Skipping class has almost formed its own culture in schools, negatively impacting students’ school environment. Not only does skipping limit their education, but it also creates safety issues.
Luckily, there are many opportunities to eliminate skipping and to do this, the focus must be on students’ needs to keep them in class.
Administrators take the issue of skipping class incredibly seriously, seeing that attendance is outlined in section 2, “Students Rights and Responsibilities” of the Orange County Public School Code of Conduct. It is made clear that students’ safety is in jeopardy when they decide to skip a class. When students put themselves in this situation, they are unaccounted for, leaving administrators and teachers in a difficult position; student safety is unknown.
Freshman Eliana Olivo said, “Students sometimes participate in unsafe activities when they skip or even just because maybe they don’t want to take a test and instead they want to hang out with friends.”
Education is also put at risk for students who constantly skip class.
Dean Jerry Williams said, “Skipping affects students’ grades by not being able to grasp the subject content provided by the teachers. So, the overall effect of skipping is non-[productive] to the student because they’re just going to continue to miss instructional time.”
Students who choose to skip their classes are ultimately deciding to deal with the reprecussions.
Policies outlined in the Code of Student Conduct were made to eliminate skipping and show students that their actions have consequences.
Approved on June 25, 2018, according to Orange County Public Schools Code of Student Conduct, “Class attendance and participation are critical elements of the educational process and may be taken into account in assessing academic achievement.”
Although skipping may seem like an unsolvable issue, students believe there are ways to keep their peers in class.
“I don’t think it’s about transitional time. I think it’s about improving the quality of education and making the classroom more engaging for students so they have a reason to go to class,” said freshman Huong Ho.
While change cannot happen overnight, with the skipping policies put in place for safety as well as students’ important opinions on solving the matter, skipping can be put to an end with adherence to the code of conduct and engaging classes.
