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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Differs by school.

At WJ, my kid missed 1 resource class during the day because he was taking [approved] extended time on an exam. Teacher was supposed to alert resource teacher, but that did not happen.

That same day, I got a robo-call on my mobile, one at my office, and one at home to alert me that my student was absent from "1 or more" classes that day and to contact the attendance office about this matter at 301-xxx-xxxx.

I texted DS as soon as I had a chance. I called the office first thing in the morning the next day to clear up. If parents don't care, or follow-up, it does not matter how many robo calls they get.

I never return the attendance call now. My WJ teen is always in class, and is sometimes a couple of minutes late to the period immediately after lunch, when he uses his extended time to take a test during lunch, and an issue similar to your kid crops up. When I alert the school to any excused absence, for one of his numerous medical appointments, for instance, he's also marked absent!!!

It doesn't seem to matter to anyone, at all. No one cares. So I gave up trying to correct their stupidities. Attendance is not taken correctly in the first place, so I would take the official MCPS attendance records with a HUGE grain of salt.

Don't say attendance was not "taken correctly" if your kid shows up late after lunch. Teachers take attendance in the beginning of class and then move on with their block. They are busy teaching instead of having to make attendance correction errors for tardy students. If your kid can't manage to get to class on time, that is on them. The excused medical appointments were you say you've alerted the school beforehand, is on the school.

BECAUSE HE HAS EXTENDED TESTING TIME THAT HE USES DURING HIS LUNCH HOUR (he can't even eat lunch on those days). The teacher is supposed to notify the next teacher that the tardy is excused, but this hardly ever happens.

Also, and to my original point: ***I don't care***. Because no one else cares. None of these accumulated absences and tardies impact his grades or graduation. He has mostly straight As, thanks to his extended time accommodation, he's an excellent student and the school has never had a problem with this state of affairs.

So:
1. The hysterical "students are skipping so much school" narrative sounds pretty exaggerated to me, since I don't know any high or middle schooler who skips class frivolously, based on my kids, their friends, and our general circle of MCPS acquaintances at various schools.
2. I don't think we should believe the official numbers, because attendance is taken very poorly by regular teachers. Substitutes are notorious for not taking attendance correctly either.
3. When MCPS creates a more accurate attendance system, and starts caring about attendance, then I will allow this issue to take up some of my brain space. But not right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Differs by school.

At WJ, my kid missed 1 resource class during the day because he was taking [approved] extended time on an exam. Teacher was supposed to alert resource teacher, but that did not happen.

That same day, I got a robo-call on my mobile, one at my office, and one at home to alert me that my student was absent from "1 or more" classes that day and to contact the attendance office about this matter at 301-xxx-xxxx.

I texted DS as soon as I had a chance. I called the office first thing in the morning the next day to clear up. If parents don't care, or follow-up, it does not matter how many robo calls they get.

I never return the attendance call now. My WJ teen is always in class, and is sometimes a couple of minutes late to the period immediately after lunch, when he uses his extended time to take a test during lunch, and an issue similar to your kid crops up. When I alert the school to any excused absence, for one of his numerous medical appointments, for instance, he's also marked absent!!!

It doesn't seem to matter to anyone, at all. No one cares. So I gave up trying to correct their stupidities. Attendance is not taken correctly in the first place, so I would take the official MCPS attendance records with a HUGE grain of salt.

Don't say attendance was not "taken correctly" if your kid shows up late after lunch. Teachers take attendance in the beginning of class and then move on with their block. They are busy teaching instead of having to make attendance correction errors for tardy students. If your kid can't manage to get to class on time, that is on them. The excused medical appointments were you say you've alerted the school beforehand, is on the school.

BECAUSE HE HAS EXTENDED TESTING TIME THAT HE USES DURING HIS LUNCH HOUR (he can't even eat lunch on those days). The teacher is supposed to notify the next teacher that the tardy is excused, but this hardly ever happens.

Also, and to my original point: ***I don't care***. Because no one else cares. None of these accumulated absences and tardies impact his grades or graduation. He has mostly straight As, thanks to his extended time accommodation, he's an excellent student and the school has never had a problem with this state of affairs.

So:
1. The hysterical "students are skipping so much school" narrative sounds pretty exaggerated to me, since I don't know any high or middle schooler who skips class frivolously, based on my kids, their friends, and our general circle of MCPS acquaintances at various schools.
2. I don't think we should believe the official numbers, because attendance is taken very poorly by regular teachers. Substitutes are notorious for not taking attendance correctly either.
3. When MCPS creates a more accurate attendance system, and starts caring about attendance, then I will allow this issue to take up some of my brain space. But not right now.

Most parents aren't going to tell you that their kids are skipping, especially when they don't care so your post is kinda silly. Attendance is taking poorly by some teachers and I've given up trying to get it fixed and I know my child is in class. However, this doesn't excuse the actual kids who are skipping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Differs by school.

At WJ, my kid missed 1 resource class during the day because he was taking [approved] extended time on an exam. Teacher was supposed to alert resource teacher, but that did not happen.

That same day, I got a robo-call on my mobile, one at my office, and one at home to alert me that my student was absent from "1 or more" classes that day and to contact the attendance office about this matter at 301-xxx-xxxx.

I texted DS as soon as I had a chance. I called the office first thing in the morning the next day to clear up. If parents don't care, or follow-up, it does not matter how many robo calls they get.

I never return the attendance call now. My WJ teen is always in class, and is sometimes a couple of minutes late to the period immediately after lunch, when he uses his extended time to take a test during lunch, and an issue similar to your kid crops up. When I alert the school to any excused absence, for one of his numerous medical appointments, for instance, he's also marked absent!!!

It doesn't seem to matter to anyone, at all. No one cares. So I gave up trying to correct their stupidities. Attendance is not taken correctly in the first place, so I would take the official MCPS attendance records with a HUGE grain of salt.

Don't say attendance was not "taken correctly" if your kid shows up late after lunch. Teachers take attendance in the beginning of class and then move on with their block. They are busy teaching instead of having to make attendance correction errors for tardy students. If your kid can't manage to get to class on time, that is on them. The excused medical appointments were you say you've alerted the school beforehand, is on the school.

BECAUSE HE HAS EXTENDED TESTING TIME THAT HE USES DURING HIS LUNCH HOUR (he can't even eat lunch on those days). The teacher is supposed to notify the next teacher that the tardy is excused, but this hardly ever happens.

Also, and to my original point: ***I don't care***. Because no one else cares. None of these accumulated absences and tardies impact his grades or graduation. He has mostly straight As, thanks to his extended time accommodation, he's an excellent student and the school has never had a problem with this state of affairs.

So:
1. The hysterical "students are skipping so much school" narrative sounds pretty exaggerated to me, since I don't know any high or middle schooler who skips class frivolously, based on my kids, their friends, and our general circle of MCPS acquaintances at various schools.
2. I don't think we should believe the official numbers, because attendance is taken very poorly by regular teachers. Substitutes are notorious for not taking attendance correctly either.
3. When MCPS creates a more accurate attendance system, and starts caring about attendance, then I will allow this issue to take up some of my brain space. But not right now.

There seems to be a concerted effort to paint this narrative that society is in decay and MCPS is in decline. They always make things sound far worse than they actually are. I think they're political operatives trying to affect change at the school board level similar to how Youngkin got elected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My kid is at a private school. If he skips class, he gets detention. If he skips that, he won’t graduate with his class. Talk about motivating!

Haha get real. I went to private school. There is still plenty of skipping class going on. Not to mention when teachers were out after Freshman year you got a free period to do with as you choose. The motivation to go to class is because there are a lot less students so it’s more noticeable when you’re missing(depending on teacher and where you usually sit). Oh, and you go to class because you want to graduate and parental expectation. No different than what goes on in public school.

Then you get to college and everyone chooses when they are going to class anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Differs by school.

At WJ, my kid missed 1 resource class during the day because he was taking [approved] extended time on an exam. Teacher was supposed to alert resource teacher, but that did not happen.

That same day, I got a robo-call on my mobile, one at my office, and one at home to alert me that my student was absent from "1 or more" classes that day and to contact the attendance office about this matter at 301-xxx-xxxx.

I texted DS as soon as I had a chance. I called the office first thing in the morning the next day to clear up. If parents don't care, or follow-up, it does not matter how many robo calls they get.

I never return the attendance call now. My WJ teen is always in class, and is sometimes a couple of minutes late to the period immediately after lunch, when he uses his extended time to take a test during lunch, and an issue similar to your kid crops up. When I alert the school to any excused absence, for one of his numerous medical appointments, for instance, he's also marked absent!!!

It doesn't seem to matter to anyone, at all. No one cares. So I gave up trying to correct their stupidities. Attendance is not taken correctly in the first place, so I would take the official MCPS attendance records with a HUGE grain of salt.

Don't say attendance was not "taken correctly" if your kid shows up late after lunch. Teachers take attendance in the beginning of class and then move on with their block. They are busy teaching instead of having to make attendance correction errors for tardy students. If your kid can't manage to get to class on time, that is on them. The excused medical appointments were you say you've alerted the school beforehand, is on the school.

BECAUSE HE HAS EXTENDED TESTING TIME THAT HE USES DURING HIS LUNCH HOUR (he can't even eat lunch on those days). The teacher is supposed to notify the next teacher that the tardy is excused, but this hardly ever happens.

Also, and to my original point: ***I don't care***. Because no one else cares. None of these accumulated absences and tardies impact his grades or graduation. He has mostly straight As, thanks to his extended time accommodation, he's an excellent student and the school has never had a problem with this state of affairs.

So:
1. The hysterical "students are skipping so much school" narrative sounds pretty exaggerated to me, since I don't know any high or middle schooler who skips class frivolously, based on my kids, their friends, and our general circle of MCPS acquaintances at various schools.
2. I don't think we should believe the official numbers, because attendance is taken very poorly by regular teachers. Substitutes are notorious for not taking attendance correctly either.
3. When MCPS creates a more accurate attendance system, and starts caring about attendance, then I will allow this issue to take up some of my brain space. But not right now.

There seems to be a concerted effort to paint this narrative that society is in decay and MCPS is in decline. They always make things sound far worse than they actually are. I think they're political operatives trying to affect change at the school board level similar to how Youngkin got elected.

MCPS isn't doing very well right now. When I went to MCPS, the security guards at BCC would check the local stores and McDonalds and bring the students back. They'd also stop you if you tried to leave the school without permission. Very different culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Differs by school.

At WJ, my kid missed 1 resource class during the day because he was taking [approved] extended time on an exam. Teacher was supposed to alert resource teacher, but that did not happen.

That same day, I got a robo-call on my mobile, one at my office, and one at home to alert me that my student was absent from "1 or more" classes that day and to contact the attendance office about this matter at 301-xxx-xxxx.

I texted DS as soon as I had a chance. I called the office first thing in the morning the next day to clear up. If parents don't care, or follow-up, it does not matter how many robo calls they get.

I never return the attendance call now. My WJ teen is always in class, and is sometimes a couple of minutes late to the period immediately after lunch, when he uses his extended time to take a test during lunch, and an issue similar to your kid crops up. When I alert the school to any excused absence, for one of his numerous medical appointments, for instance, he's also marked absent!!!

It doesn't seem to matter to anyone, at all. No one cares. So I gave up trying to correct their stupidities. Attendance is not taken correctly in the first place, so I would take the official MCPS attendance records with a HUGE grain of salt.

Don't say attendance was not "taken correctly" if your kid shows up late after lunch. Teachers take attendance in the beginning of class and then move on with their block. They are busy teaching instead of having to make attendance correction errors for tardy students. If your kid can't manage to get to class on time, that is on them. The excused medical appointments were you say you've alerted the school beforehand, is on the school.

BECAUSE HE HAS EXTENDED TESTING TIME THAT HE USES DURING HIS LUNCH HOUR (he can't even eat lunch on those days). The teacher is supposed to notify the next teacher that the tardy is excused, but this hardly ever happens.

Also, and to my original point: ***I don't care***. Because no one else cares. None of these accumulated absences and tardies impact his grades or graduation. He has mostly straight As, thanks to his extended time accommodation, he's an excellent student and the school has never had a problem with this state of affairs.

So:
1. The hysterical "students are skipping so much school" narrative sounds pretty exaggerated to me, since I don't know any high or middle schooler who skips class frivolously, based on my kids, their friends, and our general circle of MCPS acquaintances at various schools.
2. I don't think we should believe the official numbers, because attendance is taken very poorly by regular teachers. Substitutes are notorious for not taking attendance correctly either.
3. When MCPS creates a more accurate attendance system, and starts caring about attendance, then I will allow this issue to take up some of my brain space. But not right now.

There seems to be a concerted effort to paint this narrative that society is in decay and MCPS is in decline. They always make things sound far worse than they actually are. I think they're political operatives trying to affect change at the school board level similar to how Youngkin got elected.

So in the face of official data, firsthand accounts from parents, teachers and students, you dismiss it all and believe it’s all made up mumbo jumbo by political operatives? Take off your conspiracy theory hat and please come back down to earth and engage with reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Differs by school.

At WJ, my kid missed 1 resource class during the day because he was taking [approved] extended time on an exam. Teacher was supposed to alert resource teacher, but that did not happen.

That same day, I got a robo-call on my mobile, one at my office, and one at home to alert me that my student was absent from "1 or more" classes that day and to contact the attendance office about this matter at 301-xxx-xxxx.

I texted DS as soon as I had a chance. I called the office first thing in the morning the next day to clear up. If parents don't care, or follow-up, it does not matter how many robo calls they get.

I never return the attendance call now. My WJ teen is always in class, and is sometimes a couple of minutes late to the period immediately after lunch, when he uses his extended time to take a test during lunch, and an issue similar to your kid crops up. When I alert the school to any excused absence, for one of his numerous medical appointments, for instance, he's also marked absent!!!

It doesn't seem to matter to anyone, at all. No one cares. So I gave up trying to correct their stupidities. Attendance is not taken correctly in the first place, so I would take the official MCPS attendance records with a HUGE grain of salt.

Don't say attendance was not "taken correctly" if your kid shows up late after lunch. Teachers take attendance in the beginning of class and then move on with their block. They are busy teaching instead of having to make attendance correction errors for tardy students. If your kid can't manage to get to class on time, that is on them. The excused medical appointments were you say you've alerted the school beforehand, is on the school.

BECAUSE HE HAS EXTENDED TESTING TIME THAT HE USES DURING HIS LUNCH HOUR (he can't even eat lunch on those days). The teacher is supposed to notify the next teacher that the tardy is excused, but this hardly ever happens.

Also, and to my original point: ***I don't care***. Because no one else cares. None of these accumulated absences and tardies impact his grades or graduation. He has mostly straight As, thanks to his extended time accommodation, he's an excellent student and the school has never had a problem with this state of affairs.

So:
1. The hysterical "students are skipping so much school" narrative sounds pretty exaggerated to me, since I don't know any high or middle schooler who skips class frivolously, based on my kids, their friends, and our general circle of MCPS acquaintances at various schools.
2. I don't think we should believe the official numbers, because attendance is taken very poorly by regular teachers. Substitutes are notorious for not taking attendance correctly either.
3. When MCPS creates a more accurate attendance system, and starts caring about attendance, then I will allow this issue to take up some of my brain space. But not right now.

If your kid is late after using extended time, have him ask for an excused late slip for the next teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My kid is at a private school. If he skips class, he gets detention. If he skips that, he won’t graduate with his class. Talk about motivating!

In college, you have to be self-motivated (nobody is taking attendance), not micromanaged like your child currently is.

First, you are wrong. Many college classes do take attendance now because the kids are not self-motivated. Some use quizzes in every class, etc.

But more to the point, in our society, we have agreed that 1) children are to receive a K-12 education and they are legally required to do so; and 2) students at B-CC are by definition not in college. This means that they are not mature enough to live alone, and while parents should be transferring responsibility to them, it doesn't mean that parents should just stop participating in childrearing when their child reaches 10th grade. Most kids need accountability in order to be responsible. Trust until they screw up and then backtrack and teach. "Chronic absenteeism" is pretty bad and warrants intervention from both parents and truant officers (but I know that's a pipe dream). It's "compassionate" to let kids go up uneducated and undisciplined.

[Anonymous]

The Tattler just did a follow-up report: https://bcctattler.org/2859/showcase/the-epidemic-of-skipping-does-senioritis-start-sophomore-year-2/

Here are some of the most compelling bits:

To compound the issue, it has become the norm within MCPS for students to miss class without little to no academic repercussions. Some students can both acquire good grades and skip class frequently. “I’ve learned to keep up my grades while being able to skip school, and because of this, my motivation to go to school has decreased,” said another senior, adding, “Sometimes it just helps me focus better when I complete my assignments in my room and not in a classroom.”

But when this senior was asked if she believes a lack of motivation or “senioritis” starts earlier than senior year, she mentioned another reason that digs into a not-so-new factor that has contributed to more skipping: COVID-19. With no teacher physically present to hold them accountable, students became less academically honest and motivated during COVID-19. “It was so easy to say, ‘Oh sorry, my internet crashed,’ or other technical difficulties to skip online class,” another student claims.

The county is also partly responsible for the increase in skipping class, as there are no repercussions for missing instruction. “The MCPS policy used to be that you get five unexcused absences and fifteen unexcused tardies before losing credit for your classes,” said Ms. Lansell. During the virtual school year, these policies were erased and have yet to be re-established across Montgomery County.

MCPS needs to WAKE UP. Less accountability and consequences is NOT good for children. They NEED the structure that discipline and consequences provide them! Without those hard NOs, they feel lost and unmotivated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Differs by school.

At WJ, my kid missed 1 resource class during the day because he was taking [approved] extended time on an exam. Teacher was supposed to alert resource teacher, but that did not happen.

That same day, I got a robo-call on my mobile, one at my office, and one at home to alert me that my student was absent from "1 or more" classes that day and to contact the attendance office about this matter at 301-xxx-xxxx.

I texted DS as soon as I had a chance. I called the office first thing in the morning the next day to clear up. If parents don't care, or follow-up, it does not matter how many robo calls they get.

I never return the attendance call now. My WJ teen is always in class, and is sometimes a couple of minutes late to the period immediately after lunch, when he uses his extended time to take a test during lunch, and an issue similar to your kid crops up. When I alert the school to any excused absence, for one of his numerous medical appointments, for instance, he's also marked absent!!!

It doesn't seem to matter to anyone, at all. No one cares. So I gave up trying to correct their stupidities. Attendance is not taken correctly in the first place, so I would take the official MCPS attendance records with a HUGE grain of salt.

Don't say attendance was not "taken correctly" if your kid shows up late after lunch. Teachers take attendance in the beginning of class and then move on with their block. They are busy teaching instead of having to make attendance correction errors for tardy students. If your kid can't manage to get to class on time, that is on them. The excused medical appointments were you say you've alerted the school beforehand, is on the school.

BECAUSE HE HAS EXTENDED TESTING TIME THAT HE USES DURING HIS LUNCH HOUR (he can't even eat lunch on those days). The teacher is supposed to notify the next teacher that the tardy is excused, but this hardly ever happens.

Also, and to my original point: ***I don't care***. Because no one else cares. None of these accumulated absences and tardies impact his grades or graduation. He has mostly straight As, thanks to his extended time accommodation, he's an excellent student and the school has never had a problem with this state of affairs.

So:
1. The hysterical "students are skipping so much school" narrative sounds pretty exaggerated to me, since I don't know any high or middle schooler who skips class frivolously, based on my kids, their friends, and our general circle of MCPS acquaintances at various schools.
2. I don't think we should believe the official numbers, because attendance is taken very poorly by regular teachers. Substitutes are notorious for not taking attendance correctly either.
3. When MCPS creates a more accurate attendance system, and starts caring about attendance, then I will allow this issue to take up some of my brain space. But not right now.

There seems to be a concerted effort to paint this narrative that society is in decay and MCPS is in decline. They always make things sound far worse than they actually are. I think they're political operatives trying to affect change at the school board level similar to how Youngkin got elected.

MCPS isn't doing very well right now. When I went to MCPS, the security guards at BCC would check the local stores and McDonalds and bring the students back. They'd also stop you if you tried to leave the school without permission. Very different culture.

That's funny. My kids are getting a much better education today at their DCC school than I got at Whitman back in the 90s. This narrative of decline doesn't ring true. Sure, things are different but the same opportunities are there for anyone who wants an education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Tattler just did a follow-up report: https://bcctattler.org/2859/showcase/the-epidemic-of-skipping-does-senioritis-start-sophomore-year-2/

Here are some of the most compelling bits:

To compound the issue, it has become the norm within MCPS for students to miss class without little to no academic repercussions. Some students can both acquire good grades and skip class frequently. “I’ve learned to keep up my grades while being able to skip school, and because of this, my motivation to go to school has decreased,” said another senior, adding, “Sometimes it just helps me focus better when I complete my assignments in my room and not in a classroom.”

But when this senior was asked if she believes a lack of motivation or “senioritis” starts earlier than senior year, she mentioned another reason that digs into a not-so-new factor that has contributed to more skipping: COVID-19. With no teacher physically present to hold them accountable, students became less academically honest and motivated during COVID-19. “It was so easy to say, ‘Oh sorry, my internet crashed,’ or other technical difficulties to skip online class,” another student claims.

The county is also partly responsible for the increase in skipping class, as there are no repercussions for missing instruction. “The MCPS policy used to be that you get five unexcused absences and fifteen unexcused tardies before losing credit for your classes,” said Ms. Lansell. During the virtual school year, these policies were erased and have yet to be re-established across Montgomery County.

MCPS needs to WAKE UP. Less accountability and consequences is NOT good for children. They NEED the structure that discipline and consequences provide them! Without those hard NOs, they feel lost and unmotivated.

I'm okay with kids skipping. There are consequences. It will affect their life. They're old enough to deal with this. MCPS is there to give them an education but it isn't their parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Tattler just did a follow-up report: https://bcctattler.org/2859/showcase/the-epidemic-of-skipping-does-senioritis-start-sophomore-year-2/

Here are some of the most compelling bits:

To compound the issue, it has become the norm within MCPS for students to miss class without little to no academic repercussions. Some students can both acquire good grades and skip class frequently. “I’ve learned to keep up my grades while being able to skip school, and because of this, my motivation to go to school has decreased,” said another senior, adding, “Sometimes it just helps me focus better when I complete my assignments in my room and not in a classroom.”

But when this senior was asked if she believes a lack of motivation or “senioritis” starts earlier than senior year, she mentioned another reason that digs into a not-so-new factor that has contributed to more skipping: COVID-19. With no teacher physically present to hold them accountable, students became less academically honest and motivated during COVID-19. “It was so easy to say, ‘Oh sorry, my internet crashed,’ or other technical difficulties to skip online class,” another student claims.

The county is also partly responsible for the increase in skipping class, as there are no repercussions for missing instruction. “The MCPS policy used to be that you get five unexcused absences and fifteen unexcused tardies before losing credit for your classes,” said Ms. Lansell. During the virtual school year, these policies were erased and have yet to be re-established across Montgomery County.

MCPS needs to WAKE UP. Less accountability and consequences is NOT good for children. They NEED the structure that discipline and consequences provide them! Without those hard NOs, they feel lost and unmotivated.

I'm okay with kids skipping. There are consequences. It will affect their life. They're old enough to deal with this. MCPS is there to give them an education but it isn't their parent.

That's nice that you are ok with kids skipping. Most parents, and the state of Maryland aren't, which is why there are truancy laws on the books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My kid is at a private school. If he skips class, he gets detention. If he skips that, he won’t graduate with his class. Talk about motivating!

Haha get real. I went to private school. There is still plenty of skipping class going on. Not to mention when teachers were out after Freshman year you got a free period to do with as you choose. The motivation to go to class is because there are a lot less students so it’s more noticeable when you’re missing(depending on teacher and where you usually sit). Oh, and you go to class because you want to graduate and parental expectation. No different than what goes on in public school.

Then you get to college and everyone chooses when they are going to class anyway.

The difference is that there are consequences for that behavior unlike in public school. If kids don’t have consequences for behavior, what kind of adults will they be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My kid is at a private school. If he skips class, he gets detention. If he skips that, he won’t graduate with his class. Talk about motivating!

Haha get real. I went to private school. There is still plenty of skipping class going on. Not to mention when teachers were out after Freshman year you got a free period to do with as you choose. The motivation to go to class is because there are a lot less students so it’s more noticeable when you’re missing(depending on teacher and where you usually sit). Oh, and you go to class because you want to graduate and parental expectation. No different than what goes on in public school.

Then you get to college and everyone chooses when they are going to class anyway.

The difference is that there are consequences for that behavior unlike in public school. If kids don’t have consequences for behavior, what kind of adults will they be?

Entitled, selfish, destructive, reckless, etc.

[Anonymous]

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.