Why Kids Skip School and What You Can Do

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by Sue Douglass Fliess
Topics: Teen Years (13-19), Managing Challenging Child Behavior, more...
Communicating with Teachers, Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Advocating for Your Child at
School, Creative Arts, Increasing Your Child's Motivation

If trends persist, 75% of today's students entering high school will not complete the post-secondary education required
to thrive in our globalized world. Yikes. According to the Freshman Transition Initiative (FTI) of George Washington
University, a student's plans for post-secondary education often hinges on the attitudes they develop in the 8th and 9th
grade about themselves, their futures, and their educations.

When you think of a high school drop-out, your mind may first go to a child who lacks motivation or goofs off.
Rebecca M. Dedmond, Ph.D., and Director of FTI says that, in fact, many drop-outs are very bright. “The kids who are
not engaged or tend to be truant simply don’t see what they’re learning in school as relevant to their life. They don’t see
the relationship.” Andrew Jackson, the 7th U.S. President, dropped out, studied law in his late teens and became a
lawyer. Certainly not a slouch, perhaps he just wasn’t challenged enough?

Dedmond says once students can see how what they’re doing in school can help them reach their future goals, they are
much more likely to stick around and embrace their education.

So what can schools do to get on the same page as their students? First, says Dedmond, “We need to listen to the
students. As long as we show them 'what’s in it for me,' they actually don’t mind working hard and being challenged.”
Schools can help students balance their skills and interests as well as deemphasize competition, which allows more
students the opportunity to participate.

But it’s not entirely up to the schools. Dedmond says as parents, there are a few things you can do as well. Get involved
with your child’s school. Talk to the teachers about your child and what piques her interests. Discuss how that may be
incorporated in lesson plans during her day. In addition, Dedmond tells parents to encourage their children to join after-
school sports. If they don’t show up for school, they can’t be on the team.

Schools and parents alike need to ensure the teens of today have what they need to become world leaders of tomorrow.
If you get engaged with your child’s education, your child will too.

By Graeme Paton, Education Editor

Published: 12:50PM GMT 26 Feb 2008
Truancy rates reached a record high last year as more than 63,000 pupils skipped school every day
without an excuse, official figures show.
The number of children in England playing truant has increased by a third in 10 years - despite
more than £1 billion being spent to tackle the problem.

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Those who miss school for family holidays remain among the worst offenders. Kevin Brennan, the
children's minister, admitted more should be done to tackle persistent truants.
He said he would write to all local authorities urging them to use "tough sanctions" against parents
failing to get their children to school, including £50 spot fines.
More than 30,000 penalty notices and 19,000 parenting contracts have been issued to the mothers
and fathers of wayward children in the past three years, it was revealed.
However, the Government insisted that overall absence - combining truancy and children missing
school for an acceptable reason - had fallen to a record low.
"It is no surprise when the 'unauthorised absence' figure goes up because schools are taking a
tougher stance on weak excuses they may once have authorised," said Mr Brennan.
"Parents are getting the message every lesson counts. Dubious absences are now being rigorously
queried rather than overlooked as they may have been a decade ago."
According to new figures, there were 6,332,070 full-time pupils in English primary, secondary and
special schools last year. It emerged 1 per cent of all morning and afternoon sessions were missed
through unauthorised absence, although the figure also includes children who were late. This
compares to 0.92 per cent a year earlier and 0.73 per cent when Labour came to power.
However, at the same time, the overall absence rate fell from 7.41 per cent a decade ago to 6.49 per
cent last year.
Ministers insisted they were tackling the problem by targeting hard-core truants who account for a
large number of absences. Figures show the number of secondary school pupils classed as persistent
truants - missing one-in-five lessons throughout the year - fell from 217,390 to 203,180 in 12
months.
For the first time, the figures also provided details of the reasons why pupils missed school. Illness
was by far the biggest reason for pupils not attending class, with 55 per cent of all absence down to
sickness. Illness was higher among the poorest children eligible for free school meals.
Children taking family holidays during term time with the permission of the school was the next
biggest reason. Agreed family holidays accounted for 10 per cent of all school absence, with
unauthorised holidays making up a further one per cent of the total.
Primary school children were far more likely than secondary pupils to be taken out of school on
holiday with their parents. Headteachers claimed the rise in unauthorised absence was down to
schools taking a tougher approach, particularly to term-time holidays.
However, Opposition MPs accused the Government of making excuses. Michael Gove, the
Conservative shadow children's secretary, said: "Ministers have completely failed to get a grip of
the problem. Yet again the latest figures have prompted more excuses and complacency. They are
blaming the rise in unauthorised absences on parents taking children on holiday when they know
this only accounts for a tiny fraction of absences."
David Laws, the Liberal Democrat children's spokesman said: "The truancy rate has rocketed under
Labour. Despite ministers throwing vast sums of money at the problem, millions more school days
are lost because of children bunking off school."

Why don't students like school?"

Many students ask that question, too, as they struggle to stay attentive in class, while waiting for the
bell to ring so they can pay attention to the things that really interest them.

"If you ask 100 high school students if they like to learn new things, almost all of them will tell you
they like to learn," said Daniel Willingham, a University of Virginia cognitive psychologist. "But if
you ask those same students if they like school, many of them will tell you they don't."

He addresses these issues in a new book, "Why Don't Students like School?," in which he explains
how the mind works - and what it means for the classroom.

"The mind is actually designed to avoid thinking," Willingham said. "Thinking is a slow process;
it's effortful and even uncertain. People naturally want to avoid that process, and instead rely on
memory, the things we already know how to do and are successful at."

Willingham uses cooking as an example.

"If you want to make spaghetti sauce, you could go onto the Internet and search out new recipes.
You could go through all your cookbooks. And if you are really into cooking, you might do exactly
that. But most people will just make the sauce the way they always make it, because they already
know how. And so it's a lot easier that way."

Which is one of the reasons students don't like school. They are forced to think, to accept new
challenges, to learn new things, and therefore do the thing their mind most wants to avoid -
thinking.

But this is true only up to a point. People also are curious.

"People actually enjoy thinking - when it is at a level that is not too simple, and not excessively
difficult," Willingham said. "People like to be challenged. That's why we play games, it's why we
read books, why we do many of the things we do. So there's a sweet spot, a level where learning is
neither too simplistic to be interesting, nor too difficult to be enjoyable. This is the spot that teachers
are always trying to find for their students in the classroom."

This is where creative teaching comes in, using a combination of storytelling that evokes emotion
and thought, and exercises that put lessons into context and that build upon previous learning. It's
also sustained hard work, Willingham said, that creates thinking skills dependent upon factual
knowledge.

"We want to create learning experiences that last," he said.

Willingham spent about 15 years of his career as a research cognitive scientist, conducting studies
under laboratory conditions. Then he started talking to teachers' groups and discovered that what he
and other researchers had discovered in the lab was of great interest to teachers in the field.

In 2002 he began writing a column, "Ask the Cognitive Scientist," for American Educator, the
quarterly journal of the American Federation of Teachers. Teachers have been asking ever since.

Willingham also writes a blog for teachers, and now has authored his book, specifically for teachers
and parents of home-schooled children.

One question teachers keep asking is how to work with students' different "learning styles." They
don't really exist, Willingham said.
"There are different abilities, but really, we all learn the same way," he said. "It's not left brain
versus right brain, or visual or auditory or kinesthetic. We learn using a combination of skills, and
we are all more similar in our learning styles than different."

And students naturally learn better in the areas or disciplines where their abilities lie. The key for
teachers, and for students, is to find that "sweet spot," where learning is the wonderful challenge
that inspires us to do more than simply make sauce the same way we've always made it.

This will be difficult to do if you have a stay at home with your mom or dad.
1. If you are going to be sick to skip a test, tell your parent that you don't feel your best a
couple days earlier. This makes it more believable that you are sick.
2. The night before your faking sick day, go to a parent a couple of hours after you go to bed
and ask for medicine, but put the medicine in your pocket when your parents aren't looking.
3. When you first wake up in the morning, tell your mom or dad that you feel bad. Try
coughing and sneezing a little, but don't over do it, or they will realize that you are faking it.
4. Don't speak in the "sick voice", because it sounds fake, but if you speak in too normal voice,
it will also be less believable. Try to find a good balance.
 5. If your parents want to feel your forehead, try rubbing on it fast to create body heat. Do not
put it over a fire or stove though, that might make you feel so hot it could earn you a trip to
the emergency room.
6. When getting dressed, button up your shirt but skip a couple buttons. also mess up your hair.
7. Moan a little, try and let them know you're really not feeling well, clutch your stomach or
head and tell them you are dizzy.
8. If your parents give you medicine, be sure to sneak it into your pocket when they aren't
looking.
9. Don't eat much breakfast.
10.Get up a little later than you should and walk around kind of slow.

[edit] Feeling A Little Sick

1. If all of this works and your parents ask you if you want to stay home, don't say yes
immediately, fight back some, but don't fight too much like say but I want to go to PE.
2. If this works, they will call the school and all the work is done.
3. If they offer to give you medicine, put it in your mouth, but spit it out later.
4. Pretend to feel bad the next day, but tell them you feel well enough to go to school.

[edit]It's A Holiday
This is one of the easiest, unless you have a sibling.
1. First of all, if it is a major holiday like, Martin Luther King Jr. day or Memorial Day, then
you're done, but if it is a smaller holiday or a made up one, follow the steps bellow.
2. Send an e-mail to your parents saying:
• Dear parent:
3. The students of (enter school name here) will be having (enter date) off because it is (enter
holiday). The students will continue having their regular school schedule the following day.
We thank you for your time reading this letter.
4. Sincerely:
5. (Enter principal's first and last name)
• Your parents will probably believe this. Don't provide a fake or real phone
number, because your parents might try to call.
6. Since your parents know about this, you can stay at home with them, or go to the mall with
them, but don't go alone because this looks suspicious.
7. The school might e-mail or mail your parent to inform that you where not at school today. If
they used mail, then you have a day or two to get the mail and either throw it away, or type
out a response. Typing is the best way to fake a note. If they used e-mail "try to get on to
their e-mail. Sometimes it was left logged on so just delete it, or ask them to log on because
your friend sent a e-mail to her e-mail by accident.
8. When you go back to school the next day, tell all your friends that you were sick. It will not
be believable if there are 3 or 4 excuses out there.

[edit] Ditch School (But Go To School)

If you're skipping school alone, tell a friend you are and get them to cover for you in class and tell
your teachers that you're sick. If you're skipping school with a friend, arrange a place to meet off
campus so you can skip together. Never leave school with a friend or group of people, it will arouse
suspicion.
 1. Get ready as normal in the morning, packing a change of clothes, and get your parents to
drop you off, preferably at the back of the school and in the route that they aren't going.
2. When you can't see them anymore, find a secluded place to change out of your school
clothes.
3. Walk to your destination, acting as casual as possible. Keep an eye on the time, so you can
leave time to change back into your school clothes and catch the bus/get picked up.
4. At the end of school, be sure to turn up at the normal time your parents pick you up/go on
the bus. If you see teachers beforehand and they ask you where you were, say you were in
the bathroom sick or at an appointment.

[edit] Ditch School (But Go To Schweppers)

1. If you're skipping school alone, tell a friend you are and get them to cover for you in class
and tell your teachers that you're sick. If you're skipping school with a friend, arrange a
place to meet OFF CAMPUS so you can skip together. NEVER leave school with a friend or
group of people, it will arouse suspicion.
2. Get ready as normal in the morning, packing a change of clothes, and get your parents to
drop you off, preferably at the back of the school and in the route that they aren't going.
3. When you can't see them anymore, find a secluded place to change out of your school
clothes.
4. Walk to your destination, acting as casual as possible. Keep an eye on the time, so you can
leave time to change back into your school clothes and catch the bus/get picked up.
5. At the end of school, be sure to turn up at the normal time your parents pick you up/go on
the bus. If you see teachers beforehand and they ask you where you were, say you were in
the bathroom sick or at an appointment.

Object 1

[edit] Warnings
• If you get caught then you are really going to get it! Also, you might get suspended! In
addition, be aware that skipping school in some parts of the world can get you tried for
delinquency and other crimes, and give you a criminal record. Be sure to know the local
laws on this. Also if you do it as a habit and get caught you will be expelled. Therefore, it's
best that you don't skip school unless you're desperate for a day off.

[edit] Tips
• If you get caught, tell the truth. Lying will just get you into more trouble, and if you tell the
truth, punishment's may be reduced. Only lie if you are absolutely certain that you will not
be found out.
• Make sure you delete your computer's internet history so they can't see you've been on
mail.com.
• It is hard to fake sick when your parents are stressed, or angry, so make sure they are in a
good mood the day you decide to fake sick.
Percentage of NELS:88 8th to 10th grade dropouts who reported that various reasons for dropping
out of school applied to them.
Reason Total Male Female
School Related:
Did not like school 51.2 57.8 44.2
Could not get along with teachers 35.0 51.6 17.2
Could not get along with students 20.1 18.3 21.9
Was suspended too often 16.1 19.2 12.7
Did not feel safe at school 12.1 11.5 12.8
Was expelled 13.4 17.6 8.9
Felt I didn't belong 23.2 31.5 14.4
Could not keep up with school work 31.3 37.6 24.7
Was failing school 39.9 46.2 33.1
Changed school, didn't like new one 13.2 10.8 15.8
Job Related:
Couldn't work and go to school at same time 14.1 20.0 7.8
Had to get a job 15.3 14.7 16.0
Found a job 15.3 18.6
Family Related:
Had to support family 9.2 4.8 14.0
Wanted to have family 6.2 4.2 8.4
Was pregnant 31.0 31.0
Became pregnant 13.6 5.1 22.6
Got married 13.1 3.4 23.6
Had to care for family member 8.3 4.6 12.2
Other:
Wanted to travel 2.1 2.5 1.7
Friends dropped out 14.1 16.8 11.3
DATA SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Education
Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) First Followup Study, 1990.