I like that Metro police are sweeping the streets in search of truants. I’m sure that most teenagers feel there is no real chance of legal consequence to skipping school. I hope that handcuffs and waiting at the station for mom or dad to pick you up will send the message.

Many parents have no idea when their children have left school with no valid reason, so the idea of inconveniencing the folks is also a good wake-up call. Of course, if my child calls from a police station someday in the future and asks me to pick him up because he got caught skipping school, I would get there just as soon as I finished buying groceries, cleaning the kitchen, watching Dr. Phil and getting a manicure … and maybe staring at the pretty flowers in my garden for a while.