Unfair punishment for dropouts

CAROL GOAR, Aug. 23, 2006

One of the threads Liberal leadership contender Gerard Kennedy left dangling when he stepped down as Ontario education minister was a bill depriving anyone who quits school before 18 of the right to hold a driver's licence.

It would have been best to let it drop. The measure is clumsy, coercive and unduly harsh on rural teens.

But Kennedy's replacement, Sandra Pupatello, is determined to tie up loose ends. After four days' debate this spring, she whisked the bill off to a legislative committee for line-by-line scrutiny. "We are hoping to see it approved as soon as possible," said a ministerial aide. "This is a priority for this government."

The committee, chaired by government backbencher Bob Delaney of Mississauga West, isn't likely to provide much resistance. Eight of its 11 members are Liberals. Only two (both Conservatives) represent rural ridings.

There is still one chance albeit a slim one to halt this rush to punish.

The committee will hold three public hearings next week. On Tuesday (Aug. 29), it will be in Whitchurch-Stouffville. On Wednesday, it will move to Hamilton. On Thursday, it will visit Leamington.

The meetings haven't been widely publicized. The timing isn't convenient. And people can't just show up and speak. In order to comment on the legislation, an individual must notify the clerk of the committee by 4 p.m. today. (Tonia Grannum can be reached at 416-325-3519.)

Clearly, the government isn't encouraging citizens to express their views. But it is worth making the effort. Here's why:

• This isn't what Ontarians voted for. Dalton McGuinty never told electors his government would deny driver's licences to 16- and 17-year-olds who dropped out of school. He said the Liberals would require young people to stay in school or an approved training program until 18 years of age. But there was no mention of using an enforcement technique that is totally unrelated to academic attainment.
• Neither Kennedy nor Pupatello has produced a shred of evidence that this approach works. Nine American states have made school attendance mandatory to get a driver's licence, but none has shown that the requirement reduces truancy. Politicians think it does. Educators acknowledge that wheels give kids power and status. But no one has been able to establish a clear link.
• The policy sends a troubling message to young people: Your government knows what's best for you. It will bully you into submitting, regardless of your needs or circumstances. It knows that you, unlike an adult, don't have the power to fight back.
• It wasn't the kids who broke the education system. It was the government of Mike Harris. The Tories put in place a curriculum that sent failure rates soaring and provided no practical help to students who weren't bound for university or college. To McGuinty's credit, the Liberals have begun to straighten out the mess. Until they finish the job, penalizing the victims of a bad policy would be patently unfair.
• Stripping youths who already are at high risk of unemployment of one of the few qualifications they can use to get a job is counterproductive. It will worsen their plight and increase the odds they'll end up on welfare or turn to crime.
• The burden of this sanction will fall disproportionately on rural families. Not only will teens have to depend on their parents to get around. They won't be able to take over farm responsibilities or drive relatives to medical appointments.
• Middle-class politicians have little understanding of the forces that drive disadvantaged kids to leave school. It could be ostracism or shame or bullying. It could be a poor grasp of English (funding for language instruction has been cut.) It could be an undiagnosed mental illness. It could be a learning disability. It could be the need to have what other kids have. It could be a hunger to succeed at something anything.

"This is mean and I don't think it's going to work," said Miriam Kaufman, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto who specializes in adolescent medicine.

Like most educators, parents and citizens, she supports the goal of keeping kids in school longer. But she finds the means crude and offensive.

One of the essentials of good discipline, Kaufman says, is a clear link between actions and consequences. If a young driver breaks the rules of the road, it would be fair to suspend his or her licence. But there is no connection between being a competent driver and attending high school.

"I was a high-school dropout and it didn't stop me from getting a licence to practise medicine," she said. "This just doesn't make sense."

If a few articulate voters better still a few hundred delivered that message to the Liberals next week, they might listen. Otherwise, they'll hear it at the ballot box.