School bells are ringing around the country and will soon be tolling again here in WNY. One of the curious and detrimental impacts that the COVID disruption has had on education is the growth in “chronic absenteeism” in classrooms here and throughout our country.
We are living with a cultural shift since the pandemic causing an attendance crisis in schools. Teachers report that parents are now often more reluctant to send children to school or are now much more open to letting their children stay home from school. Older students impacted by the years of remote learning seem to have grown comfortable staying home and many choose themselves not to go to school on any given day.
According to a report from the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which defined chronic absenteeism as simply missing15 school days per year, the percentage of students who were on track to be chronically absent was about 22 percent- more than double the rate of chronically absent students before the pandemic.
The report details that while absenteeism rates for high-income students are beginning to level off, rates for low-income and special needs students have continued to worsen even as recently as in the spring of the 2022-2023 school year.
There has been much written about the effects of regular school attendance (and truancy) on the learning outcomes and academic development of children. This issue has often been debated particularly with young pre-school children where parental thinking may be that at “this age” it is not so important that my child attend classes every single day.
School and play are the “work” of a young child. As an example, the BHSC pre-school program is designed to offer children opportunities to learn and play during their school day. This is important for any child, not just because of the academic significance for what they are learning, but it is equally important in a social-emotional developmental sense as well. When your child attends school on a regular basis, they take an important step toward reaching their full potential and are given the greatest opportunity to learn new things and develop their skills and personality.
The more time they spend around other children, whether in the classroom or as part of a school team or club as they grow older, the more chance they have of making friends and feeling included, boosting social skills, confidence, and self-esteem. How your child feels about himself or herself, and how confident they feel about their own learning abilities, will have a definite relationship to how well they achieve in their subject areas as they grow older.
During your child’s life there will be times where they legitimately must stay home from school due to illness, family circumstances, or other important reasons. However, there will be times that your child will simply resist getting up and getting ready for school. This is normal, especially during the early school years when they might rather just stay home with mom/dad or desire to stay home just to play. Dealing with a child’s resistance to going to school is often a battle of wills between the child and the parent. Unfortunately, in many cases the child wins and a parent decides that is just easier to let the child stay home for a day and to miss school.
If a child is absent just one day a week, over the course of their school career they will miss two years of schooling. Helping your child develop good attendance habits from an early age can help to foster good work habits which will carry through to their adult and working life.
Preventing early morning power struggles over going to school is the best way to handle your child’s opposition to leaving home and going to school. My best advice in this regard is, “Routine is the key to success”.
At home, routine, especially for young children, is the key to making simple changes for success. Routine provides a stable predictability for a child. It is something that they crave even though they may look and sound like they are protesting it. Routine is also your best antidote to early morning meltdowns over going to school. Here are some practical suggestions to help with establishing and maintaining routine in your home that is designed to reinforce good school attendance habits:
► going to school unprepared can be a major worry for children- help by checking schoolbags the night before, packing P.E. bags and keeping an eye on homework progress. Be engaged daily with what your child is doing in school. You are after all your child’s “first teacher”.
► tired children aren’t punctual and find it hard to learn, so ensure your child has a sensible bedtime. This may be one of the most important things that is often missing with children sitting in our classrooms, they are too tired to learn. Children need sufficient rest as a part of their healthy growth needs. Pre-K children must have 10-12 hours of sleep per evening and on the other end of the school age spectrum, adolescent students need 8-10 hour of sleep every night.
► help your children get into a regular routine and set the alarm at the same time every morning. Children feel secure with boundaries in their life. This boundary can help to habituate a desired behavior in getting up and getting ready for school every morning.
► make time for breakfast so there are no shop or fast food breakfast stops where children can get side-tracked on the way to school. Considered the most important meal of the day for preparing your child to learn, breakfast cannot be overlooked in the hustle and bustle of the morning in getting children up and ready to leave for school.
► children as they grow older can become unsettled if they must go into school late and without their friends- getting children to school on time to meet friends, teachers and school staff helps prevent this.
► have a memory board at home for special trips or activities- the board will help your children remember to tell you and help you remember to prepare them for it. Any kind of visual aid will help your child to get ready for what is upcoming for them in school. It is a great cognitive-behavioral reminder to end each day with, and the start each morning with. Build it into your routine and this will help you alleviate the occasional barrier your child will put up with attending school.
► remember, try to develop good attendance habits from the very start. Good school attendance behaviors are the responsibility of the parent to help foster and reinforce with their children. It is much easier to deal with school attendance resistance in the early years rather than later when they become school age or high schoolers.
School attendance is crucial for children because it provides them with a structured environment for learning and development. Regular school attendance ensures that children receive a consistent education, enabling them to acquire essential academic knowledge along with social and relational skills. Promoting social interaction as part of the school experience helps children build relationships with their peers and teachers.
Furthermore, consistent attendance instills discipline, responsibility, and time-management skills in children, which are essential for their future success. Overall, school attendance plays a vital role in shaping children’s academic, social, and personal growth, setting the foundation for a bright and prosperous future.
Be well, joe cozzo
