Although OH attendance has improved from last year, chronic absenteeism is still far above the national and IL state averages. This attendance issue has left many counselors, parents, and administrators uncertain about how to encourage students to come to school.
According to the Illinois School Report Card, OH’s chronic absenteeism percentage (the percentage of students who miss 5 percent or more of school days per year either with or without a valid excuse) dropped from 37.8% to 30.9%.
The chronic truancy rate (the percentage of students who miss more than 1 percent but less than 5 percent of school days per year without a valid excuse) also fell by 5%. While attendance has improved on paper, why do our classrooms feel emptier than ever?
“[Absenteeism has] improved, but it was in such a terrible place before that it’s not where it needs to be,” said OH science teacher Zachary Horn.
Technology making attendance non-essential
With the availability of technology readily at students’ fingertips, schoolwork can be done almost entirely online. Tools like Google Classroom mean students can be absent while completing mandatory work, making attending school seen as pointless to some students.
“As a teacher, [absenteeism is] really hard because you design lessons to build on each other, and then when students miss it gets hard to build on those lessons,” said Horn.
While students can complete some work online, it is not how the district’s or schools’ classes are structured. Many teachers utilize hands-on methods and group projects to promote students’ interests, which require in-person attendance to learn.
The availability of technology to complete schoolwork is only the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous contributing factors to why students feel unmotivated or unable to attend school.
Lack of community and school becoming solely an obligation
A deep-rooted cause may lie in a lack of community in school. This is not exclusive to OH though, Gen Z is described as the “loneliest generation” according to ABC. When students feel less involved in school culture, they may be less motivated to attend school.
A study published by North Carolina State University said “Students who feel a sense of belonging at school are typically more energized, more likely to spend time on task and return to activities, and more likely to choose to be in the school environment.”
Students now may focus more on online communities rather than cultivating one in school. This results in students feeling disconnected from their peers, which only adds to the sense of isolation in school, so fostering a sense of community
“Some kids they don’t they feel like it’s just them here, right? Like they don’t have a team around them. And so working with counselors, working with social workers, I think, supporting each individual makes a big difference,” said OH truancy officer Nicholas Orham.
42Fifty is the student media Publication of Oswego High School, Oswego, IL. Stories attributed to 42Fifty are written by editorial staff, or in the case of staff editorial, reflect a quorum of the student staff's ideas and opinions. To learn more about the 42Fifty staff, please see the About or Our Staff page on the website.
