Resistance magazine's Sarah Peart spoke to Rodney Molseworthy, publicity officer of the Federation of Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) about the proposed truancy law in NSW.
Question: What exactly is the government proposing?
The government is being very cagey about the proposal. What we do know is that, from second term, it will be necessary for every child of school age who is not at school for any reason at all to have some kind of pass which is authorised by the school before they are free to be on a public place without fear of arrest and detention.
Question: What is the P&C's opinion of this proposal?
This is the last in a series of affronts to the civil rights of young people. It is entirely the wrong way of dealing with the tiny percentage of students who are chronic truants, and it is a waste of resources, distracting attention from the real causes why young people aren't at school.
Question: Is such a proposal workable?
It is going to be completely ineffective — imagine the situation when a police officer goes into a pinball hall asking the names, address and school of kids who are there.
The government has said that ordinary kids won't be targeted, but this means that those groups who are considered to be "troublemakers" are going to be made the target of further police attention by this act.
It will drive those young people who already feel alienated from the school system further away from school and further away from society. The study by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission showed that 85% of young people think that police treat them without respect for their civil rights.
The level of resentment by young people of the police is at a record high and hasn't been as high since the '60s. What responsible government is going to exacerbate this difficult situation?
Question: What is your opinion of organising demonstrations amongst young people to stop the truancy laws?
We should call on all organisations who deal with young people to join together and protest loudly against the direction of government policy in general and against this proposal in particular.