America, We Have a Problem.
I’ve been having some thoughts…. And these thoughts are starting to scream at me as I’ve had the opportunity to talk with others in education on this issue. Working in a public school, I am very aware of the attendance issues we have in our schools and its impact. This epidemic affects our children and our schools. When children are not in school, they are not learning. Often times, parents don’t realize how stressful it is for their children when they are out of school. Not only are they missing valuable learning, but when they return, they have make up work to handle. For our struggling students, make up work is an impossible task. There is no time in the day deemed “extra time” to allow for make up work to be finished, so they must complete it during class (when they should be learning the new material for that day) or at home (which denies them the opportunity of seeking assistance and guidance from an educator).
Why are the kids staying home??
So what are the reasons why students are not coming to school. The first thought that people jump to is COVID. However, this epidemic started before COVID hit. So what’s deal?
Lack of Resources
The biggest reason students are not coming to school is a lack of connection to necessary family resources. Low income families in particular do not have the necessary support to make sure their child has what they need to get to school. Some of the barriers that prevent families from being able to send their students to school are: lack of clothing, lack of transportation, and lack of food.
Mental Health
Parents state that there has been an increase in the mental health needs of their children. With high teacher turnover, increased demands and stress at school, and a decrease in school activities all point to a higher stress level on students. Parents are more likely to allow their children to stay home when they are feeling stressed or overwhelmed. We are also seeing a record number of depression cases in children, especially in middle and high schools.
Illness
Not to be discounted, there has been a drastic increase in long-term illnesses, causing students to miss multiple consecutive days. This puts a huge strain on the student and the teacher. Schools have also become more strict in their illness policies, keeping students home more.
Apathy
Unfortunately, there is also a sense of apathy with some parents. Because of the challenges currently facing our nation’s schools, many parents don’t feel that their children are getting the best education and therefore don’t mind as much when their children miss school. Yes, we do have major challenges in our schools right now. BUT having children miss school directly contributes to the low test scores and decreased performance in our schools.
So what can we do about it??
I hope to start a discussion here on how we can solve these problems and get our kids back in school. When they miss school, they miss out on learning, building social skills, and so much more.