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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does this work WRT truancy? Why haven't these kids' parents been given a wake-up call?

MCPS is supposed to put out an updated policy on chronic absenteeism soon (I believe sometime this month) that is supposed to address this. It'll be interesting to see what they propose.

[Anonymous]

Probably nothing of value. Something something about more community outreach. Contacting guardians more frequently. Training staff to better engage and support diverse learners. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Nothing that will provide an enforcement mechanism since it would likely impact minorities more and/or make more work for admin and central office. The current policies have backfired at my school. We need struggling learners in the the class in order to support them. If black and brown kids aren’t in the classroom we can’t help improve their grades/outcomes.

[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.

You do know that BCC has a lot of kids in very rough situations, right? I've helped with supplying pantry items so these kids can eat. The school provides clothes and even holiday gifts and these kids really need the help.

Of course there are a lot of kids driving BMWs too but it doesn't mean there aren't many kids who lack role models and resources to succeed at school.

BCC appears to have a very wide range of household incomes. The average household income is very high because of the ultra wealthy but I'm guessing the median income is probably not.

The role models are in school. The question is why kids aren't following the role models.

The resources are at school tool. The resources missing are missing from home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably nothing of value. Something something about more community outreach. Contacting guardians more frequently. Training staff to better engage and support diverse learners. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Nothing that will provide an enforcement mechanism since it would likely impact minorities more and/or make more work for admin and central office. The current policies have backfired at my school. We need struggling learners in the the class in order to support them. If black and brown kids aren’t in the classroom we can’t help improve their grades/outcomes.

What's your solution to get these kids awake and dressed and at a bus stop or commuter to school?

Once they are at school I guess you can lock the doors and.... try to use verbal or physical persuasion to engage in educate or at least peace and quiet.

[Anonymous]

School call parents won’t pick up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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!

Sounds like BCC is in free fall decline. That's really so sad since it once was a good school.

Too many apartments & multifamily housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You do know that BCC has a lot of kids in very rough situations, right? I've helped with supplying pantry items so these kids can eat. The school provides clothes and even holiday gifts and these kids really need the help.

Of course there are a lot of kids driving BMWs too but it doesn't mean there aren't many kids who lack role models and resources to succeed at school.

BCC appears to have a very wide range of household incomes. The average household income is very high because of the ultra wealthy but I'm guessing the median income is probably not.

The role models are in school. The question is why kids aren't following the role models.

The resources are at school tool. The resources missing are missing from home.

We have to separate the absenteeism into two buckets:

Absent due to home circumstances: Poverty, trauma, instability at home

Absent due to opportunity: Can get away with it easily, students see no consequences for skipping, school has lax, insufficient or complacent security staff

The solution to absences for one category of absences is not the same as the other. This student article focused on the latter, not the former category.

[Anonymous]

The real reason why attendance has become a hot topic is money. Attendance is a component of the federal, state, and local funding equations. Higher absenteeism, lower funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

But that's the point: MCPS has taken away natural consequences. They just turn a blind and endlessly extend deadlines and allow multiple retakes. So screwing around loses any natural consequences to it.

I think it's ok to do multiple retakes but my only issue is kids don't put in the effort the first time. Here's an idea. As a parent, you monitor things and have expectations. Everyone blames MCPS but where are the parents?

I do as a parent. But then my kid fights me for having expectations that they should take the test seriously the first time because the message they're getting from the school and the teachers is that it doesn't matter because they can turn in the assignments before the end of the marking period and come in during lunch or after school and retake the test as many times as they want.

A parent's standards can't compete with the messaging of the system.

'

As a HS teacher I truly resent the students who skip exams and then expect to make them up over my lunch time (which I use to prepare/grade) or my unpaid time after school. They are not getting the message that it is ok from me. I do think many don't study the first time, using the first exam to "see how they do" and then take it again. As a result I have started making some tests "non retakable". I don't mind for those students who miss the exam due to illness, although it creates other problems as they may have multiple make ups, and cannot attend on my dedicated make-up day, meaning I have multiple make-up days. Rare is the week when I have 2 out of 5 lunch periods without some meeting with students. Some weeks it is none which means I eat quickly during a class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

But that's the point: MCPS has taken away natural consequences. They just turn a blind and endlessly extend deadlines and allow multiple retakes. So screwing around loses any natural consequences to it.

I think it's ok to do multiple retakes but my only issue is kids don't put in the effort the first time. Here's an idea. As a parent, you monitor things and have expectations. Everyone blames MCPS but where are the parents?

I do as a parent. But then my kid fights me for having expectations that they should take the test seriously the first time because the message they're getting from the school and the teachers is that it doesn't matter because they can turn in the assignments before the end of the marking period and come in during lunch or after school and retake the test as many times as they want.

A parent's standards can't compete with the messaging of the system.

'

As a HS teacher I truly resent the students who skip exams and then expect to make them up over my lunch time (which I use to prepare/grade) or my unpaid time after school. They are not getting the message that it is ok from me. I do think many don't study the first time, using the first exam to "see how they do" and then take it again. As a result I have started making some tests "non retakable". I don't mind for those students who miss the exam due to illness, although it creates other problems as they may have multiple make ups, and cannot attend on my dedicated make-up day, meaning I have multiple make-up days. Rare is the week when I have 2 out of 5 lunch periods without some meeting with students. Some weeks it is none which means I eat quickly during a class.

I'm the PP. I wish more teachers were like you but unfortunately, they aren't. I haven't yet run into any teachers in my kids' school who have made tests unretakable. I agree with you, even if you do allow for retakes, not EVERYTHING should be retakable. Otherwise, why put your best foot forward the first time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You do know that BCC has a lot of kids in very rough situations, right? I've helped with supplying pantry items so these kids can eat. The school provides clothes and even holiday gifts and these kids really need the help.

Of course there are a lot of kids driving BMWs too but it doesn't mean there aren't many kids who lack role models and resources to succeed at school.

BCC appears to have a very wide range of household incomes. The average household income is very high because of the ultra wealthy but I'm guessing the median income is probably not.

The role models are in school. The question is why kids aren't following the role models.

The resources are at school tool. The resources missing are missing from home.

We have to separate the absenteeism into two buckets:

Absent due to home circumstances: Poverty, trauma, instability at home

Absent due to opportunity: Can get away with it easily, students see no consequences for skipping, school has lax, insufficient or complacent security staff

The solution to absences for one category of absences is not the same as the other. This student article focused on the latter, not the former category.

People who have never experienced poverty are so romantic about poor and dysfunctional families. What poverty in the United States is so extreme that kids can't make it to school? And if there is so much instability in the home that kids are chronically absent from school, that is when CPS needs to step in, either with extra supports or with placement. There is a thing called educational neglect.

Adults who excuse the screwed up behavior of parents (and of teenagers nearing adulthood) are NOT compassionate.
- MSW who also grew up very poor