In an effort to boost attendance and improve on student performance in schools, one program known as AIM Truancy, strives to help out.
The program, based in Dallas, works by giving its participants a GPS equipped device. With these devices, the student checks in whenever they leave from home, arrive to school, after lunch, leaving school, and then when they come back home by a designated curfew. The device is also enabled to receive a wake up call.
Despite how tedious it can be keeping up with all the device’s procedures, AIM can help get students back on track with attendance.
“It has definitely helped me,” senior Sandra Landaverde said. “It isn’t any fun, but I’m glad I’m on it because otherwise I would have still been missing school a lot.”
AIM Truancy is not a required program, but students who are in danger of receiving a truant notice can have it delayed by participating in the AIM program.
“The program is optional for students,” drop-out prevention specialist Bertha Cherry said. “However, sometimes the principal can strongly recommend a student to be put on the program, the parent can receive a letter suggesting it, or even sometimes the students will voluntarily enroll themselves.”
This program can make it easier to keep track of students in danger of being declared truant. With electronics, everything is much more streamlined than keeping paper records.
“It is very useful to keep records this way,” Cherry said. “With the old paper system, as one person in charge of so much, it was tough to keep track of everything.”
However, there can sometimes be some trouble keeping up with the devices themselves for students. One more device means one more thing to keep up with.
“I would rather have an ankle bracelet, like people on house arrest use,” Landaverde said. “Sometimes I forget to charge it or accidently leave it at home. It’s still weird carrying it around.”
When students participate in the program, it is not a definite and everlasting program.
“Students will only use the devices for six weeks, and if their attendance improved, than they avoid receiving a truant notice,” Cherry said. “However if they don’t improve with in the six weeks, than they are taken off the program.”
In some cases, students equipped with these devices could also save them in other ways. One situation occurred when Cherry used the devices to aid the police in cracking down on a domestic violence case.
“The AIM advisor for that particular student informed me that there may be a dangerous situation at home, purely for the safety of the student,” Cherry said. “I waited for the right time to report, and once I did I went straight to the police.”
It is emphasized that the devices or the technology won’t be used maliciously, or in any invasive way.
“As an adult, its just one more way to intervene and be able to help the student,” Cherry said.
