Juvenile Delinquency/Truancy.

Juvenile delinquency, in the context of education, refers to the broad topic of juvenile lawlessness, which encompasses everything from drug and alcohol abuse to school violence. Truancy can be seen as a specific type of juvenile delinquency that, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the US Department of Justice, refers to a student's unexcused absences from school. Beyond its connection to poor academic performance, many researchers have concluded that truancy is an important predictor of juvenile delinquency. In recent decades, as the US public education system has developed a reputation for underperforming students, politicians, law enforcement officials, teachers, parents, and school administrators have made renewed efforts to curb truancy in the belief that regular school attendance is vital to improving student achievement in an increasingly global economy.