EDUCATION chiefs have started legal proceedings against the parents of 22 persistent truants in Bolton during the past month.

And they warn that the action could end in prison for one or more of the parents who consistently fail to ensure their children attend school.

Their action follows news of a 60 day jail sentence handed out to Oxford mother Patricia Amos, and it is good to see education authorities finally clamping down on truancy.

Nothing else so far has worked. Perhaps now the extreme threat of imprisonment will shock parents to take responsibility for their children.

Earlier this week 112 children were discovered playing truant by education social workers. That is a shocking figure which can only continue to perpetuate the dire social consequences already being suffered as a result of truancy.

Repercussions of truancy are further reaching than the child simply missing out on an education. If children are not going to school, then we have to ask how are they spending their time.

All too often we hear of youngsters playing truant being drawn into the world of petty crime. Drawn together, with little else to do, many hang aimlessly around on street corners in groups. Boredom and a lack of stimulation or motivation leads to trouble, often in the form of drugs. Too often tragic tales of how young girls turn to prostitution start with them playing truant from school.

Of course not every child is going to be a model pupil. And who among us can say in our youth we never moaned about going to school? But all parents must recognise they have a responsibility to themselves, the society they live in and, most importantly, their children.