Florida lawmakers during the upcoming legislative session could look to address the problem of chronic absenteeism among public-school students.
Data collected by the Florida Department of Education showed that 20.9 percent of students in public schools, including students in adult education courses, missed 21 or more school days during the 2021-2022 academic year.
In measuring student attendance, the department looks at students who miss 21 or more days and students absent for 10 percent or more of the academic year. The 2021-2022 data showed that 32.3 percent of students, or more than 1 million students, were absent for 10 percent or more of the year.
Members of the House Education Quality Subcommittee this month heard from experts on chronic absenteeism as lawmakers prepare for the Jan. 9 start of the 2024 legislative session.
Chronic absenteeism can involve missing school for any reason, including excused and unexcused absences and suspensions.
“If you are chronically absent, it actually predicts higher suspension rates, lower achievement in middle school and a greater likelihood to drop out of high school,” said Hedy Chang, founder and executive director of the group Attendance Works, which works nationally on addressing school absenteeism issues.
High rates of absenteeism also can exacerbate problems such as lagging third-grade literacy skills — which is a key indicator of future academic success, according to the group.
Reasons for absenteeism can include a range of factors, from socioeconomic status to access to health care to older siblings being responsible for getting younger siblings to school.
Inika Williams, associate director of policy for Attendance Works, told the House panel that in Leon County, where she lives, “there are 13,000 children who are unable to make it to school regularly.”
“Even if you look at Leon County schools data, most of your Title I schools and most of your schools where there’s high concentrations of poverty have the highest chronic absenteeism rates,” Williams said.
Paul Burns, a chancellor with the Department of Education, said during the meeting that “the circumstances that a family and student may be facing are really individualized.”
Absenteeism rates have been rising nationwide, Attendance Works said on its website.
“Chronic absence appears to have doubled by the end of the 2021-22 school year. We estimate that it now affects nearly one out of three students (or 16 million vs. 8 million students in the 2018-19 school year),” the website said.
A comparison of data going back more than a decade, housed on the Florida Department of Health website, showed that the 20.9 percent of students missing 21 or more days during the 2021-2022 school year represented the highest rate of absenteeism in the state since at least 2010.
The Department of Health website said chronic absenteeism “is prevalent among all races and among students with disabilities.”
Data from the Department of Education showed that 31.4 percent of students designated chronically absent during the 2021-2022 year were white, 37.9 percent were Hispanic and 24.9 percent were Black.
Solving the problem could involve multi-faceted solutions.
Burns pointed to what are known as academic study teams, which include school administrators, counselors, teachers, social workers and psychologists, “collaboratively focusing” and helping address barriers that families face to improving attendance.
Chang said getting families involved is crucial in helping to improve attendance rates.
“We know that chronic absence is higher when kids have adverse early childhood experiences. When that happens, the key is not saying, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ But, ‘What happened, how can I help you?’ And to engage students and families in a problem-solving way so we can address the challenges that cause them to miss school in the first place,” Chang told the House panel.
House Education Quality Chairwoman Dana Trabulsy, R-Fort Pierce, said during the meeting that members “have not heard the last of chronic absenteeism in this committee.”
“If we are not helping children to realize that school is important, then how are they going to realize that work is important? How are they going to show up to work? These are our future leaders and we need to invest more in this important topic,” Trabulsy said.
–Ryan Dailey, News Service of Florida
ROBERT JAMES DATTILIO says
I can’t see that the problems of today’s children are that much more terrible or horrendous than they were when I was young. When children didn’t go to school they came down on the parents. So be it. The only difference is that now there are many more helping programs available from the governments of the counties, states, and Federal that can help children get to school. Cut back on some of the early childhood classes available to kids and put that money into helping them get to school in the first place. Putting the money where it is needed first is the biggest issue.
Mothersworry says
Really?? When I was in school I didn’t have to do Active Shooter Drills. Think for a minute how that effects a student. The parent take the student to a “school” where they are greeted by a LEO. Where all the doors are locked to keep shooters out. Gangs all over. All real conducive to attract a child to want to go there.
You continue to say “parents”. For the most part it is a single parent caring for the student. Here they rehire a felon to return to teach a class. Let’s review a bit. A student is dropped off at a place where they are subject to be shot. Can’t run ’cause the doors are locked. The only LEO is in another building. The classroom teacher is a felon. Think how that effects a child’s ability to learn. Yup, that would be the place I’d want to go everyday.
Flaglermomdoc says
This is why it is incumbent on the parents to teach the children why school is important and to hold their children accountable to attend school. And your felon scenario isn’t common. Be real.
Atwp says
Is it being bored? Is it because some books era banned? Is it because of bullying, some people just don’t like school, the way schools teach the students? I don’t know the answer but I’m sure one reason is boredom.
Jack says
Be bored? Is that even an option- they are there to learn not be entertained. Yes, it is nice when things are engaging and kids are interested but that is not required. Do people stop going to work because they are bored? Kids are absent because they whine to their parents that they want to stay home and parents are too weak to say no! The parents are creating this trend. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times kids say they stayed home because they just wanted to and were not sick. I remember- it was a fever or vomiting only that allowed most of use to stay home sick.
Flaglermomdoc says
Exactly. In my house it was blood, broken bone, fever or vomit that kept you home. And today’s kids expect entertainment all day and they plan on being famous YouTubers when they grow up. They don’t need an education for what they envision for their future selves.
MeToo says
If we didn’t go to school, we didn’t get to play either.
JimboXYZ says
Growing up we had to bring some sort of documentation for a valid reason for missing school days. Missing classes, that’s not absenteeism, validation of socioeconomic or healthcare issues. That’s skipping class. And yes, I can be that hard on anyone skipping class, I was perfect attendance every school year. Make sure they don’t ever get a DL for skipping school until they are 18. I don’t put myself above others, the rules were good enough for me to abide by, today’s students can live by them to. And if the parents are enabling that behavior, cut them off of any social programs they receive. Children have one job really, show up for a taxpayer sponsored education & try. I don’t want to hear how taxes have to go up to fund losers that don’t go to school and excel. That’s the deal, otherwise they can remain the village idiots & wonder why they’re stupid.
Nancy N. says
You obviously missed the part of the article where it noted the definition of chronic absenteeism as including excused absences.
When my autistic daughter was an elementary school student in Flagler Schools, she was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and other serious autoimmune conditions. Medical appointments once a month (sometimes more often) required taking an entire day off school to go to Gainesville and back. She had to take medication at home once a week that, more weeks than not, made her vomit the next day (and it needed to be taken on a week day on the same cycle with her treatment appointments at UF). She would get sent home regularly by the school nurse for having a “fever” – a low grade fever is a common symptom of her chronic disorder – despite the nurse being repeatedly briefed on her medical condition. She missed A LOT of school as a result of all of this, plus regular illnesses because her treatment suppressed her immune system. I had paperwork on file at the school from her doctor certifying that she had a medical condition requiring her to miss school frequently. Despite all of this, I STILL was getting threats from the school district that they were going to charge me with truancy because of her frequent absences. The bottom line is, they don’t care WHY. They just want the kid at school. And they’ll use threats to get it, even if they aren’t appropriate to the situation and the child’s health is in crisis. Because heaven forbid making sure my kid doesn’t go blind or die of interstitial lung disease should interfere with their test prep.
The Geode says
Curtail entitlements and Defund welfare according to the truancy and behavior of the children which qualified them. Only then will we see an improvement …but y’all don’t want “improvement”, do you?
Gigi says
Oh I see take what little these kids have and decrease it. I’m sure that would help. Poorer kids want to go to school, where they get fed breakfast and lunch. We need more social workers in the school systems to do outreach to these families to see what the barriers are and help overcome them.
Mary Fusco says
Gigi – Funny I raised 4 children and they went to school every day. They were NOT fed at school. They ate breakfast at home, I packed them a lunch (couldn’t afford to pay for school lunches) and fed them dinner. We were probably as far from well off as you could be but we knew how to raise children. No social workers were needed. Parents accepted responsibility for the children they brought into the world. In today’s world,, it is always someone else’s problem. Really sick and tired of hearing this nonsense. My children all worked after school and on weekends at 16. They had no problem being at a job at their designated time. They were not walking the streets looking at a phone or breaking into cars in driveways. Today they are all successful working adults. Bottom line is that nothing is free. Someone is paying for it.
The Geode says
…OR if you are “too poor” to feed your children – don’t have them is an option, also. If we keep rewarding people incapable of taking care of the children they choose to have when will enough be enough? Again, Defund welfare or at least set limits or amend it…
MeToo says
Population control? People don’t always plan to NOT be able to care for their children. Crap happens in life.
Deborah Coffey says
Perhaps Republicans should look at themselves. Aren’t THEY the ones that banned masks in schools? Wanted to arrest Dr. Fauci? How many students are sick because Republicans fought against mandatory vaccines? And, is this just another Republican agenda? i.e. Let’s tell the world how bad public schools are and then, we can get rid of them altogether! Did anyone in the Department of Ed look at the absentee rates in their beloved “christian” private schools that we are ALL now paying for to the terrible detriment of our public schools? Crickets, right? Florida voters are getting exactly what they voted for…the destruction of a once great country.
TR says
You have it totally backwards, but it’s not surprising to put the blame on a political party you are not a part of. If you want to make this a political issue (which it is not) then it’s the Democrats that are doing the destruction of this country in every area’s including education. They started a few years back by erasing history by removing statues and monuments because they didn’t want the young people to learn about. If you remove history then it’s bound to be repeated.
Pogo says
@The mass-produced monuments to the CSA
Belong on private property, private cemeteries, etc. — not prominently displayed in front of courts, schools, and other public (tax supported) places.
Teaching bastardized history has always existed — as long as the father’s knee it comes from. Now, elected Florida Republican Party criminals want it paid for by everyone.
Hell no.
Slow says
This has nothing to do with republicans lol.Us kids hate school 97% of my friends have job we are just as tried as adult but school does not care about that maybe if you were more worried about kids who actually attend school then politics
Ed says
Hello Debra,
Do masks work or not? Who wanted to arrest Dr Fauci?
Is a mandatory”vaccine “ that neither prevented catching the virus or prevented giving the virus a true vaccine? Is there an actual/factual number of sick students? What exactly is a “Republican “ agenda?
Would private schools and home schooling be on the rise if the government school system was performing well?
I don’t know, maybe you are correct.
Will you as the liberal posters always ask,”provide the facts and credible sources.” Seems to work when they ask, finger pointing?
One final comment, one that I can be certain of. I personally enjoy living in Florida. I have lived in Ohio, Illinois, New York, and Connecticut and find Florida to be a wonderful alternative to my prior residences. Thank you.
Ray W. says
I actually agree with you on the difficulty of defining today’s Republican platform. Thank you, Ed.
Since today’s Republican platform seems to be founded on what my mother called the “I wantie curse”, it appears to meander and change at whim. Tomorrow’s Republican platform cannot be predicted. Yesterday’s definition cannot be nailed down with any certainty. Chaos reigns. The only constant is to what extent and shape the contortions will be engaged in to make a Republican policy sound like conservatism. True conservatism has always been somewhat stable as a political theory, but the Republican Party abandoned true conservatism long ago.
As an example of “contortion”, the mask argument you raise has been significantly contorted over the past three years. No scientist ever argued that masks completely prevent the flow of air during exhalations. The argument was that masks redirect that flow of air. When mask use is combined with the six-foot social distancing guideline, masks can alter the possibility of disease transmission. I know this is anecdotal, but the first time I entered a Publix wearing a mask, my glasses fogged up at each exhale until the lens temperature adjusted to the climate inside the store. My exhaled breath was being partially redirected up and down instead of all of my breath going straight outwards. I have seen infrared videos showing the difference between being maskless and wearing a mask. Unimpeded breathing travels straight outwards. Impeded breathing travels up and down, and outwards, but less far outwards. Whenever I enter a Publix without a mask, my glasses do not fog up at entry with each exhale. You present as arguing that masks must be perfect, else they be bad. Do masks work or not is your question. Yes, they work, to a small extent. No, they don’t completely work. Your question is deeply flawed. This seems to be another difference between you and me. I told all my clients that I didn’t have the right to be reckless with their futures, that I would always be cautious in whatever I advised them to do, that I would give legal advice, and they would make the decisions. Applying this cautious, conservative approach to mask wearing, I always advocated for wearing masks, not because they worked to completely block the spread of an unusually virulent disease, but because if I was wrong, it didn’t hurt anyone. If mask wearing can save only a few lives, advocating against wearing masks meant the possible persuasion of others to forego wearing masks and a possible increase in the number of deaths from the disease. I will choose the cautious advice to wear masks and to social distance every time. Remember, you are not doing research when you go online to study the mask issue. You are “reviewing” other people’s research. There is a difference. The scientific method utilizes very strict rules. Scientists cannot just claim anything. Commenters can. When a viral disease is described as “novel”, that means that all previous research loses scientific value. Until new research is conducted, vetted, published and replicated, every comment about a novel disease is a guess, based on inference and hope of not being wrong.
Back to politics.
Of course, the Democratic Party suffers the same erratic course traveled by today’s Republican Party, but it does not claim to be “conservative.” Since the Democratic Party has long attempted to be based on a form of change that supposedly will bring improvement, it is not saddled with the baggage carried by today’s Republican Party, in that it doesn’t have to bend itself into pretzel shape in order to justify its platform. Being “progressive”, as opposed to “conservative”, it allows for an ever-changing party platform, so the contortions do not have to be as severe, but nailing down a fractious Democratic platform is difficult, too. Only one thing is certain: There is no such thing as a “DINO.” Democrats may argue endlessly about policy without ever agreeing to anything, but they don’t eat their own. RINO’s are cast into the wilderness, devoid of hope (because they hate the alternative party), and unable to understand the Byzantine processes necessary to bring them back into Republican party favor. Unable to engage in endless forms of fantastical conspiracy thinking, today’s RINO appears to have no place in current American political thought. The only thing a RINO can do is be a political gadfly long enough, in hopes of outlasting the current form of populism that plagues the Republican Party. When can we start beheading Democrats, today’s populist Flagler Republican politician says; vermin must be crushed say others; I will begin to slit throats on my first day in office says one. We are descending further and further into a fantasy world of political violence, driven by a chaotic populism that thrives on motivating the disaffected among us.
To respond to another part of your post, I, too, find Florida a pleasant place to live. Not perfect. Deeply flawed in some ways. But I live in a good/better/best, bad/worse/worst world. Many FlaglerLive commenters live in a perfect or bad world. If it isn’t perfect, it has to be bad. There is no room for a good, but less than perfect, life with the perfect or bad crowd. I can have a bad day and top it off with a good beer and meal among friends and family and all of a sudden, the entire mindset changes. Not so for the perfect or bad bunch. We can endure an international financial challenge brought on by an incredibly destructive disease and some claim that because we struggle with the aftermath, we “must” be in recession because of one administration’s policies. To JimboXYZ, who believes that we have been in recession since day one of the current administration’s term, the pandemic had no effect whatsoever on our economy. Current political policy, to him, is responsible for all of the negative effects of our current struggles.
To me, a better answer to our current political toxicity is to avoid any of the manifold “pestilential” partisan member of faction’s approach to life. A life based on the exercise of reason as it was taught to our founding fathers, coupled with the application of intellectual rigor, appears to be a far better approach.
One example of this type of intellectual curiosity is exemplified by a September 15, 2022, press release by Fraunhofer Institute of Ceramic Technologies and Systems.
In that release, the company announced that it had successfully produced a “stationary” solid-state battery module for residential and industrial use, which means the battery is not designed for mobile situations such as cars. The product is in the real-world testing phase. A factory is being built in Germany that will, on its initial production line, be able to produce 10,000 modules per year. Each module can store 100 MWh/a of energy and discharge it at a rate of 10 KWh. The battery operates within a temperature range of -20 degrees C to +80 degrees C. Testing, thus far, reveals almost no battery degradation over time. It allegedly costs 40% less to produce that today’s standard liquid-state lithium-ion batteries and it uses zero lithium or cobalt.
Of what materials is this battery composed? It uses aluminum oxide, salt, nickel and a ceramic compound, all of which are commonly available materials that are not as ecologically dangerous to produce as are lithium and cobalt. Liquid lithium, being flammable, has its own problems. The new “cerenergy” battery cannot catch fire.
A battery that does not degrade over time, that does not catch fire when damaged or improperly assembled, that costs far less to produce, that holds large amounts of energy and discharges that energy at a faster rate, that uses ordinary materials that are less toxic to produce, such a battery can provide many answers to current problems in the renewable energy marketplace. Billions upon billions of dollars are being invested in renewable energy research and no single one of us can predict what the near future will bring in the way of patents and investment opportunities.
One facet of the complex definition of capitalism is the idea of “creative destruction.” Old technologies must be destroyed to make way for better, cheaper, less environmentally damaging technologies. This is happening today in the international energy marketplace. The world is rapidly changing. Something similar is happening in today’s Republican Party. No one can predict what form the party will take when its destruction is complete, but since I am a Hegelian at heart, there will always be a party to oppose the Democratic Party. Hypothesis, antithesis, synthesis. So long as a Democratic Party suggests any form of hypothesis, some form of the Republican Party will always provide an antithetical response, regardless of the height of the ash pile that forms from the authoritarian pyre of today’s Republican Party.
Deborah Coffey says
Do masks work: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7883189/
Who wanted to arrest Dr. Fauci? Ron DeSantis: https://www.nationalreview.com/news/desantis-promises-to-prosecute-fauci-if-elected-president/
I’ll let you Google the rest since you seem to want to be an informed citizen of this country. Better hurry. We’re about to lose our entire democracy!
Sally says
It all falls back on the parent or caregiver as it did in the past. This is the problem today those responsible aren’t doing their jobs to th fullest.
c says
Gee Golly Whiz …. You don’t think maybe the more relevant headline would be :
“Florida lawmakers during the upcoming legislative session could look to address the problem of chronic absenteeism among public-paid GOVERMENTAL EMPLOYEES.”
You know , like Governors who campaign instead of govern,
or Senators and Representatives who love making controversial, no evidential accusations for the photo-ops and PR instead of legislating
or even local political entities/authorities which apparently owe more to the fulltime professions of the members than to the constituents.
After all, our kids are just following the examples set by some of the holders of the (supposed-to-be) most respected and responsible positions of employment in our country.
Sam says
Good point. DeathSantis hasn’t governor the State of Florida since he decided to run for the White house. He spent money on private jets because him and the want to be Jackie don’t fly commercial, excuse us.
He is not going to be in the Oval Office this time or any other time until he learns what it means to hold public office and not for your own personal reasons and gains.
When he drops out he will run to Donald’s side in hope for a position anywhere.
Let’s not forget how many people died in Florida sure COVID under his watch. Let’s not forget he hasn’t addressed the high cost of homeowners insurance, or the water ways being polluted.
Don’t forget the gun violence he ignores, just turn on the WESH news in the morning and hear about all the shootings and people killed in Florida on a regular basis. He never speaks about that.
TR says
Sam, the problems you mentioned that are happening in Florida are happening all over the country. Being you want to criticize how the governor isn,t doing anything. What would you do to handle the problems you mentioned.
Bart says
In the early 80’s, when in Jr and Sr high and in control of my own ways and means of getting to school, we were allowed to miss up to 9 days a semester or reporting period. Think there were 5 semesters a school year. Here in Florida. Well guess what, we all knew where the boundary was, and sure as hell took advantage of it to either just chill at someone’s house where both parents were off at work, or go to the beach, or just to the trusty woods to hang out all day to smoke and read dirty magazines. We didn’t give a flip about school! And no one was looking for us. The adults were busy. So we’d easily miss upwards of 40 days a year. Still got the grades and minimum scores needed to advance. There was no internet or cell phones. Ya know something… white, black, hispanic, we all really just kind of came out okay. Have families. Live in the suburbs. Worked regular jobs. Drive regular cars. Vacations. Backyard bbqs. Maybe the whole kids missing school 20% of the time is a bit of overthink and worry? It’s what they’re doing when they are there that really matters.
anon says
5 semesters? I think you missed that day’s vocabulary lesson.
TR says
Not really sure what the real reason is why kids are missing class. I’m sure some of the reasons are legitimate like being sick. But I think it could go back to the fact that there was a time where everyone was advanced regardless of their grades. If that is one reason why kids are not going to class, then it’s also the reason why there are young adults who just think that they deserve to advance just because. It also might have something to do with the parents dropping the ball on paying attention and not being involved in their kids activities and keeping an eye on what they are doing. These parents depend on the phase “it takes a village to raise a child” I’m not in agreement with that because the village didn’t take any part in making that child and they want to pass the responsibility off to the teachers. If an adult doesn’t want to take full responsibility of a child for the first 18 years of the child’s life. Then they shouldn’t have the kids in the first place. Man I’m glad that my mom and dad always made sure we did our homework and they always asked questions as to what we learned in school that day. They both did this holding down a full time jobs and went to all our after school activities. It’s called priorities and time management. Oh they did this for all four of us and myself and my brother were the oldest and we’re twins.
LRM says
TR, do you have any kids?
Nancy N. says
You seem blissfully unaware of your privilege. Not every working parent has the ability to arrange their work schedule to be present for activities. Most, in fact, don’t.
As for making judgements about who should have kids in the first place…let me guess, you’re also “pro-life” and in favor of restrictions on abortion that force people to have babies they aren’t prepared for?
And even people prepared for having a child can get swamped by a change in circumstances – a parent gets ill or dies, an elderly parent or disabled child that requires significant caregiving, a failed relationship making them single parents, or a significant change in income meaning a shift to a different kind of work, or a second job, etc. Over 18 years (or longer raising multiple children)…a LOT can change. Passing judgement on parents does nothing but penalize innocent children. ALL children deserve a fair chance in life. It’s not our job to pick winners and losers based on moral judgements about their parents.
LRM says
I hear you loud and clear!!
Dennis C Rathsam says
You want to know the real reason kids dont go to school????? Blame the parents! If they dont give a shit, what does that tell the kids. Im glad I had parents who cared, every night at the dinner table they would ask me what I learned at school today. They checked my homework, they went to PTA meetings. They taught me how to raise my kids, taught me right from wrong. Im proud of my kids, they all worked thier butts off, just like my parents were proud of me. I know its not easy, but you have to try to give your kids a better life than you had. Every morning when I take my dog out, I look up to the moon and thank my parents everyday, for what they did for me!
Ann Marie says
Children today are subjected to a lot of pressure growing up, as are the parents. Life is not easy, and with so many passing judgment, it isn’t getting any easier. I liked the solution mentioned many years ago here. If your child has a high truancy rate, simply withhold his or her driver’s license. It seemed the most effective solution to me without being intrusive.
Mary Fusco says
Ann Marie, kids have always had pressure growing up. My 4 kids got cars after they worked and saved for them, Of course we paid for most of the car, LOL However, if they wanted to drive said cars, they needed to work for gas. Work is a huge stimulus for life needs. We also had them on our insurance and they were told from day one that if they did anything to increase our insurance, said cars would be parked in the driveway. They are all college graduates, work and are not a burden on society. My grandchildren also know if you want something, you work for it. It is all in the parenting
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
This kids these days dialogue is hilarious and it’s absolutely a hoot to see comments from people in their 70s talking about child rearing. You have no clue, no clue whatsoever what kids these days have to deal with and the idea of working hard to get things is ridiculous when you look at the wide, wide, wide separation between poverty, the wealthy, and the non-existent middle class.
LRM says
Mary, what’s your answer, as to why 4 kids could be brought up in exactly the same way as each other, under the same roof, with the same love, support and guidance and still have different outcomes, good and bad.?
Stevo says
More than 30% absence rate doesn’t seem to impact politicians or local Council members or certain school board members…
Laurel says
Interesting comments.
I think it may actually be a mindset that is different today than in the past. I’m not buying the whole “it’s much harder today” baloney, it was much harder for my parents, as children, to go to school, than it was for me. They worked on farms, in the fields. They cross country skied through snow to get to class; there was no school bus. They had to get up before sunrise to feed the animals. They helped raise their siblings. They had real chores! There were no after school programs, and if there were, there would be no time to spend there. They brought lunches that their family put together, even though they may have been poor.
The mindset now seems to be that when someone doesn’t want to do something, they just don’t. Take work, for example. I know a young man who is trying very hard to keep his company going. He hires people to work, but they don’t show up on the appointed day. The last two excuses where “It’s too cold to come in.” The third person didn’t bother to call. Yeah, here in Florida, it’s too cold to work. Poor babies. Now the young man is stuck. It’s not just this one job, either. I’m hearing this from public supervisors as well as private business owners. They have to put up with drama queens, some with a variety of crybaby excuses, some with no excuses, who disappear for days, then show up as if nothing happened.
Unbelievable, yet happening all the time.
So many young people today think they have invented life. Newsflash: Life’s hard! Get to it!
Laurel says
Oh, and by the way, we had drills where we had to hide under our little desks as if this was to protect us from radioactive fallout from an atom bomb.
As Pogo would say “…and so it goes…”
Ld says
Some parents willfully keep kids from school for family trips and to watch younger siblings. Parents need to have the opportunity to request excused absences for such events or be held accountable. Sadly, the absent children get zeros for absences with no opportunity to make up the school assignments. There needs to be a middle ground to help kids who have no choice about being absent to succeed.
Jack says
So being terrified of an atomic bomb is better than an active assailant drill? Much harder today is a cop out.