Almost 40% of New York high school students missed at least 20 days of school during the 2008-2009 school year, according to a report by the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit group that tries to improve government policies. I wasn’t surprised when I first read about the high absence rate. Many students don’t take school seriously, but missing school can lead to big problems, like not being able to pass the Regents exams or graduate from high school on time.

Of course, there are a number of reasons, besides just not caring about school, that lead students to miss weeks at a time. For example, I have a pregnant friend who, as her stomach got bigger, chose not to attend school because she felt too tired. I also know another girl who has a little baby and lives far away from school, which causes her to miss school a lot, too.

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The report said pregnancy, homelessness, lack of transportation, mental or physical health issues, and a range of educational issues are common reasons teens miss school chronically. I would add a few more reasons: having no interest in classes, a desire to earn money, and having career dreams that don’t require a high school diploma. In addition, gang activity is another one I’ve noticed. A boy in my school stopped coming when he got involved in a gang. Unfortunately, a member of another gang stabbed him and he died last year.

Truant Teens to Foster Care?

The absence rate remains so high partly because high schools’ responses to students’ absence are not effective, according to the report. Typically, schools respond with letters to the parent, phone calls, home visits, parent-teacher conferences, and removing the student from extracurricular activities. These things can help, but when they don’t work, some schools report the parents of the chronically absent student to the child protective system.

That means the schools officially accuse parents of neglecting their children by not ensuring that the kids go to school regularly—and that may result in placing children in foster care. Vera’s report says that’s “an inappropriate solution for teens who are chronically absent but who are not otherwise being maltreated.” I agree.

For elementary school students it is the parents’ responsibility to make sure children go to school, but high school students mostly decide by themselves whether they go to school or not. Therefore, Vera encourages New York State to eliminate the practice of reporting teens’ truancy to the child protective system.

Instead, Vera suggests that schools assign a caring adult to talk to each chronically absent student. That person would help the student identify a strength, encourage the student to develop this strength, and engage them in school-based activities.

Positive Approaches

Although this is a good strategy, having a caring adult around wouldn’t help the teen moms I know. They don’t skip school because they want to, but because their situations make it difficult for them to attend. Helping with the root problems that keep them from going to school would be helpful.

The city is already trying some more positive ways to get youth back to school. Last August, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that mentors would work with students to improve attendance, and that the city would reward high school students who have perfect attendance by giving them Old Navy coats and gift cards.

The city has also started making automated phone calls to absent students, using the voices of famous people, to encourage them to get to school regularly. (R&B singer Trey Songz, Magic Johnson, and Mets shortstop Jose Reyes can all be heard telling students to “get your education.”) Maybe these efforts will help motivate some students to improve attendance and graduate, but the school system’s efforts should go a lot further.

Source: “Getting Teenagers Back to School,” Vera Institute of Justice Policy Brief.