At least 26% of students nationwide were chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year. School attendance is required by law, yet a hard thing to enforce among many students. Many people would rather be anywhere but school.
It can be a very stressful environment, and no one wants to endure the pressure people face at school. However, school is necessary as it serves as the foundation for shaping students’ futures. Although skills like finding the square root of eight or recalling the atomic elements are not used in everyday life, school teaches more than just academics.
Chronically absent students are not in school 50% of the time.When students are absent it hinders their development with critical skills needed throughout their life.
During the pandemic the percentage of chronically absent students have skyrocketed. Students who aren’t showing up to school have grown accustomed to staying at home and feeling they don’t need to be present. Their home has become their safe haven.
“Kids either feel like it’s kind of pointless to come to school, or they just don’t have the energy, or it’s just not an environment that they feel comfortable in,” Sophomore Cate LaGarde said.
During the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, students and teachers went remote for learning. Many students found it hard to focus and learn during remote learning. Not a lot of students see the point of coming into school when they could stay at home to learn because everything is online. Due to such a prolonged period of learning from home, it is difficult for many students to feel motivated to return.
“Some veteran teachers have told me that they noticed a real difference after virtual learning and that the big difference was that many students no longer understood why it mattered for them to be physically present,” English teacher Mr. Blasi said.
There are many factors that play a role in students not attending school.
One factor is social media.
People are highly affected by social media, especially high school students. Many kids are on their phones during school hours. Social media becomes very addicting to students to the point where they have to be on it 24/7.
“I feel like social media could be pretty distracting and play a role. People could enforce more patience and understanding because people can get pretty impatient if they don’t understand something or feel like they just can’t do something.” Cate said.
Students sometimes need to be shown how school can help them. We need to take small steps to help these students realize the importance of coming to school.
“Show them that it matters, and if we can’t do that, make it comfortable and safe, so even if they aren’t interested in school, they’ll show up to socialize or pass the time. Showing up is not enough on its own, but it’s a necessary first step!” Mr. Blasi said.
Sometimes, we take small steps when we do not feel like doing something.
These small steps will lead to big changes. Students can see the value of being at school, and focusing will help them in the future. Even though it feels tough now, all the hard work and participation in school will soon pay off. It takes effort to focus in school. School makes up the start of our careers so students should start taking it seriously.
“People could enforce more patience and understanding because people can get pretty impatient if they don’t understand something or feel like they just can’t do something.” Cate said.
