Attendance Rates at SSHS Need to Improve
By Po Aye (10)
po.aye@fwcsstudents.org

January 31, 2023

As we are aware, the attendance rate in South Side High School is dreadful, and when looking at the statistics of attendance rates, South Side High School ranks worse than 89.7 percent of high schools in Fort Wayne, Indiana; needless to say, this is extremely high. We have faced numerous issues with the attendance solely during this last semester. Multiple students have been caught skipping, leaving school, and not coming to school in general. This is what led to the creation of some systems in the school in order to get children to better their attendance. 

Some systems include “Friday school” where students have to stay an extra two hours after regular school hours in order to make up for the absences. Another system is that students can’t leave the class 10 minutes before and after its scheduled time. Enforcing these systems are solely for the purpose of bettering attendance rates. 

“You would think that since you all are able to sleep longer that you’ll get here on time, but I think because you’re able to sleep longer, students tend to stay up later. Especially with the electronics!” counselor Mary Pink-Pope said. 

When asked if Friday school is fair to students, Wai Wai Lway (10) answered, “I think yes because some don't go to class on time they just stay in the bathroom, but some are just late because their classes are really far or they walk super slow. So, I think it’s like 50/50.” 

Roshaina Mohamad (10) also added to Lway’s statement, saying “I think it’s very fair for the people that don’t want to be at school, that don't want to go to classes. For them to graduate, they have to be in classes, so the teachers are just making them go to the classes.” 

When Friday school first began, the excessive tardies and absences paused for a while. Because of this, Friday school was no longer enforced. However, after a while, the excessive tardies and absences began to make a return, which meant Friday school also made a return. Many students who do attend Friday school usually use their free time sitting there, doing nothing, which is one of the reasons as to why Friday school isn’t effective.

 Attendance plays a key role, not only in school, but also the real life world. Getting into the habit of not showing up to school sets the same path for what will happen once one leaves school. For example, work; as many people are aware, once one misses a day of work without an excuse, they get a “point.” When a person reaches a certain amount of points, they will later on be fired from their job. 

This information then goes on their reputation, and since the reputation is now tainted, they’ll have a hard time finding new job opportunities. In comparison to missing school; the students are viewed as nonchalant, unimportant, and even failures at times, regardless of their intelligence. 

Missing school overall causes an extremely bad reputation for students, enforcement of unnecessary systems and the addition of negative labels. Break the habit today; attend school for the whole day without skipping, and it will benefit you tomorrow. 

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