Attendance is one of the most active topics at our school. Most students look at the attendance regulations as a challenge, which is usually caused by lack of motivation, stress, anxiety over assignments, etc, especially for Junior and Senior year students. All of these reasons are usually what cause such a low attendance rate in schools, especially in ours. The attendance rate at our has dropped immensely throughout the years, which is a huge problem, and is an issue that seems unfixable. Because of that, this year, our school has new attendance regulations. To learn more about why attendance is so disruptive, we interviewed Mr. Cruz, Lana Mas and a few of the students to get their point of view on this topic.
After interviewing Mr. Cruz and Lana Mas about their view on the attendance, we got a new perspective of the regulations and why they might actually be important.
Why are high attendance rates so important?
Mr. Cruz: “It is super important to be at school, as much as possible, but it's more important when you have a school that is based on the harkness table. Every day, the students have discussions and different things which help you develop intellectually. But also think from the point of view of us, the teachers. Overtime, we can't keep up with the list of who was here on which lesson - it's a big problem. Such low attendance worries me, because of your health, which such young kids should not be having. These health issues are probably caused by your bad habits and it needs to be fixed”
Lana Mas: “Attending School is really important because the students need to get used to managing their time, which will be immensely important in their future. Time management skills will help them everywhere in their life, so it is better if they learn the discipline of time management from such a young age.”
After interviewing the students, we saw that the responses of the children and the teachers were completely different to what the administration had to say.
Taso Berulava: The current attendance regulations are unreasonable, particularly because excused absences are still counted against students. This approach fails to account for situations like family or medical emergencies, where attending school may not be possible or safe. Many of my classmates have had to come to school while sick—some with fevers or colds—just to avoid accumulating absences and risking their credits. Even though they wear masks, it still puts the entire school community at risk. It’s unfair for students who miss school due to legitimate reasons, yet continue to complete and submit their work, to be penalized by losing credits or facing suspension. This year’s attendance policy should focus on students who miss school without valid reasons and fail to stay on top of their schoolwork during their absence.
Elene Kotrikadze: I think it's kind of stupid. It really depends if the kids are having problems or not. I could be in my bed, sick, but still manage to write and send the homework and have no difficulties with my academic performance. I think that there should definitely be regulations. I understand what the aim is. But these regulations should not be this severe.
Taisia Koridze: I think that attendance is immensely important and necessary for our academic performances, but I think all of us need a break sometimes. I agreed with the old regulations that only allowed us to miss school up to 20 times but this new regulation, I think, is too strict.
With Mr. Cruz and Lana Mas have their strong opinions to fix an ongoing problem which is getting worse by the day, but the students seem to express their views by stating that attendance is not as important and critical as the administration states it is. The students emphasized the fact that, even though they are young and healthy, they are only human, after all. Needing breaks is crucial for stable academic performances, and that attending school while experiencing fever or other health problems should be recognized as valid absences and forgiven, no matter how many absences a student may have. In conclusion, the opinions’ of students and Mr.Cruz are at conflict – the well being of students vs. academic performance and stability.
Edited by: Diba Mottaghi
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