Should parents be fined for their child’s bad attendance? (read the description before voting)

So I’m not sure if this happens everywhere, but here in England if a students attendance is below a certain percent (usually without a doctors vote) the parents can get a fine.

The fine starts at £60 and rises to £120 if it isn’t paid within 21 days. If it isn’t paid within 28 days, the parents can get prosecuted.

The problem I see with this is, the parents could be trying their hardest to get their child into school but the child can still refuse, or pretend to go to school but go somewhere else.

An example of this is an old friend of mine was going through a really rough time with her mental health, and flat out refused to go into school every single day. Her poor mother tried her hardest to help her and get her into school but she wouldn’t. It even came to the point her mother rang the school to come to her home, and the girl still didn’t go. Her mother was fined more than once because of this.

However, there are some parents that might be letting their child stay off too often , or might not really care if they’re turning up or not, and in this case I understand giving the parents a fine.

Additional question you could discuss in the comments: if you think the parents shouldn’t be fined, what should be done about it?