I don’t want to go to school today; it’s boring, and does anyone care if I go?

Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey does.

This past spring Morrissey had school police issue tickets to truant students. However, many truant students did not receive tickets or learn their lesson.

Locally, DeKalb County has a different approach to combating truancy and has a low truancy rate compared to Rockford. The DeKalb County Truancy Intervention Program involves an outreach worker acting as a mediator between schools and parents after a student has nine unexcused absences. If the unexcused absences reach 18, the family is referred to court. Still, about 8 percent of cases reach that stage according to a 2007 article of the Daily Chronicle.

School police in Rockford currently ticket truant students, and Rockford has a 6.7 percent truancy rate, one of the highest in the state. Obviously, tickets don’t address the core issue: why are students truant in the first place?

The excuse that school is not exciting is unacceptable. I’ll admit, I find my summer internships more applicable to my future career than many of my classes. Still, I work hard and get good grades to achieve the goals I set for myself. I know my work ethic came from my parents.

I believe parents have a duty to instill a desire for education into their children, but when parents don’t fulfill this responsibility, local government seems to take over. I understand some parents live day-to-day, paycheck-to-paycheck, and have little energy left. Finding time for parenting can be hard, but shouldn’t parents be motivated to see their children receive a good education?

If ticketing students alone is not working, parents should make the students pay for the tickets.

When I received a ticket for speeding, I paid the fine. My parents didn’t pay, and I haven’t been ticketed since because I was held personally responsible by my parents.

Likewise, parents should hold their children responsible for penalties so students learn a lesson.

Also, ticketing the students apparently did not work last spring, and more drastic measures have been suggested.

According to an article in the Aug. 5 edition of the Rockford Register Star, Janet Holmgren, chief judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit, wants police to escort truants to special centers to evaluate reasons for truancy. However, the 17th district is having problems handing over truants’ information to police for ticketing purposes because of privacy issues. Plus, extra funds are required for the program.

I don’t see how ticketing will make students want to attend class, and police escorts won’t solve the problem either.

If government stopped providing shortcuts and temporary answers, people would have to figure things out for themselves.

Rockford, take a lesson from DeKalb – less help from government and more parent influence would make a positive difference in education for generations to come.