons why school attendance can become an issue. I have worked with children in the past who have significant anxieties about attending school. Schools are not always understanding and supportive around this and can refer the families to be fined, rather than supporting them. Some children with Special Educational Needs can find the school environment very difficult to cope with. As a result, some of these children may refuse to attend school and it is not a straightforward task in supporting them to attend school again.
The culture of blaming parents can be common, particularly from some schools. Despite there being legitimate concerns or issues that a child or parent needs support with, schools can often expect immediate results. If these results are not achieved, parents can be blamed and fines referred for by the school. Therefore, this lack of understanding or support, alongside the potential for child benefit payments to be stopped, can lead to many parents worrying about who is going to actually support them.
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Are the government out of touch?
My personal feelings on these statements is that Michael Gove is completely out of touch with the realities of what life can be like for some children and families. It is far too easy to say that it is the responsibility of the parent to get their child into school. The practicalities of such, is a different issue all together for many families. The complexity of the issues, the availability (or lack of) support, underlying causes and engagement from parents are all important factors to consider. I think most parents would respond better to knowing they can get help and support, rather than being threatened.
Thankfully at this stage, it seems as though these type of punishments for parents are not finalised and will continue to be discussed in government. It may be the case that stopping child benefit payments may only be used in the most extreme cases. However, from my experience, even for those parents who do not care about, or encourage school attendance, financial punishments is rarely a sufficient motivator. Furthermore, these families may also be on the brink of, or already in a state of poverty. Therefore out of desperation, these families may just resort to anti-social or criminal means of getting extra income if their child benefit is stopped. Which would defeat the whole purpose. How would this help the child in any case? For me, it seems like more harm would be done than good.
The right support at the right time.
I hope for the sake of many families out there that these plans are not agreed by the government. If they truly want to reduce anti-social behaviour and support children and families, they need to provide the adequate funding so that early intervention services can reach families much earlier. The reality for many families right now, is that they face long waiting lists for support. They are being blamed regardless and now faced increased threat of financial repercussions.
School attendance is extremely important for children. However, getting children and families the right support at the right time, will be far more effective than taking away their money and punishing the whole family.
Please feel free to share your thoughts, experiences or stories in the comments below!
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