Is Attendance an Issue?

This blog will focus on the apparent issue that some teachers have with a lack of attendance during the high school years of a student’s career. 

My high school year I had a teacher that had a serious issue with lack of attendance. If there was not a reason given a day prior to your late arrival or to missing class altogether he would reprimand you by handing out detentions. I personally never fell victim to the wrath that he imposed on many other students, but I witnessed it first-hand.

My peer had issue’s with waking up on time and would consistently show up late. The teacher would cause as much disruption as him when he showed up late, since he would address the student on his late arrival and his detention. The issue I found with this is that when he would hand out detentions to the students that would not give notice to their absences, he would be causing these students to stay after school. This was an issue because many times he would have handout’s that were not for marks, for the students to complete during detention and thus would not allow for other work to be completed. My peer for example would need to complete the mandatory workbook that would be handed out during his detention, and then have to go home and complete the homework that his grades actually did rely on. This puts students behind in other courses were they would need more time to complete the work that is actually for marks. 

I believe that attendance during high school should be treated the same as attendance during post- secondary. If the student fails to show up, then the teacher should have no obligation to seek out punishment for the student. The punishment should come from the student missing out on vital information being taught during class. Assigning detention’s in order to punish student’s not only takes away from the student’s by taking up more of their time, but it also

takes time out of the teacher’s day by having to schedule a detention with the student and the school. It seems counterintuitive for a teacher to put in more work and effort, especially if it is a student that doesn’t even want to be in the classroom. By removing the mandatory attendance, it allows for a more relaxed environment between the teacher and student, and also shows that the teacher trusts that the student will show up in order to learn and grow. The detention should be limited to use where the individual is being disrespectful or clearly in contempt of the rules, instead of being used as a deterrent for absences. The most effective deterrent for absences I’ve found, is by having constant new knowledge every day. This ensures that students will show up in order to learn these new concepts. Not only does this work more efficiently, but it better prepares students for post-secondary by putting more of an emphasis on the importance of responsibility.