Perfect attendance award, yay or nay?

[Pigeon]

which could be said for just about any thing. Some kids are born with great IQ's isn't that also just dumb luck?

My dh worked almost 25 years without a sick day then boom, acute myeloid cancer. He got awards at 5, 10 and 15 years for perfect attendance.

So you would question what they are rewarding, do you also question the folks who have admitted to encouraging their kids to miss school "just because"? Why is this any less "dumb"?

You can be born with a high IQ, and while that might make getting good grades easier, you still have to do the work to get the grade. I've got a nephew with an off the charts high IQ who doesn't do particularly well in school because he doesn't like completing assignments and finds school sort of boring. So, there is still some effort on the child's part to get the grades.

Sports are the same. Some kids are naturally more athletic than others, but they still have to apply themselves, work out, go to practice. While their abilities might predispose them to be the track star, it's far from a given.

My daughter is a musician. She's got the gift for it, according to every teacher she's ever had. But still, she has to put in hours of practice. It's not like she can just pick up her violin and have instantly mastered difficult pieces.

In my house, if my kids aren't sick, they go to school, end of story. It's not up to them to decide, it's up to me. So, if they have perfect attendance, it's plain dumb luck they didn't happen to get sick. It doesn't require any particular effort on their parts.

If other people want to keep their kids home "just because," while I don't do it, that's up to them.

 

[Mkrop]

Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken, Jr. ... I believe that their "perfect attendance" was surely thought highly of. I have no problem seeing an award for someone who proves their reliability over time by consistently showing up for the job or school. I appreciate and admire that in those working for me.

There is a great Anthony Bourdain quote on this topic but I think it would be too colorful from memory.

Excellent point!

 

[ccgirl]

eta - I don't know how the thumbs down icon got on this post. I did not mean to put it there and I can't figure out how to remove it. Sorry.



Because it is so rare to never be sick, I truly don't believe that the perfect attendance award is going to encourage sick kids to go to school except in a very small percentage of cases. Heck, I remember friends dragging themselves to school sick because they didn't want to miss a soccer game or a test review. I don't remember any friends who refused to stay home because they coveted the perfect attendance award.
Awards do encourage and inspire accomplishment. The perfect attendance award encourages children to practice healthy habits like hand-washing and getting flu shots so they don't get sick. It encourages children to not skip school because they are having a bad hair day or because they want to sleep in late. Yes some of it is luck, but some of any achievement is luck.

There are also detriments to giving out any kind of award. Academic awards might encourage a student to cheat on a test. Athletic awards might encourage an athlete to injure himself. Competition for awards may result in hard feelings. Failure to win an award may cause self-esteem issues. This is the nature of awards.

Bolded mine. I agree. The no after school activities if you don't go to school encourages children to go to school sick more than the perfect attendance, IMHO.

Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken, Jr. ... I believe that their "perfect attendance" was surely thought highly of. I have no problem seeing an award for someone who proves their reliability over time by consistently showing up for the job or school. I appreciate and admire that in those working for me.

There is a great Anthony Bourdain quote on this topic but I think it would be too colorful from memory.

GREAT analogy!

 

[Shmily1]

DS22 made it all the way to 8th grade before missing a day, and only then because we got hit head on when I was carrying them to school so we spent the day in the hospital. He wasn't infecting people because he wasn't sick. After that, he missed one day sick. He was so looking forward to getting perfect attendance for his whole school career but missed it by two days.

 

[violetrose]

Doesn't bother me a bit. I think perfect attendance is something a child should be proud of. When he/she starts working, he/she will find out how valuable having a dependable employee who shows up for work everyday is.

 

[pigletgirl]

Good for those students and parents.

 

[ols386]

My son graduated tonight, finally. We have a Z name and there were seven hundred something kids. Yeah, do the math!
They gave an attendance award to two kids who hadn't missed a day of school in thirteen years. Again, do the math. How many days is that? All I could think of was how many kids they must have infected in their scholastic career? What are y'alls thoughts on this?

Do you know the two kids who received the awards? If not, then you don't know if they came to school sick or not.

I don't think the awards are necessary at all, but nothing wrong with giving them out.

 

[curious3069]

Eh, my niece won this award this year and she just wasn't ever sick. I really kind of doubt there are many kids who covet this award that much that they drag themselves to school sick....

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

As I mentioned earlier, I received an award for perfect attendance K-12. I and another girl were the only two to receive it in our graduating class. At the end of 8th grade, there were actually four of us who received an award for perfect attendance since kindergarten. It was me, the other girl mentioned, a third girl, and one guy. The guy got sick or something because he didn't receive it senior year. As for the third girl, she was going strong right up until junior year when she got pregnant. She managed to not miss school during the entire pregnancy, but naturally, her perfect attendance streak came to an end the day she went into labor.

 

[DopeyDame]

Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken, Jr. ... I believe that their "perfect attendance" was surely thought highly of. I have no problem seeing an award for someone who proves their reliability over time by consistently showing up for the job or school. I appreciate and admire that in those working for me.

There is a great Anthony Bourdain quote on this topic but I think it would be too colorful from memory.

It's funny that you brought that up. When Cal Ripken broke the record, I remember thinking "Huh. That really sucks for the backup shortstop. The coach doesn't seem to be doing a good job preparing for an injury to Cal." In theater, it's typical for an understudy to actually do a performance every now and then so she has the experience and is actually prepared to go on should there be the need. Now obviously in school there's no understudy or backup to be worried about, but perfect attendence still doesn't seem like something to be honored.
As for skipping school or mental health days - that's on the parents, and no school award is going to change that.

 

[WicketsMom]

I missed one week when I got chicken pox in second grade (from someone who came to school with it!) but that was the only day I missed sick during my entire school career. Did stay out a couple of days in high school for family trips though.

The purpose of the award is to discourage people from abusing the system and taking 'mental health' days. It's both a good and bad thing.

I also went 10 years at my company with perfect attendance before my son was born. They did give out an award there where you could get an extra day off or $100 cash. I was so glad when we switched from sick days (10/year) and vacation to a lump of 'PTO' that you use for both sick and vacation. It cut down on the people that were abusing sick time, and there were a lot of them that would be oddly 'sick' on the day after a holiday or weekend. Those of us that don't have to use the days for illness get to have more vacation days off now!

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

Nay!

it just encourages people to go in sick.

One mom I know used to brag about her kids having perfect attendance. Then one day her DD threw up all over the bus on the way to school - didn't even make the bus ride in!!!!

We err on the side of caution, I don't want to send DD anywhere when she is sick!!! I don't want her spreading it, if it can be helped. I especially don't want her getting sick on the bus or anywhere else.

 

[Aristocath]

While I don't think these are highly coveted awards, I think they are special and should be recognized. I think a lot of times in the game of life, just showing up means something.

 

[AmazingGrace]

Do you know the two kids who received the awards? If not, then you don't know if they came to school sick or not.

I don't think the awards are necessary at all, but nothing wrong with giving them out.

No, didn't know these kids, but ds has had classes with both on and off since middle school.
As far as mental health days go, I give my kids three days a school year, Spaced out. My oldest typically used his days to either work in school projects at home, or work his job at the church. I was hospitalized a couple of years ago, and he even stayed home and subbed for me that day. Both he and his brother used a day last year when their sister had arm surgery. Middle ds used maybe two this year and dd used one a few weeks ago. Lol! I guess my kids will never get the perfect attendance award.

 

[ccgirl]

I always tell my kids that I feel so sorry for the kids that win those awards. I tell them I will be very disappointed if they ever get one because that just means we didn't find anything fun to do all year My kids always miss several days each year for vacations, and a few random days for fun stuff that is way more crowded when school is out!

Bolded mine. Now, I would admit that I have pulled my children out for vacation. I would think it's because those other families found something fun to do on one of the many already scheduled breaks.

 

[CarolinaBlue]

My dd (21) received an award for perfect attendance when she graduated high school. 13 years of perfect attendance is something to be proud of. No, she did not go to school sick. She apparently had a good immune system. Yes, we did go on vacations, but we worked them around the school calendar. Even if she wasn't the one with perfect attendance, I would still feel the same way about recognizing students with perfect attendance. I don't understand why some people have a problem with it.

 

[Bob NC]

No one is advocating sending a kid to school sick but you definitely dont' have to denigrate the ones who do make this milestones.

How sad that good performance is denigrated but hey pull you kid out of school to take a vacation and Hey way to go!!

THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!

 

[Southernmiss]

While I don't think these are highly coveted awards, I think they are special and should be recognized. I think a lot of times in the game of life, just showing up means something.

At senior awards day this year (held separate from graduation), one of DSs best friends since kindy was recognized for perfect attendance this year. He was so embarassed to get the award and be singled out as the only senior not to miss or skip a day, but he was never sick and knew his parents would find out if he skipped.

I do think it's commendable to not miss a day, especially if you were not sick.

 

[disykat]

I still don't see how not being sick is award-worthy. Lots of kids (mine included) are at school every day they aren't sick. The only difference is that some kids don't get sick apparently.

Being fortunate enough to never get sick seems like it's own reward!

 

[luvsJack]

I still don't see how not being sick is award-worthy. Lots of kids (mine included) are at school every day they aren't sick. The only difference is that some kids don't get sick apparently.

Being fortunate enough to never get sick seems like it's own reward!

The award isn't for "never getting sick" its for never missing school. The two don't always go hand and hand.