Mother repeatedly fined for taking her children on holiday during school term won’t stop

A mother in England, tired of having to pay a fine for taking her children on holiday during school holidays, has hit back at the system in a hilarious viral video.

Vacations are an important part of a family’s life. A 2022 study published in the journal Tourism management emphasized how important it is. Researchers administered questionnaires to parents and school-aged children in 217 families.

The results highlighted how parents’ well-being and their children’s generic life skills increase after going on vacation.

But holidays don’t come cheap, especially if you live in the UK and want to go on holiday during the school holidays.

In fact, a study conducted by a newspaper The Independent found that parents can pay up to 16 times more when booking trips during school holidays, compared to if they had gone during term time.

However, parents who take their children on holiday during term time face hefty fines for doing so and penalties for repeat offenders can now go beyond financial penalties.

In August, the UK Department for Education increased fines for parents who break these rules. The penalty for unauthorized absence from school has been increased from £60 ($78) to £80 ($105) and is now £160 instead of the previous £120 if not paid within 21 days .

If another unauthorized absence involving the same parent is reported within the following three years, the initial fine is £160.

Most importantly, there is no third penalty notice for a further offense, with official guidance warning that “alternative action” will be explored, which could potentially include criminal prosecution.

The new measures come as the BBC reported that almost 400,000 penalty notices had been issued to parents in England for unauthorized school absences during the 2022-23 school year.

That’s a source of concern for Britain’s Department for Education, which says children who do better at school miss fewer days than other children.

“THE the more present a student is, the more likely he or she is to learn and the more likely he or she is to perform well on exams and formal assessments,” according to the department.

It highlights 2019 data which shows that 84 per cent of children aged seven to 11 who were 100 per cent enrolled in school achieved expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics, compared to 40 per cent of pupils who were persistently absent in this age group.

Children in this age group who did not perform at expected standards missed an average of four more days per school year than those who performed above the expected standard.

The data also highlighted that children attending the UK equivalent of secondary school who did not achieve the standard grade in English and maths missed on average 10 more days per year than those who did.

Yet some parents, like Roxanne Balciunas of Sheffield, England, are happy to accept fines for their children missing a few days of school, if they have the alternative.

“I get fined every year for taking the kids,” Balciunas said. News week. “I refuse to pay thousands of dollars for a holiday that literally costs £250 each for the duration of term.”

Balciunas said News week she had “little concern for the fines,” but had a costly experience with them.

“Once the fine didn’t reach me and a bailiff showed up at my workplace, so I had to pay him £480, compared to £60 if I had received the letter,” he said. she declared.

She believes that the system of fines is “ridiculous” and unfair.

“Schools are removing children during school hours,” Balciunas said. “My son’s school took them to a theme park five days into a new term. When they take them on trips, they always send letters explaining how the children will benefit from the activities and culture However, if I take my children to the same places then it is negligence.

Balciunas regularly posts videos offering travel tips and advice on TikTok under the handle travelswithroxy, but recently gained attention on the platform with a video mocking the school fine system.

In the clip, she can be seen applying pale makeup to her daughter’s face with an on-screen caption explaining how she told her school she had “chickenpox” but now had to cover up the tan which she had obtained during a trip to Greece.

“It wasn’t real. We only made this video to show how stupid the rules about keeping kids out of school are,” she said.

The video, however, generated a huge reaction, racking up 2.1 million views and counting. Balciunas said that while there were a few “Karens” in the comments section who didn’t seem to realize it was a gag, many agreed with his stance, including a few unexpected supporters.

“From the comments, it seems to me that teachers are not on board with the rules or the care,” she said. “It’s the school administrative team that basically wants good numbers to make their schools look better.”

The viral success of the video, coupled with the popularity of a few other of her TikToks, has helped Balciunas generate more than enough money to cover the £780 in fines she has accrued so far, leaving a small additional supplement.

“We actually use it to book a cheap vacation for next week,” she said.

Balciunas hopes his video has raised awareness of this issue.

“I hope something is done about these ridiculous rules and they are changed or an exemption is given,” she said.

“To be honest, I think school holidays should be four weeks in August and children could then have two weeks a year where they wouldn’t be fined for leaving. It would also help parents who have to struggling to get custody of their children during this time,” she said.