"It’s a normal Wednesday in Jersey City municipal court as the names of 26 truants are read before Judge Cynthia Jackson. Nearly half the cases are no-shows.
“Warrant” is repeated over and over.
But once a week, a long line of teens -- each with over a dozen unexcused absences -- are brought before the judge to face fines and explain their reasons for missing class.
...It’s the usual lecture from this judge and hundreds of judges across the country as the children of immigrant families – some documented and others not – are dragged into court for chronic absence. The reasons are as varied as the places they come from.
...But in many cases teenagers are simply teenagers behaving badly.
...“These parents come here for a better life, but sometimes the kids don’t give a shit,” said David Ishibashi, executive director of the Youth Success Network, which works with chronically absent children in New Jersey..."
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