Penalties may also be issued for disorder or truancy, dog fouling or graffiti.

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Hunt said a strong indicator of the problem is Kentucky's large number of runaways, who are at high risk for being trafficked, and the number of kids incarcerated each year for "status offenses" such as running away or truancy.

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As examples of innovation, she cites the "learning mentors" project, in which pupils are given indvidual mentors to help with problems which might be disrupting their learning, such as bullying, truancy or difficulties at home.

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All the legal penalties we've had over the last 50 or 60 years on truancy have never made much difference and have never worked.

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Ms Casey published her report on Saturday, saying that cases of truancy, exclusion or bad behaviour at school were also cut by 52%.

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They could also be used in obvious cases of truancy - such as when children are caught during sweeps - or for pupils who persistently arrive late.

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Dr Seeley says that truancy often begins after students' transition from middle school to high school in the US, at 13 or 14 years old.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Education | Truancy: How do countries compare?