The Orthodontist is Open After Three

I have been a schoolteacher now since 1995. I have spent my time teaching middle school and a little high school. What never ceases to amaze me is the casual way parents, who are paying for private education, take the responsibility that their children have to be at school. No, do not get me wrong, I want it noted that there are many families who hold school sacred, right below church, and to them I tip my hat. But, there are an increasing number of parents who are passing the bad habit of making attendance a low priority on to their children.
I am constantly asking students if they know that the orthodontist is open after three. I went through the entire brace routine when I was I high school and yet I did not miss a bit of school to do so. O.K. so it may be harder to get an appointment, but what about other activities or events? I have students in my classes who are consistently missing school days for other activities. I fully support these other areas of these students' lives, but to place them above an education is skewed. These events or activities should not infringe on the preciousness of education. Seriously, students will have the rest of their lives to do most of these activities. School is a student’s career and should be treated thus.
Finally, families that go on trips during the school year, what is that all about? We are required to be in school 180 days each year, leaving 185 days for trips. I had a family go to Disneyland the first week of school this year. You might as well wait and come back next year if you miss the important bulk of training that takes place the first week of school. I had one family that would go on a cruise every year during school days. The student missed 7 school days on the cruise and later in the year got very sick and missed more than the allotted days. When the child was assigned Saturday School, to make up for the excessive absences, the family cried foul and whined that it was not their fault. My administrator simply told them that he understood the illness, but it would not have been a problem if they had not made the decision to go on the cruise earlier in the year. The boy did Saturday School.
Education is key. Maybe it is just because I am a teacher that I am so passionate about this, but really. Are we preparing our youth for the real world?