SHREVEPORT, La. - Law enforcement officers are warning of an impending tsunami of juvenile crime if truancy rates among students do not improve.
Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator is among those sounding the alarm. Caddo Correctional Center is overcrowded; he does not have room for more criminals, especially juveniles. But he fears they are coming since truancy often leads to children falling behind and dropping out of school.
“The greatest indicator for whether you are going to be a criminal is the dropout rate,” he said. “And that used to be dropping out before you graduated from high school. Now we’re having kids drop out before sixth grade. So you can imagine, having said that, we are going to have our hands full.”
The relationship between truancy and crime is evident at the Caddo Correctional Center, where 19 juveniles are housed and being tried as adults for charges including first-degree aggravated rape, murder and attempted murder. All 19 have a documented history of truancy, with 16 of them tracing their truancy back to elementary school.
The rise in truancy rates across the country can be traced back to COVID-19. In March 2020, when children were all sent home from school, many children, especially boys, lost access to much-needed male role models in school, said Clay Walker, the former Caddo juvenile services director now serving as Caddo Parish Commission assistant administrator.
“Post-COVID, at every grade level, there’s a pretty sizable population of kids that didn’t get what they needed for about two years,” said Walker. “There were kindergarteners and first graders that didn’t get foundational reading. There were middle schoolers that had no mentors, and so they joined gangs at every level.”
During the 2018-2019 school year, just prior to the onset of COVID-19, there were 379 Caddo elementary school students who had 10 or more unexcused days of school. Last year, that number soared to 3,114. Walker says these truant kids are not just missing school, some are getting involved in criminal activities that pose a serious threat to them and the larger community.
According to Walker, area law enforcement confiscated close to 250 illegal guns in 2022. Of that number, 75 of the firearms came from the hands of children, many of which were affiliated with local gangs.
Walker and Shannon Wyche, Caddo Parish Schools K-5 TASC truancy program director, are concerned about not only the increase in gang recruitment, but also the fact that children are being recruited at younger ages. Both say they’ve seen children recruited who are in second grade.
Walker says these young children are not only being indoctrinated, they are also given jobs like hiding guns and getting through small spaces where older gang members can’t fit.
Shreveport businessman Mike Riordan is a classic example of how truancy can lead to trouble.
“Skipping school was something I did. Next thing you know, you’re drinking, you’re doing drugs. As you get older you graduate to heavier things and then by 23, I was a full blow addict. At 25, I was a convicted felon.”
But today, Riordan is also an example of how a life can be changed. He is a highly successful businessman with a digital patent and a vast marketing and printing business called Everything Marketing.
Riordan is also the founder of Shreveport Citizens United, a group he helped form to address the crime problem. He is worried about the skyrocketing numbers of truant children because he personally knows where truancy can lead.
Riordan says male mentors got him back on track. His group and Volunteers for Youth Justice, the group that runs the TASC truancy program for children in grades K through 5, are asking for help from the community. Riordan especially wants to volunteer to serve as mentors.
“I don’t see how they make it without somebody intervening on their behalf and mentoring them,” Riordan says. “I think it’s just a perfect storm.”
