As the Lakeridge Class of 2026 enters their last semester of high school, their absence rate is continuing to rise. With more and more students turning 18 and gaining the ability to call themselves out of class, feeling secure in their college acceptances, and experiencing senioritis more than ever, many feel like it’s no longer worthwhile or necessary to attend some classes. Many students report this include health, electives and Civics.
In an attempt to combat this issue, the four Civics teachers, Ryan Inahara, Natalie Shevlin, Janelle Cinquini, and Chenne Fox all implemented new attendance policies in their majority senior Civics classes, trying to get people in their seats on time and ready to learn.
For Fox’s AP US Government and Politics class, another civics credit, students have two grace days. After that, they have to come in and have a conversation with another student or the teacher for the political discourse question that they missed. The attendance and participation is 10% of a student’s grade, and missing class and the makeup conversations will have a significant impact.
Each teacher is doing it a little bit differently, but all have the same goal.
“The objective is to get senior students talking to each other about civics topics, trying to prepare them for real life conversations,” said social studies teacher Ryan Inahara. And students cannot have these conversations when they aren’t in class or at school.
However, even though the teachers are trying to help their students develop skills that they’ll need in the future, there has been a lot of push back.
“I think having an attendance policy will not necessarily motivate them to come to class,” said senior Lindsey Lyons.
This is a sentiment shared by many of the seniors who are affected by this policy. However, if you are somebody with good attendance, you shouldn’t notice a difference.
“Initially there is going to be grumbling, and there is frustration. This is mostly from the kids who miss class and the ones who are here on time, it won’t affect them,” said Inahara.
Only time will tell how this policy actually shakes out, with teachers hoping that they will have present and engaged students who are prepared to enter the next phase of life with the skills they need for success. The students on the other hand are mostly hoping that teachers will soon forget about this policy and they can go back to coasting through Civics with an easy A.
