I think I could handle that. I've done it in the past. Nobody said being a parent was easy!

I just wanted to mention that I believe that Albert Einstein was a pretty good student. Here is Wikipedia's take on the topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstei..._and_schooling

I know that there are kids that are tired and hungry and it might actually not have anything to do with parenting. They are picky eaters or happen to have a phase of poor sleep, things like are not so uncommon, I had students like that and it was trying, yes, but it is good to be sensitive and to co-operate with parents. I also think especially with younger kids that the curriculum tends to be quite demanding, sports on top of that, extracurriculars..

I hope that school would do a lot of investigation in each individual case before actually deciding it is the parent's fault and fining them. I find this rule too easy to abuse. It's an easy cop-out. In case that the child's parents get fined, while there is too much going on within the family, it might make the situation for the child in the family very difficult. So, this rule does not neccessarily help the child, only punishes the parents.

I find the parents taking kids on holidays during normal school term rediculous, especially those kids who's academic performance is not ideal. If some child is gifted and makes up for all the missed classes than I,as a teacher, wouldn't probably mind, it is not my business I don't think. It is strange idea to homogenize the life of kids, especially here in Switzerland, where diversity actually seems to be the norm.

I don't agree with this concept from Basel. It's true that fines sometimes help to fight absenteeism. But children can be sleepy sometimes and not run at peak-performance for a variety of reasons. If teachers notice a problem for an extended period of time, they should notify the social department, it has the ressources and know-how to check if children and parents face a serious problem or not. This is not at all school department territory as far as I'm concerned.

Is this another one of this Swiss education system shortcomings I keep hearing about?

Christ on a bike - I'm glad we won't be sending the kids to school there. Mk. 1 Borissette's always hungry and 2's even worse. I swaer they eat more than I do and they're only three and one.

In an ideal world I'd agree. In an ideal world schools shouldn't need to interfere. But the sad fact is there are some delinquent parents out there and schools, not social services, see the kids day in day out and are well placed to play a key role in any support structure. I get why some folks have concerns about over little dictator school heads but I'm not sure social services are any better when they get the bit between their teeth. It's stating the obvious that it doesn't mean you're a bad parent just because your kid's stomach rumbles or he yawns in class. And the problem here isn't kids whose parents have their best interests at heart. All we've seen so far is the headline proposal. We've seen no detail. Like everything else, the success and credibility of this initiative will depend on execution.

Imprisoning parents for frequent truancy is not working at all in the UK.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/...y-parents-jail

Also they suspend children for taking time off to enjoy the snow- where's the logic there?

I suppose I should rethink my perspective. If fining parents can be introduced, I really do trust the Swiss educational system more than the British or Swiss. Unless things have changed since my kids were at school there, they did not have the queues for psychological or social services.

It is just so disheartening as a teacher to be expected to cope with children who are being neglected and not because their parents don't have enough money.

I totally agree, it used to drive me nuts. In the US parents are seen as a valuable resource. You can always ask to sit in on a class or help out.
The only problem is that some schools are desperate for help, in others it is the parents who are more or less running the school, they fight for places on the parent-teacher organization. In Switzerland I usually found the schulpresident very helpful.

Nothing is working in the UK! Jailing burglars hasn't deterred burglary either. It's a punishment. Deterrence is only one metric.

Hm..I still doubt that a fine will effectively fix the trouble. I think it simplifies the complexity too much.

How can the real reason why the child is tired (hungry, unwell..etc) be objectively assesed when it is only parents and the child at home and when there is no (thank god) formal surveilence? What if there are medical reasons?

Ok, I can see it maybe working if the parents are only spaced out, not really reinforcing the bedtimes, snacks, etc..So they get "reminded" of what a "fit for school" means.

But what if the child is really sick, parents get fined, then they complain, send a letter, school sends a letter back, the child gets stigmatized in the process, a lengthy procedure. It just does not seem practical.

By the way, I noticed how really late children of our Swiss friends go to bed, kids of anybody, really, compared what is the norm back in my home. I am not a fan of hard-as* curfews but when kids we had to go to bed at 8ish, or when we got older 9ish. I think it is a good thing to promote, so there should be parental meetings, teachers educate the parents on the mental hygene of learning, etc. If a school is not open to parents participating in their kids' learning process (or parents ignore their children) than all it is left is to issue fines.

Besides, the family and school dynamics are slowly changing..Money is getting tight for more people than before, dinners are later because people work later hours, I think it is dads for most parts, moms too I can imagine. So to enjoy their children, or even see them before they go to bed and for the children to have some kind of interraction, they do go to bed late. It is not good. But I think fines could possibly make it worse.

I didn't know that the fines are already in place in German and Austria, I wonder how it is working there.

I agree. I have friends who do this purely because they want to have *an evening* with their kids before bed-time.

The whole problem here really lies with respect and responsibility. Schools/ teachers need to adopt a more understanding approach to parents and the difficulties they go through and parents need to respect the work teachers and schools do. The blame game does no one any good and I have met many a poor teacher using the excuse of poor parenting as the reason why they cannot teach a child.. the same is true of many parents: blaming the school for their child's poor development and lack of decent grades when they consistently fail to help with homework or fail to encourage/respect their child's achievements. The child/student comes out the worst from this merry-go-round of blame and lack of responsibility. No wonder then, kids often grow up with little respect for the adult world and their lame attempts at discipline.

Hmmm...

How about the gov't just taking over the whole child-process. With modern technology, they could be manufactured from a selection of genetic material and grown in, say, bottles.

In fact, with a bit of preparation (e.g. addition of some alcohol into said bottles, before decantation), several different types of children could be manufactured; let's label them alpha, beta, gamma, etc. The alpha's would be ideally suited for difficult jobs, such as being doctors, while the epsilons would be most happy sweeping the streets or running Swiss Re (so, no real change necessary).

Anyways, by just letting the state handle this whole thing, a burden would be taken off the shoulders of the parents and the educational system could be better tailored for the different types of children being produced. No need for fines - just a bit of Soma to oil the machine.

The big question whether this proposal goes far enough. Why stop at parents whose kids are tired and hungry? What about the parents of fat kids? Don't they deserve to be punished too?