Skipping classes has consequences

Students have always skipped classes. The thing is, skipping classes can lead to problems later on in life. We need a solution to keep kids in classes, to keep them wanting to learn. 

During quarantine skipping was easy and no one could do anything to stop it. Perhaps students retained those habits when returning to in-person school, as this article in The Bear Witness, a high school news site in Georgia suggests: “From ignoring Teams meetings to now wandering off to the vending machines, skipping has become increasingly more common.”

Maybe students are just doing what they always do. But students may be walking on train tracks with headphones on, not knowing an actual train is around a bend that cannot see them. With this mindset many tend to ignore everything else besides what they want and make themselves believe that since that is the norm, they think nothing is going to happen.

The result of this can lead to students falling off the graduation track because they are academically behind their peers and risk failing the classes they skip. Students who don’t graduate have a lower chance to get opportunities that could help them have a better and more comfortable life or education. This affects  students and their families, but it also affects the nation because its workforce is not as well educated.

DCPS records show that Roosevelt had a high number of unexcused absences last school year: 98% percent of students had at least 1 unexcused absence, and a whopping 65% have 21+ unexcused absences, indicating a major problem.

Next year, administrators are putting a plan in place to help reduce skipping. Each Wednesday, the periods will switch off to try and prevent students skipping first periods if they decide they wanna come late. 

Another way to stop students is to have a conference with the student to figure out why this is happening and how it can be fixed and if that isn’t enough bring in the parents to discuss possible solutions.