I'm thinking 1) the father doesn't know any better; and 2) she is afraid to rock the boat.

As for the neighbourhood she lives in, yeah it's pretty 'sketchy'. I wouldn't say crime ridden or anything like that just very low socio-demographically. Truancy has sadly become normal in her community. And frankly I don't believe the neighbourhood is the source of her fears. SHe just plain is too attached to this boy - and dad seems to encourage it apparently