Arresting Dropouts

Apparently, paying kids in England to go to school is not enough incentive, so now the British government has decided to try penalizing anyone under 18 who drops out of school or job training:

"Breaching an attendance order will be a criminal offence, punishable by a £50 fixed penalty or prosecution. Ultimate sanctions include community sentences or fines.... The names of all 16 and 17-year-olds will be added to a database held by local authorities so that they can track their participation in education or training."

Those payments to kids for attending classes will change, so that now they'll be rewarded for showing up, and paid extra for actually participating:

"The education maintenance allowance of £10 to £30 a week, which is paid to 400,000 youngsters from low-income families to encourage them to stay at school, will be replaced with a new "training wage".

This is likely to include a basic allowance for those who turn up to training, and "bonus" payments for those who gain qualifications and demonstrate progress."

It seems like if you have to bribe and threaten kids to go to school, something is either wrong with the system or wrong with the kids. All I know is, I'm glad we don't live in England!