" Wow, look at all the kids who went to school even when they were sick so they could share their illnesses and keep others from achieving perfect attendance!

It's just always been one of my pet peeves that parents are proud of the fact that they have let their kids not only suffer through school when ill, but passed it on to hundreds of others, those parents are neglecting their children! "

" Can you tell me Equal did you personally go to the school and witness these children bein sick? Some children have tougher immune systems and just do not get sick! I know that one of my children just happen to only get sick on school holidays, bad for him but good for his attendance. WTG parents and children for your achievement!!! "

" Don't your legs ever get tired from jumping to conclusions? "

" I say congratulations to these students for learning the work ethic and dedication needed later in life to drag themselves out of bed everyday to go to work even if they don't feel 100% #1 A-Okay. I agree that students shouldn't go to school when they are truly ill, but I get sick of seeing students coming coming back to school after a few days absence/leaving school during the day because they have a headache, tummyache, sore toe, etc. "

" Wow, Equalizer . . . I must have missed something or I can't read!

How can you tell from that list which students "went to school even when they were sick so they could share their illnesses and keep others from achieving perfect attendance", or if *any* of them did.

I would be interested in knowing how you figured that out because I'm sure missing something here.

Thanks.

M@H "

" I commend all of these children for having the health & dedication to achieve a perfect attendance record.

Equalizer, our youngest daughter was in somewhat of the same boat, as it sounds like your child might have been. It's not a reason to have ill-feelings towards the other children, or their parents.

Our youngest daughter had a perfect attendance record going for her the last couple of years, until the flu started circulating & making its way around the school system, earlier this year. It finally caught up to her, & we ended up keeping her out for nearly a week. She was really torn up & upset about having to miss school everyday that we had to continue to keep her home, until she got better, & wasn't running a fever. We also felt pretty bad about it, as parents, but we assured her that not having a perfect attendance wasn't the end of the world, & that her health was more important. It took a bit, but she eventually understood & agreed with dear ole Mom & Dad.

Luckily when she finally returned, it didn't take her long to catch back up with the rest of the class, because of some extra help by the school staff, & some crunch-time by ole Mom & Dad.

When all was said & done, at the end of the school year, she came home with excellant grades, & we are very very proud of her!

Thank You everyone at Carl Sandburg school in Charleston! You are top-notch!

Again, Congrats to these children at M.M.S., & their families! "

" I understand the point Equalizer was trying to make. Soldier, as an educator, I certainly see first hand the value good attendance (increased likelihood of understanding the material and performing well in class, not to mention learning to be dependable and responsible, as we want all our citizens to be), but even at the college level I see (some) students coming to class who should be in bed instead of dragging themselves to class with strep throat, flu, etc., and invariably several of the students who sit near them get sick a few days later.

I think the perfect attendance phenomenon is traceable to a couple of things:

1) the pressure schools face from No Child Left Behind legislation, which punishes schools when attendance falls before a certain level

and

2) there's no one home to care for a sick child, so parents send their children to school hoping they can "tough it out" for the day and thus preventing them from having to take a sick day at work.

The ironic thing is that many of those students who soldier through illness by coming to class anyway often stay sick longer and end up performing poorly anyway because they were too sick to focus on the materials covered while they were feeling so lousy. Too bad they had to make others sick along with them in the process. "

" M@H, I think Equalizer is probably assuming (yes, I know what happens when one assumes. . .) that because of the length of the list, it's likely that some of those students on there attended school at least once when they were sick, esp. given the number of viruses that were going around this past year, during a season that seemed to last longer than the typical cold and flu season.

You're right in saying that there's no proof that ANY of those students were ever ill during the school year, but the law of averages seems as likely to be in Equalizer's favor as it is those who assume that NONE of those students went to school sick during the school year. "

" As per your questions...
I worked in the school system for 20 years, and personally witnessed what I wrote about. "

" One more thought: I certainly don't mean to take anything away from these students and their accomplishments. I know several of the students on here and their parents, who are devoted to their children and who certainly wouldn't push them to go to school when they were sick.

I merely appreciate Equalizer's point of view, too. As a teacher, as much as I value great attendance, I also appreciate it when sick students stay at home, for their sake and everyone else's. "

" Gotcha.
Thanks, Tammer. "

" tammer65 wrote on Jun 11, 2008 12:00 PM: the law of averages seems as likely to be in Equalizer's favor as it is those who assume that NONE of those students went to school sick during the school year.

I really do understand where youre coming from, tammer65, and in spirit I agree with you. But absent other data, it is impossible to draw the conclusion Equalizer came to no matter how many years he spent no matter where he spent them. You are also correct in citing the number of viruses, etc. were likely a factor and I get that. However, we see data that supports a perfect attendance record and nothing more. Therefore perfect attendance is the only conclusion that can be drawn from this information. (Okay, there are other conclusions but not with regard to perfect attendance.) Yet someone drew a completely invalid conclusion from this list - something that is done in this forum quite frequently.

But you hit the nail right on the thumb when you stated, You're right in saying that there's no proof that ANY of those students were ever ill during the school year. Yet Equalizer states unequivocally that all the kids (who) went to school even when they were sick. All means all and then he claims 20 years experience as his proof. That is not proof. That would qualify him as an expert to support the other data he has to support his conclusion but absent other proof, that's coincindental and not necessarily causal.

He doesnt even claim SOME or even ONE of the students went to school sick, he says ALL the students went to school sick.

I understand if you and others were to think I was making a big deal over very little kind of like picking the fly p00p out of the pepper but IMHO making a derogatory statement in response to a young persons (or anyone's) accomplishment as a first response is kind of counter-productive. Then he goes on to chastise the parents for something he has no proof even exists. We have so many young people about whom we CANNOT make a positive statement that perfect attendance is really an accomplishment.

And in this forum, conclusions are jumped to as a matter of a daily exercise routine.

However, I assume you did know that 84% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

M@H "

" Who would have thought that a list of middle schoolers with perfect attendance would turn out to be the second-most commented upon story of the day (as of 4 p.m. Wed.)? Maybe we (myself included) are just looking for things to argue about, because this topic in and of itself isn't particularly controversial, eh? "

" M@H...I've agreed with you on many things in these forums, and have always tried to understood your point of view when disagreeing with you. Here however, you seem waay off and trying to pick the noses of everyone around. I'm sure that Equalizer didn't mean that ALL those kids were sick, but you and I both know that it is very rare for all of those kids not to be sick once during the entire school year, or to only be sick on weekends. Give people a break and try to understand where they're coming from, just as I always have done with you, even though I have not always agreed with you. Thanks. "

" HerChild wrote on Jun 11, 2008 4:15 PM:
"try to understand where they're coming from, just as I always have done with you, even though I have not always agreed with you"

Okay. 'Nuff said. I'll stop now.

M@H "

" Congradulations to these students. I think that these students are preparing themselves to succeed in the world. Unlike some of the posters on this site, they realize that success requires hard work and that sitting at home whining on these blogs about George Bush does not. "

" Yeah techman, little George sat a great example for our young people by going AWOL for over a year. Hows that for attendance? Anyone else would have been tried for desertion after that long. But what the heck, little Georgie's records somehow got lost.

Now don't start whining about Bush getting on this thread, you're the one who brought that reprobates name up on this one. "

" I have a real problem with perfect attendance being a reward. Often times there are circumstances out of a child or parents control that warrant that the child be absent. For example your child needs to go to the doctor or orthodontist for some reason and as a parent you try to schedule the appointment for some time after school or as close to school dismissing so that they do not miss to much academics. Even if you bring in a doctors note it still counts against your childs perfect attendance. When my child was little one time he cried in despair when he was sick because I would not allow him to go to school, there for he would not recieve perfect attendance. Or what about the special needs student who may have many physical needs that need to be meet and that require absences. Should they be penalized for their disability. That does not mean that they are a student who has a attendance problem or should not be rewarded for being a good student. I understand the concept of teaching children that absences should not be rewarded but at the same time they are some time necessary. Personally I think this is one reward that should be removed from district policies. "

" Good point ak927, but as tammer65 stated, "the pressure schools face from No Child Left Behind legislation, which punishes schools when attendance falls before a certain level" has alot to do with it.

Personally, I wish the No Child Left Behind Act was 86'd outa here, that or I hope the new President makes some good hard changes to it. "