Increase Absenteeism in Midle/Upper SES students not due to illness?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a combination of parents remembering how schools handled covid-it was hey kids teach yourself, you don't need to be in person, and the calendar. For years the schools have sent the message that regular attendance doesn't matter.

I think there is a true lack of educating happening at FCPS schools and kids and parents know it. If students have to teach themself and teachers shrug shoulder at students learning...well expect families to quietly quit.

A lot of parents are completely delusional. Some of you would believe anything your kid said. I can promise you in my class it would be almost impossible to get an A and miss tons of days. For one it’s chemistry, which is probably harder than a lot of subjects. Two I assign a decent amount and all of our summative grades are test and quizzes on paper so there is no way to fake it or cheat online. Now these kids are cheating on everything and some of the older teachers don’t do a great job at disallowing so it may be possible but I guarantee if they are missing school they are not learning even 50% of what they would in school. Please go attend with your child one day so he can see through the lies of your child.

There are good teachers but there are a lot of warm bodies these days too. Also when you have multiple kids and they all have the same teachers and you see/hear the same things.....and their friends are saying the same.....maybe you just have a waste of space teacher. Sorry your feelings are hurt about it-I'm sure you are great but not everyone is.

DD would be doing better in most of her classes (Chemistry is the exception; excellent teacher and very well taught) if she didn't go to school. As it is, she spends 7 hours in school learning absolutely nothing, then comes home and teaches herself everything she should have learned. It's exhausting. So if she wants to sleep in 30 minutes or miss first period occasionally because that class is an absolute waste of time, I am not going to say no.

This. I am done with the waste of time school seems to be.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a combination of parents remembering how schools handled covid-it was hey kids teach yourself, you don't need to be in person, and the calendar. For years the schools have sent the message that regular attendance doesn't matter.

Omg covid was ONE year of school. One. Many of the kids in school now weren’t even in school when covid happened!

New to FCPS?

It was 2 full years, plus 2-3 years of recovery here.

Maybe not in your red state, but blue FCPS,was all in on covid school for years.

It was NOT one full year. March - June 2020 = 3 months. Many schools went back in for optional hybrid in February 2021- June 2021. Everyone in this entire state was back in person August 2021. Some families CHOSE to remain online but even then it was NOT in any realm two full years.

You clearly didn't have kids in school during Covid.

It was not school.

FCPS was entirely online. The kids were in the building, but only 2x week with half of the kids there. Everyone sitting spaced apart on their computers with the teachers online and no interaction allowed with the teachers who volunteered to come in person.

Even the autistic and special needs kids had to do this type of learning. The local news had extensive coverage of this. The autistic students were the first ones allowed back due to lawsuits, but the fcps version of educatiolng these non verbal and low verbal kids was to put them in a room by themselves with a laptop they couldn't operate and one aide sitting behind a screen. All of the local news covered this.

Many classes had no in person teachers, just random aides over 18 years old whose only job was to make sure students stayed separate, didn't interact, and worked alone on their computers with headphones on.

The following year was again mostly on computer, with no students allowed to fail anything, and no zeros. Even if students turned in zero assignments on their computers, the lowest score they could receive was 50% which was still a passing grade.

The current high schoolers went through middle school under this computer based "learning" with no failures allowed by FCPS and a 50% guranteed points even if you did zero percdnt of the work, and the younger teens did all their primary education like this on unmonitored computers.

Of course they quickly internalized the idea that school doesn't really matter. Fcps taught them this.

It still wasn't two full years. That is hyperbolic and discredits the argument of anyone who states this.

My kids had some great teachers, even when virtual, who did an outstanding job making virtual learning meaningful and successful. There were a few duds, but the majority were excellent. It definitely helped prepare my kids for online Personal Finance, as well as online World Language in HS (plus online in college).

I had kids in ES, MS, and HS during the pandemic, and I feel all three levels had primarily great teachers, with only a couple duds.

Yes it was. And it was actually more because when schools shut down in March 2020, there wasn’t even school for a month and then there was fake school until the end of that school year. The next school year (2020-2021) was online/hybrid. The following school year (2021-2022) was a complete sh&tshow due to reasons PP stated above. The kids also had to come back masked and eat outdoors or have shorter lunches. Mask mandates were finally lifted by spring 2022. The first “normal” year back was 2022-2023 (no masks required).

That is some disturbingly twisted math.

March 2020 to June 2021 is ONE YEAR (plus three months).

2021-2022 was a normal school year. Mask mandates do not mean kids were not in school.

Are you thick? 2021-2022 was definitely not a normal school year. Everybody was masked and desks were apart. No group work. Kids ate outside or lunch in shifts. The teachers were scared. Zero field trips. Behavior was atrocious. Hardly any learning took place. Many teachers used the previous year’s virtual curriculum. We even had one teacher refuse to use any paper. It was a f&&king disaster.

DP. You're the one who's thick. Covid shutdowns started in March of 2020, so the rest of the 2019-20 school year was online, as was 2020-21 through about late January, when covid shots became available and schools reopened.
2021-22 was a normal school year. Yes, student behaviors were horrible, but it was a normal school year.

Different poster than the one you are arguing with.

School did not reopen during the 2020-21 school year.

What they did was not school

All of my kids were back in school buildings by March 2021. That means they were in a "reopened" school for three months ofmthe 2020-2021 school year. Before that, my kids all had teachers who did a phenomenal job with online learning. What they did was absolutely school.

Parent attitude had a lot to do with the success children felt and achieved. If your kid(s) had a bad experience, a lot of that was probably due to your poor attitude.

LOL let me guess you're a teacher. Teacher attitude and those who decide not to teach because they are pissed off at the system are a huge part of the problem. The broken system in FCPS is the biggest problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You want the truth? I want to go on vacation in either the spring or fall. Spring break is too expensive.

They’re killing me with random days off and middle of the week half days. I don’t feel guilty at all.

+1 the random days are terrible for teachers and students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am appalled as a parent that some of you believe your child will learn better at home than school. Can they find the answers and write reports with AI easily and more quickly? Absolutely. Will they learn anything and be able to remember it? 99.9% of students will not. Unless your kid is absolutely brilliant, which means they can take some advance classes in a subject of their choose online. Many parents believe there kid is so smart, but the inflated grades tell parents they are smarter than they are. My guess is these are the same kids that cheat their way through test and do retakes and turn stuff in late and then say they are too smart for school.

Missing school will catch up to them as will cheating on assignments. I would love to see how these “too smart for school” kids are doing in their college. None of the current parents on here seem to know and I bet it’s because they are struggling because they never developed the building blocks needs to answer thoughtful questions.

Furthermore schools is suppose to be fun, if you finish early be social. Kids that miss school are 25X more likely to be depressed.

I'm a parent that would love if teachers taught during class. My child is not too smart for school but she does need teachers who know their subject and are willing to teach and it is exhausting knowing she has three teachers that don't teach and there is no accountability on teachers when students are struggling due to a lack of instruction. I wish school was "fun" all the kids I talk to hate school because it is not fun-it's overly formal and prison like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I, as an alum, will happily tell you why we are more absentee.

It’s because we are stressed, overworked, not given open study periods to do work or take time for ourselves, and are put in buildings with derelict conditions (I can speak for students who are from a building that has either not been renovated since construction or in years since it last was renovated as I went to two secondary schools that are in this criteria).

The overwhelming amount of stuff we had to do is enough to make a grown adult crack and fold, and because we are seeking relief from the perpetual and pervasive stress and boredom, we don’t come to the place that causes us such detriment to our mental health.

Seniors show a bereftness in motivation as they get ready to move to their next chapter (college, workforce, military, etc…), but from the lack of mental health resources, secondary students feel such noxious anxiety or depression from repeating the same cycle they’ve been in since they were 5, but has altered ever so slightly since they were 11/12 to 18.

If we’re leaving, that’s a symptom of a broken system!

The title of the thread says "not due to illness" but the pervasive stress and boredom that come with being chronically under-challenged, bored, and caged causes mental illness. Really, when you include that, there aren't that many absences "not due to illness."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am appalled as a parent that some of you believe your child will learn better at home than school. Can they find the answers and write reports with AI easily and more quickly? Absolutely. Will they learn anything and be able to remember it? 99.9% of students will not. Unless your kid is absolutely brilliant, which means they can take some advance classes in a subject of their choose online. Many parents believe there kid is so smart, but the inflated grades tell parents they are smarter than they are. My guess is these are the same kids that cheat their way through test and do retakes and turn stuff in late and then say they are too smart for school.

Missing school will catch up to them as will cheating on assignments. I would love to see how these “too smart for school” kids are doing in their college. None of the current parents on here seem to know and I bet it’s because they are struggling because they never developed the building blocks needs to answer thoughtful questions.

Furthermore schools is suppose to be fun, if you finish early be social. Kids that miss school are 25X more likely to be depressed.

I'm a parent that would love if teachers taught during class. My child is not too smart for school but she does need teachers who know their subject and are willing to teach and it is exhausting knowing she has three teachers that don't teach and there is no accountability on teachers when students are struggling due to a lack of instruction. I wish school was "fun" all the kids I talk to hate school because it is not fun-it's overly formal and prison like.

What school is this? TBH there is probably 10% of the profession that is pretty poor just like any other job. If they truly are not teaching and it’s not just your kid telling you stories than report it to admin. Only way to get rid of a teacher even if it takes a few years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, as an alum, will happily tell you why we are more absentee.

It’s because we are stressed, overworked, not given open study periods to do work or take time for ourselves, and are put in buildings with derelict conditions (I can speak for students who are from a building that has either not been renovated since construction or in years since it last was renovated as I went to two secondary schools that are in this criteria).

The overwhelming amount of stuff we had to do is enough to make a grown adult crack and fold, and because we are seeking relief from the perpetual and pervasive stress and boredom, we don’t come to the place that causes us such detriment to our mental health.

Seniors show a bereftness in motivation as they get ready to move to their next chapter (college, workforce, military, etc…), but from the lack of mental health resources, secondary students feel such noxious anxiety or depression from repeating the same cycle they’ve been in since they were 5, but has altered ever so slightly since they were 11/12 to 18.

If we’re leaving, that’s a symptom of a broken system!

The title of the thread says "not due to illness" but the pervasive stress and boredom that come with being chronically under-challenged, bored, and caged causes mental illness. Really, when you include that, there aren't that many absences "not due to illness."

"Really?"

I read the title and interpreted it as physical illness like the Flu for example.

You took what I wrote and broadened the interpretation of the sub-forum title and made it seem like mental illness is illness, and you are looking for other reasons like "kids doing drugs, having sex, daydrinking, or facing injury" as reasons to skip without being "ill."

What is your problem?

If my kid is too tired or doesn’t want to go to school or knows he doing nothing at school that day I let him stay home. He goes to work just fine and when he goes to college next year and is paying some of it he will go too. High school is just a waste of time for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, as an alum, will happily tell you why we are more absentee.

It’s because we are stressed, overworked, not given open study periods to do work or take time for ourselves, and are put in buildings with derelict conditions (I can speak for students who are from a building that has either not been renovated since construction or in years since it last was renovated as I went to two secondary schools that are in this criteria).

The overwhelming amount of stuff we had to do is enough to make a grown adult crack and fold, and because we are seeking relief from the perpetual and pervasive stress and boredom, we don’t come to the place that causes us such detriment to our mental health.

Seniors show a bereftness in motivation as they get ready to move to their next chapter (college, workforce, military, etc…), but from the lack of mental health resources, secondary students feel such noxious anxiety or depression from repeating the same cycle they’ve been in since they were 5, but has altered ever so slightly since they were 11/12 to 18.

If we’re leaving, that’s a symptom of a broken system!

The title of the thread says "not due to illness" but the pervasive stress and boredom that come with being chronically under-challenged, bored, and caged causes mental illness. Really, when you include that, there aren't that many absences "not due to illness."

"Really?"

I read the title and interpreted it as physical illness like the Flu for example.

You took what I wrote and broadened the interpretation of the sub-forum title and made it seem like mental illness is illness, and you are looking for other reasons like "kids doing drugs, having sex, daydrinking, or facing injury" as reasons to skip without being "ill."

What is your problem?

Please tell someone who has lost a kid to suicide that mental illness is just "faking it so they can stay home and have sex and do drugs."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, as an alum, will happily tell you why we are more absentee.

It’s because we are stressed, overworked, not given open study periods to do work or take time for ourselves, and are put in buildings with derelict conditions (I can speak for students who are from a building that has either not been renovated since construction or in years since it last was renovated as I went to two secondary schools that are in this criteria).

The overwhelming amount of stuff we had to do is enough to make a grown adult crack and fold, and because we are seeking relief from the perpetual and pervasive stress and boredom, we don’t come to the place that causes us such detriment to our mental health.

Seniors show a bereftness in motivation as they get ready to move to their next chapter (college, workforce, military, etc…), but from the lack of mental health resources, secondary students feel such noxious anxiety or depression from repeating the same cycle they’ve been in since they were 5, but has altered ever so slightly since they were 11/12 to 18.

If we’re leaving, that’s a symptom of a broken system!

The title of the thread says "not due to illness" but the pervasive stress and boredom that come with being chronically under-challenged, bored, and caged causes mental illness. Really, when you include that, there aren't that many absences "not due to illness."

"Really?"

I read the title and interpreted it as physical illness like the Flu for example.

You took what I wrote and broadened the interpretation of the sub-forum title and made it seem like mental illness is illness, and you are looking for other reasons like "kids doing drugs, having sex, daydrinking, or facing injury" as reasons to skip without being "ill."

What is your problem?

Please tell someone who has lost a kid to suicide that mental illness is just "faking it so they can stay home and have sex and do drugs."

I’m sorry if this applies to you but we should not be letting kids just stay if they are seriously depressed. They need to be going to therapy and or different programs designed for severe depression. Staying at home only makes things worse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am appalled as a parent that some of you believe your child will learn better at home than school. Can they find the answers and write reports with AI easily and more quickly? Absolutely. Will they learn anything and be able to remember it? 99.9% of students will not. Unless your kid is absolutely brilliant, which means they can take some advance classes in a subject of their choose online. Many parents believe there kid is so smart, but the inflated grades tell parents they are smarter than they are. My guess is these are the same kids that cheat their way through test and do retakes and turn stuff in late and then say they are too smart for school.

Missing school will catch up to them as will cheating on assignments. I would love to see how these “too smart for school” kids are doing in their college. None of the current parents on here seem to know and I bet it’s because they are struggling because they never developed the building blocks needs to answer thoughtful questions.

Furthermore schools is suppose to be fun, if you finish early be social. Kids that miss school are 25X more likely to be depressed.

I'm a parent that would love if teachers taught during class. My child is not too smart for school but she does need teachers who know their subject and are willing to teach and it is exhausting knowing she has three teachers that don't teach and there is no accountability on teachers when students are struggling due to a lack of instruction. I wish school was "fun" all the kids I talk to hate school because it is not fun-it's overly formal and prison like.

What school is this? TBH there is probably 10% of the profession that is pretty poor just like any other job. If they truly are not teaching and it’s not just your kid telling you stories than report it to admin. Only way to get rid of a teacher even if it takes a few years

It's not a school issue it's an FCPS issue. Teachers are bogged down with oversized classes, stressed by not enough planning and they are pissed off and quietly quitting. Admin is not firing anyone!! I feel bad for the teachers who feel this way and I feel bad for the students this broken system is failing. I'm not spending the few years my daughter has in high school trying to "get rid of a teacher" FCPS is failing and it's not just at the high school level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, as an alum, will happily tell you why we are more absentee.

It’s because we are stressed, overworked, not given open study periods to do work or take time for ourselves, and are put in buildings with derelict conditions (I can speak for students who are from a building that has either not been renovated since construction or in years since it last was renovated as I went to two secondary schools that are in this criteria).

The overwhelming amount of stuff we had to do is enough to make a grown adult crack and fold, and because we are seeking relief from the perpetual and pervasive stress and boredom, we don’t come to the place that causes us such detriment to our mental health.

Seniors show a bereftness in motivation as they get ready to move to their next chapter (college, workforce, military, etc…), but from the lack of mental health resources, secondary students feel such noxious anxiety or depression from repeating the same cycle they’ve been in since they were 5, but has altered ever so slightly since they were 11/12 to 18.

If we’re leaving, that’s a symptom of a broken system!

The title of the thread says "not due to illness" but the pervasive stress and boredom that come with being chronically under-challenged, bored, and caged causes mental illness. Really, when you include that, there aren't that many absences "not due to illness."

"Really?"

I read the title and interpreted it as physical illness like the Flu for example.

You took what I wrote and broadened the interpretation of the sub-forum title and made it seem like mental illness is illness, and you are looking for other reasons like "kids doing drugs, having sex, daydrinking, or facing injury" as reasons to skip without being "ill."

What is your problem?

Please tell someone who has lost a kid to suicide that mental illness is just "faking it so they can stay home and have sex and do drugs."

I’m sorry if this applies to you but we should not be letting kids just stay if they are seriously depressed. They need to be going to therapy and or different programs designed for severe depression. Staying at home only makes things worse

Please don't give people advice about treating mental illness in teens. You aren't qualified and could do serious harm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is an epidemic of teen anxiety and school avoidance. I don't know why it isn't getting more attention. Someone needs to ask what is going on at school that is causing so much anxiety that kids will stop going to avoid it.

One huge thing is the state of the world and our country. Another major unspoken thing is that all our children have had Covid many, many, many times by now, sometimes when we all thought it was just a cold, or maybe asymptomatic, yet still damaging internally. Covid virus crosses the blood-brain barrier and causes brain inflammation and other myriad problems with mood, anxiety, a host of physical symptoms that are easy to dismiss as caused by typical things, but it’s Covid damage to all our kids.

Lol is that why they can't learn at school? How come the private schools or those doing tutoring don't have that problem

[Anonymous]

When the school system forces your child to wake up at 6 a.m. to attend a school where many teachers barely teach, while students rarely get full five day school weeks, what do they expect? What is the point? It starts to feel like jail time for students, who are being punished for the bad decisions of the school board and county leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am appalled as a parent that some of you believe your child will learn better at home than school. Can they find the answers and write reports with AI easily and more quickly? Absolutely. Will they learn anything and be able to remember it? 99.9% of students will not. Unless your kid is absolutely brilliant, which means they can take some advance classes in a subject of their choose online. Many parents believe there kid is so smart, but the inflated grades tell parents they are smarter than they are. My guess is these are the same kids that cheat their way through test and do retakes and turn stuff in late and then say they are too smart for school.

Missing school will catch up to them as will cheating on assignments. I would love to see how these “too smart for school” kids are doing in their college. None of the current parents on here seem to know and I bet it’s because they are struggling because they never developed the building blocks needs to answer thoughtful questions.

Furthermore schools is suppose to be fun, if you finish early be social. Kids that miss school are 25X more likely to be depressed.

I'm a parent that would love if teachers taught during class. My child is not too smart for school but she does need teachers who know their subject and are willing to teach and it is exhausting knowing she has three teachers that don't teach and there is no accountability on teachers when students are struggling due to a lack of instruction. I wish school was "fun" all the kids I talk to hate school because it is not fun-it's overly formal and prison like.

What school is this? TBH there is probably 10% of the profession that is pretty poor just like any other job. If they truly are not teaching and it’s not just your kid telling you stories than report it to admin. Only way to get rid of a teacher even if it takes a few years

It's not a school issue it's an FCPS issue. Teachers are bogged down with oversized classes, stressed by not enough planning and they are pissed off and quietly quitting. Admin is not firing anyone!! I feel bad for the teachers who feel this way and I feel bad for the students this broken system is failing. I'm not spending the few years my daughter has in high school trying to "get rid of a teacher" FCPS is failing and it's not just at the high school level.

Send her to a good private school. My high schoolers love their school and have learned so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am appalled as a parent that some of you believe your child will learn better at home than school. Can they find the answers and write reports with AI easily and more quickly? Absolutely. Will they learn anything and be able to remember it? 99.9% of students will not. Unless your kid is absolutely brilliant, which means they can take some advance classes in a subject of their choose online. Many parents believe there kid is so smart, but the inflated grades tell parents they are smarter than they are. My guess is these are the same kids that cheat their way through test and do retakes and turn stuff in late and then say they are too smart for school.

Missing school will catch up to them as will cheating on assignments. I would love to see how these “too smart for school” kids are doing in their college. None of the current parents on here seem to know and I bet it’s because they are struggling because they never developed the building blocks needs to answer thoughtful questions.

Furthermore schools is suppose to be fun, if you finish early be social. Kids that miss school are 25X more likely to be depressed.

I'm a parent that would love if teachers taught during class. My child is not too smart for school but she does need teachers who know their subject and are willing to teach and it is exhausting knowing she has three teachers that don't teach and there is no accountability on teachers when students are struggling due to a lack of instruction. I wish school was "fun" all the kids I talk to hate school because it is not fun-it's overly formal and prison like.

What school is this? TBH there is probably 10% of the profession that is pretty poor just like any other job. If they truly are not teaching and it’s not just your kid telling you stories than report it to admin. Only way to get rid of a teacher even if it takes a few years

It's not a school issue it's an FCPS issue. Teachers are bogged down with oversized classes, stressed by not enough planning and they are pissed off and quietly quitting. Admin is not firing anyone!! I feel bad for the teachers who feel this way and I feel bad for the students this broken system is failing. I'm not spending the few years my daughter has in high school trying to "get rid of a teacher" FCPS is failing and it's not just at the high school level.

Send her to a good private school. My high schoolers love their school and have learned so much.

Can you name a good private school? We are so done with FCPS.