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Friday Afternoon Diversion
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Around Town
I Fight Dragon$
When we went to school, we didn't have any fancy phones to text on all day, we couldn't have any unexcused absences without threat of Saturday school and our shorts and skirts had to come down to our knees.
That's why we were absolutely shocked to read the results of a survey of Chicago Public Schools found that the average freshman missed 19 (!) days in an academic year and had 2.6 F's. F's! Is it just us, or are those some exceptionally depressing numbers?
The low attendance rates count cut classes in this survey, so it's not like they can blame it on the long walk to school. Arne Duncan (god love 'im) recognizes that this is one of the greatest challenges the system faces in trying to increase graduation rates and grades. In fact, he understands the importance of freshman year so much that he is personally going to knock on students' doors on September 8th if they cut class during the first week. This is just one more incentive not to skip, piled on top of the prospects of a car and other prizes the system offers.
While recognizing the problem is obviously the first step, we're not sure if giving a kid a car for improving school performance is a good solution. We may be old-fashioned, but what ever happened to academic incentives? Though we've always thought that discipline is a better way to ensure A's than giving a kid $10 for them, we realize that not being required to attend school after 16 at all can be more tempting for a kid who is struggling.
The only thing we remember keeping kids in school was promise of a better future — opportunities to learn trades like electrical engineering or auto mechanics, or the financial support needed for a college education. We know it's not that easy, that administrators can't snap their fingers and see a bunch of eager students before them, but many of these kids have been let down all their lives — isn't there a better way to get these children back in the fold?
Image via Lawrence.edu.
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By the time they're in high school, it's a bit late to get them back in the fold, I think.
A friend taught 5th and 6th grade on the west side, and even that young (and kids as young as kindegarten), attendance was a HUGE problem. And you can't really teach kids to read, add, find the US on a map, or anything else if you can't get them to come to school. If truancy could be fixed, it would address a big part of the problem in CPS, in my opinion. Not that I have any answers on how to do that, just saying.
I bet Alicia looked pretty sexy in skirts that went down to her fine, fine knees.
It's absolutely absurd that Chicago should have this problem. Anyplace else I've lived, truancy was punished in the court system. Whenever a kid missed six or seven days, the schools contacted police and child welfare officials, who brought the parents up on charges, usually involving heavy fines. That solved the problem real quick.
Of course, God forbid this city hold parents accountable for their children's welfare. We'd much rather entice the kids with free stuff and blame the system when that doesn't work.
Yeah, back home you would get arrested for being out in public w/o a parent, if you were under 16 and it was a school day. And there was a curfew (midnight) for those under 18. Does Chicago even have a curfew? I know my brothers got busted for curfew violations a few times - it was no big deal, but your parent or guardian DID have to come pick you up at the police station.
That being said, I never got caught skipping school...and according to my HS transcripts, I missed 38 days of school my senior year.
A few days ago I mentioned how the problem of some kids taking too many bathroom breaks actually is a problem--one of many problems--in some schools. I added that I see a lot of kids taking days off for medical reasons
One commenter then asked if I was being sarcastic.
It's kind of coincidental that the numbers above appear in today's news. It sort of validates my earlier point. I mentioned "stubbed toe" as one of the medical reasons I have seen. I was not kidding. I am in the health field and I see how often these kids stay home. Then Mom takes them to Evergreen Plaza or Ford City.
i never went to class my freshman year. or my senior.
and alicia writes as though she is being personally attacked by what she is posting about.
it's weird.
As to the court system handling truancy, there just aren't enough hours in the day. In fact, the system is so backed up that kids going through the expulsion process are still in school more than a year after the offense because they have not yet had their hearing. And these are for serious charges such as drug dealing and assault with a deadly weapon.
Also, good luck to Arne Duncan in knocking on doors since a lot of the kids don't live at addresses that CPS has.
According to my wife who works at a high school on the south side, many of her kids who don't come to school aren't living with their parents because the are out of the picture for one reason or another. Instead, the kids live with their grandparents or some other family member that aren't capable of effective discipline.
Well, then, that's just stupid burocracy (or however you spell it ... I always have trouble with that word.) There are plenty of huge school systems in this nation almost as big as Chicago that can expel a kid in a reasonable fashion. We fix truancy by fixing THAT, not by giving kids cash.