Sometimes school absences recorded as unexcused seem unfair.
“I think to a certain point attendance is important,” Kinzlee Ferguson, sophomore, said. “I do think we should be able to miss more days than we can before getting a truancy letter, but I definitely think it’s important. If you give them [school administrators] a good reason, because sometimes we don’t get a note, I think they should excuse them even without a note. I think we should get more than seven excused absences because sometimes unexpected things come up, or we get sick and can’t help it. I think it is very unfair that student athletes can miss school for their sport, but other people that miss because of their sport that is not involved with the school do not get excused automatically.”
“I think attendance does matter because if you aren’t there, you can’t learn,” Abby Aaron, freshman, said. “[However], we should be able to be excused without bringing a note because sometimes things happen that we can’t control. I feel like seven excused notes are enough. I think it is unfair that it is unexcused to go and do sports because the kids can’t help that they leave during school hours.”
Others have a negative view of attendance.
“I don’t think attendance is important; I think as long as you keep your grades up, you’re fine,” Khloe Taylor, freshman, said. “I think we should be able to miss school without a note because some days you are not feeling well but don’t need to go to a doctor other day, and you might just need a break sometimes. We should have excused notes for our sports that aren’t with the school. It is unfair that school sports get excused, but people with dance, volleyball, or any other sports don’t.”
“I don’t think attendance matters because if you don’t wanna be there, then you aren’t gonna learn anything anyway, plus people just miss, and they cannot make up their work,” Izzy Hawker, senior, said. “I get why they want us to come with a note, but sometimes things come up; and we can’t help it. I feel as if they should give us more excused absences because some people can be sick multiple times a year, and other stuff can come up. I think it is absolutely absurd that if you do a sport for the school, then you get to leave early, and it’s excused because they don’t offer dance at schools, and we have to make up lies, and sometimes they don’t even approve it.”
It is unfair that school sports get excused.
“I think attendance is important because you don’t know what you are learning, if you miss school, you will get a lot of zeros for your grades,” Clara Fain, freshman, said. “I don’t think we should be able to miss school without a note because then no one would be at school and everyone would skip every day. We should get more than seven notes because people may really be sick some days but have appointments on other days. It is fair that school activites get excused, but at the same time, it is unfair because those people don’t really need to leave school early to go to games; they can just move the game time to later.”
