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School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

nytimes.com

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Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#171

Post by ptero »

williamcotton wrote: post #104
MattGaiser wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Price. If you can travel outside of Dec 20-Jan10th and summer, you can pay maybe half. I have an annual grand trip around the world every year I do off season and I pay less for it in points or cash (mix depends on the places) than friends do to go to Hawaii for a week at Christmas.

What about just piling in the van and driving somewhere? That doesn’t cost more in the summer. Is the expectation that a family takes a 2 week luxury vacation every year?

> What about just piling in the van and driving somewhere?

What about schools not sticking their nose too far out into the parts of life that they should not control? Like where and when we take our kids on vacations.

If my kids get good grades and catch up on any missed homework the school should not get spun up about them missing some days.

Turning schools into a mild version of prisons is not good for anyone -- kids, parents or the society. My 2c.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#172

Post by aaomidi »

kube-system wrote: post #140
jawns wrote: post #18

Is it possible that expectations around attendance have never been reasonable or even safe? In an ideal world, people shouldn't go to work or school when they are sick. Not only does it slow their recovery, but in the case of communicable diseases, it spreads the illness. Yet a lot of schools have released post-pandemic guidance about how students should still come to school with minor illnesses. And most workplaces…

> Chronic absence is typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days, for any reason. I don't think having a cold or two is going to put many people in this category. Decades ago when I was in public school, the kids who were chronically absent like this were the ones who clearly had some behavioral issues or problems at home. The linked study also demonstrates that the rates are…

Oh hey I was chronically absent under this definition.

I am glad my parents allowed me to be, because school was really, really damaging to my mental health when I ended up needing to be chronically absent.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#173

Post by aaomidi »

williamcotton wrote: post #87
candiddevmike wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my area, you get 10 days of unexcused absence per year before parents and kids start receiving fines and possibly a referral to CPS. That number is way too small IMO, and it forces folks to go to the doctor constantly for getting small illnesses excused (school policies are 24 hours without a fever, but they don't take temperatures, it's honor based...), since you want to keep those 10 days for an actual vacation.

Why would you take your kids on a vacation during school? There are plenty of breaks during the year including all of summer.

There are cultural events that don’t follow the US holiday schedule. For example, Nowruz.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#174

Post by kiliancs »

bnralt wrote: post #163
danpalmer wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you're being downvoted. Education is important, missing a week can set a student back by a long way. Holidays are fun and if you have the resources they are certainly worth doing, but not at the cost of keeping up with a child's education. If you can't afford the holiday at the prices when schools are off, maybe you can't afford the holiday! There are plenty of affordable holidays always available and ki…

> Education is important, missing a week can set a student back by a long way. It will set some back, it won’t set others back at all. Telling a kid who can keep up or who is ahead of the class that they can’t take a vacation because another kid couldn’t keep up if they took a vacation is bizarre. It’s like saying that someone who’s ahead of where the class is needs to go to summer school because a kid in the class w…

I agree. Our kids are very much ahead, in part because when we travel, they learn a lot. They seen new places, new ways of doing things, learn history, apply their math and other acquired knowledge, they often learn things ahead of time just because they interact with other adults, they get to use free time to apply their knowledge and interests creatively. And with the right timing, they get to see their relatives far away without it draining our savings, which makes them happy, which is not only important, but makes them better students as well.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#175

Post by kube-system »

aaomidi wrote: post #172
kube-system wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Chronic absence is typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days, for any reason. I don't think having a cold or two is going to put many people in this category. Decades ago when I was in public school, the kids who were chronically absent like this were the ones who clearly had some behavioral issues or problems at home. The linked study also demonstrates that the rates are…

Oh hey I was chronically absent under this definition. I am glad my parents allowed me to be, because school was really, really damaging to my mental health when I ended up needing to be chronically absent.

Hope you got the help you needed -- but to my point, it doesn't sound like you simply had a cold?

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#176

Post by donor20 »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #93
Ajay-p wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I attending Montessori and enjoyed it, but this was 10+ years ago. We did not talk about the teacher's personal beliefs and politics, and there was no discussion of student gender or sexuality. It was focused on social and interpersonal development and academics. I understand some people believe discussing these sensitive topics is essential to student development, but I think it has made kids very uncomfortable and…

Despite what you've heard, they don't really talk about those things in public school either.

They absolutely do at least in CA starting in kindergarten

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#177

Post by darby_eight »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #169
mikewarot wrote: post #152

Kids have been soaked in the news that we're all doomed because of climate change, and they won't ever be able to afford the American dream, no matter what. Consider the filter bubble your friend from the other side of the political aisle is in. The kids have their own and they don't have any real life experiences to weigh against it. They know they don't have a future. They have no evidence to the contrary. Why woul…

Economics and climate change? I'd be slacking off because it is clear that AI is going to be the brain job top dog by the time I get to career stage.

I see a lot more kids mocking AI on TikTok than fearing it, but I might be looking in the wrong place.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#178

Post by nytesky »

kube-system wrote: post #140
jawns wrote: post #18

Is it possible that expectations around attendance have never been reasonable or even safe? In an ideal world, people shouldn't go to work or school when they are sick. Not only does it slow their recovery, but in the case of communicable diseases, it spreads the illness. Yet a lot of schools have released post-pandemic guidance about how students should still come to school with minor illnesses. And most workplaces…

> Chronic absence is typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days, for any reason. I don't think having a cold or two is going to put many people in this category. Decades ago when I was in public school, the kids who were chronically absent like this were the ones who clearly had some behavioral issues or problems at home. The linked study also demonstrates that the rates are…

My daughter has missed 10 days of school because of a lingering cough even when not actively sick. She doesn’t sleep well and teachers now consider her disruptive if coughing in class. I think th expectation is no longer to go to school with sniffles and a box of tissues.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#179

Post by baobabKoodaa »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #169
mikewarot wrote: post #152

Kids have been soaked in the news that we're all doomed because of climate change, and they won't ever be able to afford the American dream, no matter what. Consider the filter bubble your friend from the other side of the political aisle is in. The kids have their own and they don't have any real life experiences to weigh against it. They know they don't have a future. They have no evidence to the contrary. Why woul…

Economics and climate change? I'd be slacking off because it is clear that AI is going to be the brain job top dog by the time I get to career stage.

Ahh, climate change. The go-to explanation for absolutely any negative phenomena observed in the world.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#180

Post by ballenf »

jawns wrote: post #18

Is it possible that expectations around attendance have never been reasonable or even safe? In an ideal world, people shouldn't go to work or school when they are sick. Not only does it slow their recovery, but in the case of communicable diseases, it spreads the illness. Yet a lot of schools have released post-pandemic guidance about how students should still come to school with minor illnesses. And most workplaces…

Before covid we'd ask our kids what they did and we'd get the usual super brief explanation but would assume that kids just didn't want to go into detail or didn't remember. After covid, we realized that their answer was closer to the truth than all the learning we imagined in our heads.

To some degree elementary school has always been a large part daycare and small part teaching. But the one big change from my experience is that amount of standardized testing even 3rd graders do. Every month or two there's another day or two spent on testing and then several days before that getting them ready for it. I can't imagine being a teacher trying to craft lesson plans around all that.

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