Having been a truant myself for the final year or so of my education, I can say that this will simply not work for the majority of kids.
Sure, it might scare a minority of kids back into class, the ones who jump at their own shadow, but they are a very small minority. The rest just
won't care.
The only way to deal with truancy is to find out why each kid doesn't want to be there, and then fix it!
The biggest problem we have is that every kid is taught the same, every kid is treated the same, like little robots on a production line.
Some kids hate physical education, and just removing them from that class and replacing it with something they actually have an interest in would end
their truancy. But the adults know best, apparently. They would rather screw up a kids entire education than admit that kids are unique.
My reason for missing school was phys ed, because I just couldn't do it. I was never overweight or anything, I just couldn't do it. All my life I
had unexplained health problems that were just disregarded, and then a couple of years ago I collapsed and had a seizure, and they found a genetic
heart problem which explained all of those medical problems I've always had. As it turns out, being pushed in phys ed like that could actually have
killed me.
If my needs had been met, and they'd replaced that lesson with something I could do, and had an interest in, I wouldn't have missed a day of
school.
Doesn't really matter so much, education is great but I've done just fine with poor results. I now run my own business from home, I've written a
published novel, I've exhibited and sold my art and I've been involved in numerous things that plenty of my past fellow students would never
achieve.
Let kids be kids, try to fix their problems, but let them be unique and don't dictate to them what they MUST do to satisfy some old person behind a
state funded desk.
Monitoring them in this way is treating them like cattle, like a commodity to be bought and sold. I find it sickening that they are even considering
this. The cost of this is far more expensive than paying a councilor to find out their reasons for being truant. That's why I fully believe that
there is some sweet deal going on between those making the decision and those with a vested interest in selling this product.
Follow the money, and you'll probably find a business deal where someone in local government is making a few hundred thousand $'s.