The Hypocrisy of Tardiness and Absences

As the school year comes to a close, students and teachers alike have been preparing for final projects and tests. Instead of learning new content, classes focus on reviewing everything that was learned this past year. Classrooms are filled with chatter and collaboration as students plunge into study guides and practice tests. However, even amidst the chaos of preparation, something is missing. Especially in recent months, attendance amongst students and teachers alike has been sparse, with at least one student missing in each class on average. This epidemic of absences has not only infected the teens in our community, but recently, the number of teacher absences have been more than noticeable. But what is causing these mysterious disappearances and what are the structures in place to put an end to it?

When I have asked my friends what the main factor is for them being late to school, the main answer is usually “traffic.” An underestimation of the number of cars on the road leads to kids showing up between five, to even up to twenty-five, minutes late. This answer also comes up the majority of the time when teachers show up late to school. Other reasons among students and teachers vary from “my sibling [or child] made me late” to “I missed my alarm.” These excuses, while usually true, do not always allow for one to walk away punishment-free. When a student is over ten minutes late they are marked absent from that class. For this to happen every so often would be fine, but over time, the absences on your record begin to add up. Eventually, emails warn you about your attendance, and too many absences from a class can even end up in credit loss. However, when a teacher is over ten minutes late to a class, what happens? Although many believe that if a teacher is that late to a class, that means they are allowed to leave, this myth is not true. Students are required to wait in the classroom for their teacher to arrive, no matter how late they are. Oftentimes, a teacher’s tardiness is not even marked down for the office. 

But how do we address this problem, and what would the appropriate punishments be so that everyone is held accountable for their attendance? Although the answer to this question still goes unknown, some may claim that waking up five minutes early would be an easy fix. Personally, I enjoy my sleep.