In "To Kill a Mockingbird", why do the Ewell children go to school only the first day in the whole year and never come back again?

The Ewells are one of the poorest families in town. Their father, Bob Ewell spends the family's government relief check on "green whiskey," according to Atticus, and the local authorities allow the family to have exceptions to certain local laws.

One of those laws states that the children must be in school, but the "truant lady" only ensures that they arrive at school on the first day. The students tell Miss Caroline Fisher that she is to mark them absent the rest of the year, because they'll never show up again.

Another exception that authorities and local citizens make for the Ewell clan is allowing them to hunt game out of season and on other people's property. It is the community's opinion that if their father can gather game for the family to eat, no one should deprive them of what little they get.