In California, every minor above the age of six must attend school under the state’s compulsory education laws, with very limited exceptions. Responses to truancies range from parent conferences to mediation.
But what if this weren’t the case? The perhaps obsolete article, “So That Nobody Has to Go to School if They Don't Want” by Roger Sipher in the New York Times, makes an interesting point, “mandatory‐attendance laws force many to attend school who have no wish to go there. Such children have little desire to learn and are so antagonistic to school that neither they nor more highly motivated students receive the quality education that is the birthright of every American.”. The solution he provided was to abolish mandatory attendance laws. Those who are committed to class will show up, while those who couldn’t care less will not.
Having attendance be compulsory up until a certain grade would make sense, since younger children lack the cognitive development to understand forward planning, and might not realize the kind of difference it will make in their lives. However, once students develop that sense and can make responsible decisions on their own, should they be allowed to freely choose whether or not they want to attend class?
Those who agree could argue that students are rational enough to determine when to attend class and when to miss it. It will give students more freedom in their schedules and teach them better time management skills. Sipher also argues, “students opposed to learning would not be able to pollute the educational atmosphere for those who want to learn. Teachers could stop policing recalcitrant students and start educating.”.
Those who may be against it could argue that should many students opt for not going to class, the teachers will become unmotivated and therefore less likely to take the course seriously. Another could be a decrease in students socializing with one another and exchanging ideas amongst themselves, which could prove to be crucial in developing a better understanding of important issues.
So, should attendance be considered optional? What would be the consequences if it were? Would this even be considered relevant now with changing classrooms and Covid-19? What are your thoughts?
Hello, Andrea,
ReplyDeleteI decided to offer a few more points suggesting obligatory school attendance to be the superior recourse.
Although Sipher states that the educational atmosphere would be polluted by students unwilling to learn, those students opposed to learning may prove to be beneficial to those who appreciate education. Unwilling students may impose an obstacle on diligent students, impelling them to overcome that obstacle by disregarding the distractions caused by the former. Students truly willing to learn will not allow disturbances to corrupt their mindset. Instead, those disturbances could only fuel their passion to learn as they discover they are determined to deter themselves from yielding to such an obstacle.
In addition, life grants very rare environments where only favorable people are present. Educational environments with unfavorable students will allow conscientious students to develop adaptive skills. These skills, acquired through toleration, may prepare them for countless situations, such as a career with undesirable co-workers.
Those were only a couple thoughts I had while reading your post. I do commend you for conveying such a thought-provoking topic. Thank you for taking the time to read my output.
Class attendance should be mandatory for everyone. As Henry Ford once said, "If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability". In order to attain the crucial life skills of knowledge, experience, and ability, the person needs to go to school. It is very difficult to succeed in life without some form of formal schooling. Yes, there are some exceptions, but as a whole knowledge comes to many as they attend school. Furthermore, just as your post said, if there were less students attending school, than the teachers would care far less about the subject matter. In closing, attending school should be mandatory.
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt, there are many students less committed to learning than others, and perhaps getting rid of compulsory education would allow them to instead arrange their time to attend to things that are more important to them. There are also many students dedicated to their education who likely have the rationality to better arrange their schedules by not attending classes daily. Allowing them to organize their own schedules could teach them time management and independent thinking. However, I find this outlook to be somewhat contradictory because compulsory education actually teaches students a valuable lesson about consistency and time management. Realistically, most but people in the workforce do not get the freedom to decide their schedules nor what duties they chose to take up, in the same way K-12 students do not get to chose what classes to attend or when to attend them. While many students may not take forward the content taught in schools, the basic life skills and lessons taught from a young age are essential, regardless of a student’s future career path.
ReplyDeleteAs it is, students can drop out of school at age 16, the age they can start working and begin to endure the consequences of their own actions. The age where children start to bear the effects of their choices is the appropriate age for them to start making their own decisions. Before then, they should not be seen as bodies “taking resources” away from students who may be more inclined towards school. While some people may look down on jobs that don’t require college degrees, these jobs are essential to our society, and in order to keep it functioning, these workers must have a rudimentary skill set that they will apply towards these jobs. In a public school, options such as advanced, honors, and AP classes are meant to give students with the proclivity to work hard in the classroom the opportunity to make advances towards their higher ambitions. There is certainly room to make improvement to the system, but everyone deserves access to fundamentals.