This is why mandatory class attendance needs to go

Sometimes you’re sick, sometimes you’re tired, and sometimes you just need a mental health day. Missing classes as a college student has become such a burden no matter what your reason for being absent. Instead of being able to take the day off—for whatever reason one sees fit—students often find themselves stressing out about how many more absences they can have before their grades suffer or they fail all together. Here’s why mandatory attendance in college needs to go.

The standards aren’t realistic

Most professors give each student about three unexcused absences per semester and an undetermined, but still reasonable, amount of excused absences for health reasons, family issues, and whatever else they consider excusable. If a student is taking a class twice a week for roughly 15 weeks their class meets a total of about 30 times throughout the semester. If this student misses 3 classes they miss 10% of the lecture material the professor has taught during the semester. It seems like a lot when turned into a statistic, but how can a professor measure whether or not missing class affects the way a student performs? They can’t.

Some students can miss class regularly and still perform well—maybe they won’t receive an A, but they can still pass when it’s all said and done. Other students can miss one class and spend the entire semester trying to catch up. When it comes to attendance affecting grades, it’s a case by case basis. It’s common sense that the more class time a student misses the greater the chances are that they will struggle, because sometimes reading over a textbook can’t cover lecture discussions. High school teachers and professors often say they treat students like adults, but there is an underlying message that they don’t trust their judgement.

It puts a lot of pressure on students and professors

Most students take about 12 credits hours, or 4 classes, per semester, work part or full-time jobs, study outside of class, and still find time to try to maintain a social life. Being a student might as well be a full-time job—and it isn’t easy. A lot of professors would argue that no student has to do all of these things, but in 2016 they do. This isn’t the 1970’s where someone could work part-time to put themselves through school. Plenty of students are responsible for paying off their school bills on their own, or at least chipping in to help their parents afford it.

Take the 1o hours or so a student spends in class per week, add in 15-30 hours of work, and then top it all off with study time—the expectations are outrageous. Looking at the numbers it’s easier to understand why so many students become chronically stressed, depressed, and overwhelmed during their academic careers. Students who feel this way should in theory be able to take a day off every now and then to relieve some stress. Students and their families are paying for the classes they choose to take, so it’s only fair that students have some more freedom when it comes to attending class.

Mental and physical strain as well as declining grades

On a campus of over 60,000 students packed into tight living quarters and sharing the same classrooms it’s inevitable that students become sick in waves. Some days it’s as easy as taking some cold medicine and pushing through a few classes, but other days it feels like death is knocking on your door and you can’t leave the bed. It’s no secret that college students are not made of money—and they don’t have the resources to go to the doctor every time they get a cold. That doesn’t mean their excuse for missing a class isn’t valid because they don’t have a note from a doctor.

last time studying made you cry?

What tends to happen when students go to class sick or force themselves to go to class when they are overwhelmed is that they see their grades drop. Too often poor grades are associated with a professor’s ability to teach, which is unfair to professors. A professor can be an outstanding educator, and still there will be students who fail their class.  The effect this has on some professors has caused them to take student absences personally—who wouldn’t be offended if they were being judged based on someone else’s ability to learn material? Not only does academic performance suffer, but this attendance system sends a message to students that their grades are more important than their well-being.

How does that saying go? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Is it reasonable to hold students, at such an important and always changing time in their lives, to overly high expectations?

Professors need to understand that we just sometimes need a personal day and not hold it against us.  After all, we don’t hold it against them when they cancel class for the same reason.