Should have ordered up a swat team mom!

Not even a cop can get this sleepy teen to school
By David Gonczol, Canwest News Service

May 15, 2009

Frustrated by her 13-year-old son's refusal to get out of bed and go to school, an Ontario mother took measures this week that countless parents only dream of: She called the cops on him.

However, when the Leeds County OPP officer who responded to the 8 a.m. call on Tuesday arrived at the house and explained that truancy could land him in hot water, the teen merely shrugged his shoulders and said he had no immediate plans to get out of bed, let alone to attend school. The officer left the house without making an arrest, or even much of a dent in the boy's REM.

It's up to school boards to ensure that children attend school, and they may call police to help them get a truant student to school. On Wednesday, the boy's mother admitted that it was not the responsibility of the police to get her son out of bed and on his way to school, but that she was at her wits' end.

"It's not their job," she said. "It's strictly the school boards [that] take care of it."

Still, under Ontario's Education Act, a parent who "neglects or refuses to cause the child to attend school" can face fines of up to $200 unless the child is legally excused from attending school.