Peers set teen truants straight
Twenty middle-schoolers graduate from a truant court program that gave them a chance to improve.
By CHRIS TISCH
Published January 22, 2005
LARGO - Brittney Medick says a lot of her problems had to do with drama. More specifically, the 14-year-old says: "boy drama."
Whatever it was, she was missing school. The eighth-grader skipped nine days over a three-week period last fall. While playing hooky, she broke into houses. While at school, she fought with other girls. Her grades sank.
School officials referred Brittney to truancy teen court. She appeared in a courtroom in front of a volunteer jury of high school students. They quizzed her about her problems, then ordered her to perform several acts of kindness and get back to school.
The experience left Brittney humiliated. She hasn't had an unexcused absence since.
"It intimidated me a lot," Brittney said. "It really woke me up to go to court. I know I would have gotten worse."
The truancy teen court program started in Pinellas County in 2003 but has been moving along slowly while administrators work out the kinks. This week, the program held its first graduation and gave 20 middle-schoolers certificates for attendance improvements.
One was Brittney, who summoned the courage to give a speech to the rest of the graduates on Tuesday.
"Skipping doesn't get you anywhere," she said. "I got lucky. I hope you do, too."
The truancy teen court program targets middle-school (and some high school freshmen) skippers before they get out of control. Truancy courts and teen courts have been around for years, but the combination of the two in Pinellas County may be the first of its kind in the state and, possibly, the nation, administrators say.
Reaching truants at this young age is vital intervention that could prevent more serious problems, program officials say. Students who skip school often turn to drugs, vandalism or more serious crimes.
In fact, 92 percent of Florida's prison inmates were truant during their school years.
In Pinellas County, about 1,500 middle-school kids developed truancy problems during each of the last two school years. In the first four months of this school year, about 400 attendance records got the attention of school officials. That usually means the students have missed five to 10 days with no good excuse.
Since 2003, about 100 middle-schoolers have been referred to truancy teen court, a joint plan of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, the Pinellas School Board and the Family Resources Center.
Most of those kids missed 10 to 15 days in one semester.
About 70 percent of the kids who go through the program haven't had more truancy problems. Participants' grade point averages also have increased an average of one point.
"Our job is to help them make better decisions," said Thomas Toy, the program's administrator.
About 45 kids are enrolled in the program, which Toy hopes will expand.
"There's certainly a need," he said.
Much like regular teen court, the program diverts children from appearing in front of a judge and facing court-ordered punishments. In regular truancy court, for instance, a judge can order a child to complete community service. The student's parents also can face criminal charges if their child misses school.
Truancy teen court is a little softer. Students appear in front of peers instead of a judge, and the sanctions are "random acts of kindness" instead of court-ordered community service.
The children and their parents must attend a class about truancy laws. Counseling or mandatory jail tours are other options.
For Brittney, the courtroom appearance was enough of a fright. Her grades have improved, and now her mother, Kathy Medick, can leave her at the bus stop confident she'll get on the bus.
"This has turned her around," Kathy Medick said. "Just the fact that they held it in a courtroom. She hasn't missed a day."
The program monitors students after they graduate. Administrators are always on the lookout for other problems, whether at home or in the classroom, that may be contributing to the child's truancy.
"Truancy is a symptom of what else is going on," Toy said. "There's something going on that's making that child not attend school."
Chris Tisch can be reached at 727 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com