B-CC Kids Confess They Skip Because There Are No Consequences

[Anonymous]

In light of an updated attendance policy that MCPS announced it would be releasing, B-CC's student newspaper did some reporting with students on why they are absent so often: https://bcctattler.org/2738/news/mcps-to-release-new-attendance-policy/

Unsurprisingly, the kids do it because educators and administrators enable it:

One B-CC junior who has had 189 unexcused absences so far this school year says, ”Honestly there are no real consequences, even if I was just skipping at Starbucks my teachers still let me make up the work and I get away unscathed.” Many B-CC students share similar feelings, “Skipping class has been normalized at this point and it goes pretty much unnoticed, even in the most extreme cases,” said an anonymous B-CC Junior with 271 unexcused absences.

This issue is consistent across the county with some schools such as Kennedy High School having as high as 49.4% of students being chronically absent. The MCPS Department of Education is dedicated to addressing this issue and hopes that this new plan will be successful in combating the issue of chronic absenteeism within our county.

So much of MCPS's current posture and stance is to avoid being punitive, eliminating consequences and turning a blind eye to bad behavior because discipline has become a dirty word. But anyone who knows teens and adolescents knows that they need those consequences and boundaries to push back against them as they're trying to figure out their place in the world. If you allow and any and everything to happen, well, the kids are gonna take advantage of it.

When will MCPS leadership wake up and stop coddling kids? They want structure, discipline and consequences. If you make something OPTIONAL, they won't do it!

[Anonymous]

Where are the parents in all this? Parents also need to discipline their kids. Way back when for BCC it was that McDonald's.

[Anonymous]

MCPS Discipline motto: "Everything is optional! Passing guaranteed!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents in all this? Parents also need to discipline their kids. Way back when for BCC it was that McDonald's.

Lol these parents aren't paying any attention to what their kids are doing. They pay people for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS Discipline motto: "Everything is optional! Passing guaranteed!"

If high school students want to skip school there isn't much the school can do. If they give detention, why, those kids will just skip it. Same with suspension. They just need to fail those kids. This is a parenting issue.

[Anonymous]

I’m of a different view. By high school, it’s time to learn natural consequences. The kids who are driven & care about school will show up. The kids who are lazy & don’t care, won’t show up. No sweat of anyone’s back except the kids. In college nobody is going to monitor their attendance everyday.

That said, I am more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to absenteeism at Kennedy than I am at BCC because Kennedy kids are more likely to be facing issues such as unstable housing, lack of transportation, lack of having their own cars if they miss the bus, having to stay home to watch siblings, hunger etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents in all this? Parents also need to discipline their kids. Way back when for BCC it was that McDonald's.

Parents don’t even know.

The school isn’t calling parents every time a kid skips.

[Anonymous]

The parents see report cards and as long as those are good, they don't care what their kids do. That's how it was when I was a kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m of a different view. By high school, it’s time to learn natural consequences. The kids who are driven & care about school will show up. The kids who are lazy & don’t care, won’t show up. No sweat of anyone’s back except the kids. In college nobody is going to monitor their attendance everyday.

That said, I am more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to absenteeism at Kennedy than I am at BCC because Kennedy kids are more likely to be facing issues such as unstable housing, lack of transportation, lack of having their own cars if they miss the bus, having to stay home to watch siblings, hunger etc.

There are kids in the same situation at BCC. BCC’s demographics have changed over the past 5 years. But go on with your crazy stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parents see report cards and as long as those are good, they don't care what their kids do. That's how it was when I was a kid.

eh. I care, but I can no longer really control my college bound senior. Straight As without trying too hard. Sometimes DC will skip class if they aren't learning anything new.

After AP/IB exams, they said they aren't going to class anymore. For the most part, those classes stop teaching new material after the May exams.

Prior to senior year, yes, I make my kids go.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t it the student’s responsibility? If they get straight As, I really don’t mind that my kids skip here and there. Both just skipped the afternoon because we came back late this morning from an Admitted students day for our oldest, out of state. My second skips sometimes when she’s preparing for auditions. If they’re not feeling well, there’s no reason for them to force themselves to class and contaminate everyone…

The kids who skip a ton a classes are few and far between, and do need to be checked up on for wellness, I think. But a few absences here and there is no big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are the parents in all this? Parents also need to discipline their kids. Way back when for BCC it was that McDonald's.

Parents don’t even know.

The school isn’t calling parents every time a kid skips.

? RM sends me an email and robocalls me every time DC misses a class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of a different view. By high school, it’s time to learn natural consequences. The kids who are driven & care about school will show up. The kids who are lazy & don’t care, won’t show up. No sweat of anyone’s back except the kids. In college nobody is going to monitor their attendance everyday.

That said, I am more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to absenteeism at Kennedy than I am at BCC because Kennedy kids are more likely to be facing issues such as unstable housing, lack of transportation, lack of having their own cars if they miss the bus, having to stay home to watch siblings, hunger etc.

There are kids in the same situation at BCC. BCC’s demographics have changed over the past 5 years. But go on with your crazy stereotypes.

Link?

[Anonymous]

A teacher's perspective:
Having everything on MyMCPS makes it easier for a kid to speedrun late assignments and get caught up quickly. Applying late penalties is hard to keep track of for teachers, so there is often no penalty if things are turned in late.

The reality is that staff don't really know each student's personal challenges, so we default to just letting most things slide unless there are disruptions in class.

[Anonymous]

At 17, 18 they’re old enough to drop out anyway