How many days can your child miss school?

[Magpie]

16 years old and in 5th grade?

My kids regularly lied about their age in order to register on various social networking sites (many of them won't allow you to create a profile unless you're over 14 or 16, depending). Most kids do. Based on her grammar and punctuation, I have no problem believing the previous poster might be 11 or 12.

That aside, though, this is really something for a parent or guardian to take up with the school, on the child's behalf. If there is no parent or guardian interested or capable of doing so (as was the case with a friend of mine, who used to have to go to her little sister's parent-teacher interviews when she was 12), then the previous poster can bring this problem to her favourite teacher. There's bound to be at least ONE teacher in her school who is likely to be sympathetic and helpful.

And if the child's been skipping school without parental permission and is afraid to let her parents know... well, this is just one of those, "Suck it up, tell them, and take your lumps," moments in life. No one's future was ever ruined by failing Grade 5 (and it probably won't even come to that, the kid will just have to take a course or two of summer school instead).