By bringing communities, schools and law enforcement together, a UQ researcher's new approach to tackling truancy is exciting law enforcement bodies in Australia and internationally.
Truancy, wagging, skipping school, bunking off. The minor misdemeanour is sometimes considered a risqué rite of passage, so involving police when students skip school might seem like overkill to some.
Statistically, however, truancy is a harbinger for future problems, and as UQ’s Professor Lorraine Mazerolle and her research team have discovered, if police get involved at this early stage of antisocial behaviour in a positive, collaborative way, it can have a profound impact on reducing later, more serious offences.
Read more about how the ASEP team members are creating change for school children and their families.
