<p>"...But hers is a rare accomplishment. Not once in 13 years was Stefanie marked absent: not for a cold, a family vacation, a college visit or a senior skip day....
"There were days in high school when I thought she was too tired to get up," said Debbie Zaner, Stefanie's mother. "But by high school, it was up to her. It wasn't up to me." </p>
<p>Perfect attendance for even one year is an elusive goal. Schools are germ factories. Kids play hooky. Families travel. Religious holidays sometimes require attendance elsewhere. Even conscientious students take the occasional personal day to prepare for a test or catch up on homework. </p>
<p>An informal survey of 20 local school systems turned up just one other graduating senior with perfect attendance since kindergarten .....</p>
<p>Kristen's attendance effort in elementary school was nothing short of heroic: She showed up every day despite moving twice and changing schools three times. Staying home was boring -- or so she heard from her brother. There was a no-TV rule, strictly enforced. </p>
<p>"We could sit in our room and read. That was it," she said...."</p>
<p>As we have recently learned, public health officials and policy wonks hate stories like this. There is about zero chance that this kid didn’t come to school sick multiple times in 13 years.</p>
<p>I have a whole family of perfect attendance kids. Some kids/families have the tremendous good fortune of being very healthy. Son has only had one absence in HS and that was because we took him out of his last period class one time to catch a flight for vacation. He had one absence in grade school, when we left for spring break a day early. He had one absence in middle school, when he had a stomach bug. D who is a sophomore just has one absence in school (the leaving for spring break early day) and D in 7th grade has none. Last summer the whole family passed around an illness, but that happened in July. </p>
<p>I admit that I make my kids go to school if they are tired from staying up too late, or if they have allergies, or a sore knee, or anything else non-contageous where they would feel the same at home or at school. But really, they have the very good fortune of being healthy.</p>
<p>Edited to add: We can’t compete with the story referred to in the original post, however. The kids have done college visits, choir trips, field trips, etc. Their absences have all been excused, for school reasons.</p>
<p>This Kristen may have been the exception, but I don’t consider her the model for people with ordinary immune systems. I was taught that the place for a sick kid is at home in bed. (Edit: Like missypie, I don’t consider “stayed up too late texting” a valid symptom requiring a day at home!)</p>
<p>My son brought home a persistent cough from school, and it stayed with him for a couple of years. He swore up and down that he’d gotten it from a student who coughed in his face while he was spotting the guy in weight class. That guy would (and more than once did) come in with a 101+ fever for the sake of a perfect attendance record and the accompanying $25 prize at the end of the school year. The worst time for that is rehearsals for the musical… almost everyone is involved, getting less rest than they could use, and in close contact with other students. During rehearsals the same year my son got the cough, over half the student body was out sick (really sick, not playing hooky) on the same day.</p>
<p>DD had perfect attendance through fifth grade. Her school gave an award for that…which I thought was ridiculous. In sixth grade, she woke up one morning throwing up. She stayed home…and she CRIED for about two hours because it messed up her “perfect attendance”. Sorry, but I agree that sick kids do not belong in school. I think giving awards and making a big deal out of this encourages folks to send kids to school (or kids to come to school) when truthfully, they should not.</p>
<p>I’m not too keen on heralding perfect attendance. I’m sure there is the rare kid or two who for some unknown reason has a unbelievable immune system, but extolling perfect attendance is the wrong message/wrong story.</p>
<p>Musicals are the worst, for all the reasons you mention. This year, on the morning of the last perfomance, we all got an email saying that the male lead had been diagosed with Influenza B, but that the show might as well go on, because everyone had already been exposed! I guess the flu shots must have worked despite the rumors that they didn’t cover Influenza B because Son did not get sick.</p>
<p>I know for certain that the elem schools in our district have stopped recognizing perfect attendance. For some reason, the HS still does. (Of course, D says that if she ever is forced to attend the awards ceremony to be recognized for perfect attendance, she is going to skip school that day!)</p>
<p>Too funny. My boys would have the same attitude as your D! Our district used to do the “perfect attendance” recognition for years. My (teacher) mom managed to put a stop to it. She was sick and tired (no pun intended) if kids coughing in her face, falling asleep during class and assorted illness related symptoms. I think it’s really hard for some parents to rearrange their schedules to stay home with sick kids so they just send them to school. Fortunately, my kids had a local “grandma-type” sitter who kept a spare bedroom just for the sickies when her drop-off kids’ parents could not stay home with them. I remember when my kids were little and wisdom only a grandma-type has, she asked me if I wanted to “get the chickenpox over with” in the pre-vacination days. She had one with chickenpox so she let them all play on the floor together under a table she tented with a sheet…none of my kids caught it that year. I still chuckle about that. One did catch it the following year…at school…followed shortly by the other two.</p>
<p>Wow! This got more “looks” than I expected! My kids didn’t have perfect attendance, but it was quite unusual for them to miss school. They both have minor chronic illnesses ( i.e. reactive airways) , but "we’ were lucky, and they usually went to school with them ( I confess, parents not being able to stay home would have definitely been an issue.) I am more struck by the notion of playing “hooky” and mental health days, which my kid patients seem to take, but my kids don’t. </p>
<p>Count me among those who don’t think rewarding “perfect attendance” is a good idea. It’s an extremely rare kid who doesn’t contract SOME illness at least once in 13 years. And what does that say to the 99% of normal kids who do get sick - that they were less dedicated than the student who was lucky enough to avoid germs? No one volunteers to get the flu!</p>
<p>I think that commending a student for perfect attendance sends so many wrong messages… the point about being sick is certainly one, but it also seems so stupid for students to chase after this award when it doesn’t really mean anything.
Does perfect attendance mean that a kid is smart, or a leader, or talented in some way? no.
it means the kid is very disciplined and able to make him/herself miserable for no good reason</p>
<p>"The goal crept up on her. Her principal at Darnestown Elementary School, Larry Chep, gave out annual awards for perfect attendance. She won a couple, then found she “really liked being recognized for something.” "</p>
<ul>
<li>so basically she realized she couldn’t get any other better awards, so she might as well try for this since at least then she would be recognized for “something.”</li>
</ul>
<p>sorry, that was a little mean… but seriously this article did not belong on the front page of the Washington post. this girl is not that special</p>
I actually feel sad that this girl missed senior cut day.
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Senior Skip Day was one of the best days my son ever had at school… he insisted on going that day. He spent the whole day lounging around, socialized with his younger pals at lunch, and thoroughly enjoyed the peace, quiet, and relative calm of a day at school without his class. They’re, uh, not a very cohesive group. :rolleyes: So it’s possible that Kristen really enjoyed that day! :)</p>
<p>I used to be able to stay home occasionally for “mental health” days. My public school was pretty intense (nothing like these days of course) and there were days I just needed a break. My parents were fine with this. Perfect attendance wasn’t in the cards… (not to mention the days my friends and I would skip school and write absence notes for each other…)</p>
so basically she realized she couldn’t get any other better awards, so she might as well try for this since at least then she would be recognized for “something.”
…
sorry, that was a little mean
[/quote]
You have a point, though. “Perfect attendance” on a resume or recommendation letter does have a reputation as the award for “showing up… and nothing else.”</p>