Meaning of Absenteeism

The idea of absenteeism refers to the absence of a person to a place where they must fulfill an obligation or perform a function. School, for its part, is that linked to the school (an educational center dedicated to primary and / or secondary education).

From these concepts we can advance in the truancy. The notion refers to the recurrent absences of a student from his school. This means that the phenomenon of school absenteeism refers to the non-attendance of students to the classes they must take according to their course.

There is a type of school absenteeism that is justified: if a child contracts a disease, he cannot attend school as he needs to rest and undergo medical treatment. Also, if you go to the educational center, you could infect your classmates. In these cases, the absenteeism is temporary and the student is expected to return to class upon recovery.

Other causes of school absenteeism, on the other hand, are due to economic and social problems and cause the student to finally drop out of school. If a young person does not have the money to travel to school or to purchase study materials, they will likely end up neglecting their education. By not finishing school, this person will have serious problems entering the labor market or accessing well-paid jobs. For these reasons, minimizing school reduction is one of the authorities’ objectives. The delivery of scholarships and financial aid is a common mechanism to combat school dropouts.

Outside of physical disorders and financial problems, there are certain causes of truancy related to the emotional plane of the person. The different stages of school-based education can present challenges that not all students are prepared to overcome, and the inability to adapt to the environment often leads to the decision to absent from classes.

When an individual feels that he does not find his own space, that there is no place reserved for him in the group of students assigned to him, various behaviors may arise in response to such a lack of belonging: one possibility is to assume the suffering that it entails submitting to an unpleasant and forced experience, which does not allow you to develop with the same freedom that others enjoy; on the other hand, it is common for them to opt for truancy as a defense mechanism.

While for many, absenteeism for emotional reasons may seem like a lack of will, the student who decides to miss school to avoid the anguish generated by the experience does not feel the same, but rather protects himself from the damage that this area causes him in who considers that he cannot breathe. It is a short-term solution, which has serious consequences as soon as the institution’s authorities begin to take action and communicate the situation to the family.

One of the most immediate consequences of truancy is the backlog of work and exams, which begin to form an overwhelming mountain. If it was already difficult for the student to face the day to day at a normal pace, feeling that the next time he shows up at school he will have to turn in a considerable volume of homework and pass several late exams only makes things worse.

On the other hand are students who aspire to the award for perfect attendance, which they can only get if they are not absent even once throughout the entire period. As in the previous case, this can also reflect emotional problems, although they are channeled in the opposite way.

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