Are Students Missing Too Much School?
Article by Alisha Sachdeva, TPT Staff Writer
Since we were little, the routine has been to wake up, brush our teeth, hop on the bus, and get to school. But COVID-19 completely changed our whole lives, especially for kids. With the simplicity of online school, we lost the normalcy of interacting with teachers and other students. It could be the ease of catching up on missed work online or simply a lack of motivation to get up in the morning. Whatever the reason, there has been a substantial decrease in student attendance.
“Mental health days” have also become a popular topic of conversation. Parents have started to let their kids take 2-3 mental health days a semester. But when does it become a skip day? Michigan recently introduced a bill that limits mental health days to 5 per school year. If passed, when a student takes a day off, they can credit it as a mental health day. But Dr. Eric Herman, a clinical psychologist with Detroit Children’s Hospital of Michigan, argues that this new law would make the situation worse. "They need to speak to the teachers, administrators, get counselors involved, and let’s handle the real problem - instead of taking days off," Herman said. "It’s a decision for parents to make, it’s not something lawmakers are involved in."
Mariel Bumanglag, a student at Saline High School in Saline, Michigan talks about her relationship with school absences and tardies. “After COVID and being able to make up all the work I miss so easily online, sometimes it’s just easier to take a day off instead of going to school on a day that you know will be bad.” Bumanglag isn’t the only student who thinks this way. The rate of absences has nearly doubled since the 2018-19 school year.
The White House reports a 16-27 percent of the overall test score decline in math and 36-45 percent of the decline in reading. While absenteeism may not be the only reason for these decreases, it certainly plays a part. In January 2024, the Biden-Harris administration announced their Improving Student Achievement Agenda. The agenda consists of three “evidence-based strategies that improve student learning: (1) increasing student attendance; (2) providing high-dosage tutoring; and (3) increasing summer learning and extended or afterschool learning time.” This plan will be the largest single education investment in the history of our country. Biden is investing 130 billion dollars in the American Rescue program, which will go through States and districts nationwide. The end goal of this is to see an increase in school attendance. Additionally, he is investing 90 million dollars to strengthen math, literacy, and science instruction through the Education Innovation and Research program.
Ultimately, these statistics show that absenteeism is becoming a real problem. The government, at all levels, is working to fix it to some degree, but in the end, the students are the only ones who can wake up and decide to come to school. Even if it might not be the most appealing thing to sit in class for six to eight hours, it is important to your future. Support and encouragement are the best thing we can give to these students to solve this issue.
Sources:
ProPublica - Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis
New York Times - What Students Are Saying About Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’
FOX 2 DETROIT - New bill would give kids 5 'mental health' days off per school year
The White House - Chronic Absenteeism and Disrupted Learning Require an All-Hands-on-Deck Approach