SCHOOL ABSENCES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON KIDS: WHAT PARENTS NEED TO KNOW.

INTRODUCTION

Parents want the best for their child’s education. But sometimes, life just gets in the way—whether it’s a cold, a family emergency, or other circumstances, school absences can happen. While sometimes unavoidable, frequent or prolonged time away from school could seriously affect the child’s academic success, social development, and emotional well-being.

Here’s what you should know about how school absences affect children and tips for managing them.

EFFECTS OF SCHOOL ABSENCES

These include the following:

Challenges in Academics

Children lose critical lessons, class discussions, and hands-on activities, making it hard for them to recover at home. The more time kids miss school, the more likely they are to fall behind in reading, math, and science classes. Research has shown that frequent absences during elementary school lead to long-term learning gaps that become increasingly impossible to make up by their older years.

Teachers also wish to administer makeup work, but it is not the same. Being present and not engaging or participating in lessons does not replace being in school. Gradually, this academic delay impacts the child’s confidence in their abilities. Frustration eventually finds its way in, and they tend to disengage themselves from any form of learning.

Social Isolation

School is not merely about learning—it’s also about social development, making friends, and learning how to get along with other people. When a child doesn’t attend school often, he misses bonding moments. Ultimately, it may provide a child with that loneliness and isolation feeling. When returning to class, reconnecting with classmates could be challenging for them, affecting their self-esteem and social development.

Emotional Impacts

Recurrent absences have emotional impacts. These children are often left behind, thus creating more tension and anxiety. Their anxieties could now be compounded by apprehensions about catching up with missed work or trying to fit back into social circles upon their return.

In other cases, long-term illness or family problems may sometimes be compounded by emotional stress in school absenteeism.

PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF SCHOOL ABSENCES

– As a parent, have a daily morning routine for school days so your child knows what to expect.

– Ensure your child has a healthy diet, exercises, and sleeps daily.

– if your child has any chronic illness like asthma, ensure that the school nurse has their action plan and medications on hand to use as directed.

– Long family trips should not be planned during the school year.

– If possible, avoid scheduling multiple doctor appointments that result in your child missing many lessons. Discuss with your child’s doctors and medical team how to set up as many appointments as possible during school breaks/holidays or how to schedule multiple appointments in one day.

– If your child keeps coming up with reasons why they do not want to go to school, sit down and discuss more with them to find out why this is so. Some kids may be bullied at school or have social anxiety, and these need to be addressed.

– Ensure your child is really sick before missing school.

– If your child has to miss school for ill health or other reasons, communicate with the school. Most schools have mechanisms to help students recover lost work. Keep the teachers updated and request resources that could help your child catch up at home.

– Many schools have added lesson plans or homework which can be used for this. If they feel up to it, engage them in educational games, books, or online learning tools.

– Teach your child the value of regular attendance, encouraging them to be there when they do not feel like it unless they are ill. Good habits about attendance come early, therefore, better success later in school can only be guaranteed this way.

In summary, absences adversely affect children’s development in terms of academics, socialization, and emotional growth, so never desist from taking active steps in managing their attendance while also maintaining active communication with the school in case some support is needed.

References:

1. SOE (2021). Why Is School Attendance Important? The Effects of Chronic Absenteeism. Retrieved from: https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/importance-of-school-attendance/

2. Claudia W Allen (2018). School Absenteeism in Children and Adolescents. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30525360/

3. Jascha Dräger (2024). The long-term consequences of early school absences for educational attainment and labor market outcomes. Retrieved from: https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/berj.3992