Perfect Attendance: Could It Be, Should It Be, Achievable?
Is perfect attendance something a child can control? No?
Than why should this be a goal?
When the girls were young many school districts had perfect attendance awards. Certainly, Sheila was never going to win one of those awards. Her immune system did not function as well as her sisters. Perhaps it could have been by the other two girls. In fact, I do recall a few of perfect attendance awards over the years. But not because we were particularly seeking them out. Typical of our family is that one of them would get sick (usually Sheila) sometime during the school week. Then the other two would start feeling poorly on a Friday and be sick over the weekend (or during school vacation week).
The argument for rewarding perfect attendance includes the belief that it encourages a habit of showing up. That later in life we are rewarded to show up for jobs by a paycheck. Those that argue in favor also state that an award for perfect attendance is a motivator, or it rewards the development of a good habit.
Here is one problem with that argument. It rewards the person for showing up, no matter how sick they are. Illness is spread by germs, germs that are brought into a place of business or a school because that individual is so intent on the extrinsic feel-good message that was delivered by these awards.
Showing up to school can have a lot of outside-the-child’s-control factors. A car breakdown, the whole family oversleeps, they miss the bus. For the child striving for the perfect attendance award and then they lose out over an event that was out of their control, it would be frustrating. Wouldn’t it be better to award the child for something within their control, such as paying attention in class, showing up to classes on time, getting good grades?
Are perfect attendance awards equitable? Not everyone has the same access to alternate rides if they miss the bus. Not all children have the same basic care and access to healthy food. Children undernourished, or poorly nourished may have a harder time staying healthy or recovering their health when poor nutrition is a factor. Not all children have the same access to suitable shelter.
One thing we should have learned from Covid-19 is anyone living in congregant living facilities were at higher risk of becoming ill. What did we do when we brought children back into school? We set up a hybrid instructional platform and started with smaller cohorts.
Look at who the children are that generally receive the awards and the ones that don’t. What are the rates of absenteeism in your school? My guess is you will find a higher rate of children of color clocking those absences.
School nurses want to keep children in school with minor illnesses. If the child is so ill, they are miserable and unable to function in the classroom, we are the first to say, let’s call home. However, we are often pressured by classroom staff to send every child with a sniffle home, even if that child has known seasonal allergies.
After COVID I started doing Health Alert’s specific to children with Seasonal Allergies, or chronic GI issues, in hopes that staff would realize this child with sniffles did not need to go home. They still try to push the envelope, but at least when we push back, they let it go.
My conclusion is, there is no perfect solution. All any school nurse can do, is to do their best trying to foster positive working relationships with as many teachers as possible. Beyond that, it is out of our hands.
Ultimately, my stand on the perfect attendance is that it should not be encourage. When children are sick and regular little germ factories, they need to be home for a few days. But what do I know? I’m just the school nurse.