All-Star Proactive Or Reactive With School Missed For Cheer?

[XtremeWpg]

Missing a lot of days of school does not look good on college applications either - when you have too many missed days, a college may ask you why. Who knows how a college may veiw "I missed 3+ weeks worth of school for competition cheerleading"? I've also heard that employers looking to hire people right out of high school use school attendance records in their decision making - and high school transcripts are forever, who knows what type of job your child may want down the line where they ask to see high school transcripts and then he/she will have to explain it was for competition cheerleading (or they might not give you a chance to explain).

I would not risk my child's future in that way over cheer - especially when it's not necessary - if a gym really wanted to they could structure their comp choices and policies to limit missed school. Someone gave an example of a gym having a rule about being there Friday night - well, if the kids weren't due at the comp until later Saturday for warmups, that rule would be prioritizing cheer above school (and I'd probably look for a new gym the following year if a gym did that to my CP - and if my CP was in high school I probably wouldn't even follow the rule the current year).

Wait- attendance records are part of a transcript?

In high school we got a letter home after 5 unexcused absences, basically skipping class. Unlimited excused absences. In university, they didn't care if I was there or not so long as I wrote my exams and handed in my papers. Only labs were mandatory with attendance, and even then, we were allowed 2 missed a semester.

I've also never been asked for my HS transcript as an adult. Only had to provide it when I entered university. No one has asked me for a university one either.

Maybe Canadians don't care so much about you being there so long as you know things...

 

[cheernerd5678]

Wait- attendance records are part of a transcript?

In high school we got a letter home after 5 unexcused absences, basically skipping class. Unlimited excused absences. In university, they didn't care if I was there or not so long as I wrote my exams and handed in my papers. Only labs were mandatory with attendance, and even then, we were allowed 2 missed a semester.

I've also never been asked for my HS transcript as an adult. Only had to provide it when I entered university. No one has asked me for a university one either.

Maybe Canadians don't care so much about you being there so long as you know things...

I actually have my high school transcript right now and there's nothing about attendance. There's only grades, credits, GPA, and test scores. The only other thing is my name, grad date, birthday, id number, etc. I also don't think my district had a number of "allowed" absences as long as you pass your classes, but I don't miss much school so they could have one that they just don't let you know unless you're close to it?? Transcripts probably vary by district but mine definitely has nothing about absences.
I personally feel like if you take it upon yourself to know the material it shouldn't matter how many days you missed. I could've skipped every psychology class all year (minus tests) and still gotten an A and passed the AP test because we were teaching ourselves... So I would be beyond annoyed if someone tried to discipline me for missing that class "more than the allowed number of times".

 

[megsmom]

Missing a lot of days of school does not look good on college applications either - when you have too many missed days, a college may ask you why. Who knows how a college may veiw "I missed 3+ weeks worth of school for competition cheerleading"? I've also heard that employers looking to hire people right out of high school use school attendance records in their decision making - and high school transcripts are forever, who knows what type of job your child may want down the line where they ask to see high school transcripts and then he/she will have to explain it was for competition cheerleading (or they might not give you a chance to explain).

School counselor here- this is not exactly true. Colleges don't care how many days you miss- in fact, it isn't on the official transcript anymore in my state. All they look at is strength of schedule and grades off the transcript. Same for jobs.

 

[seein_starz]

Wow, living in Canada I find it so weird that every school district in the states has a set amount of days you can miss per semester. We don't have anything like that here. You get whatever grade you earn regardless of how many days of class you missed.

I'm moving to Canada. Last year I almost got dropped from most of my classes because I had 10 absences in a semester from my anxiety. Even though I had straight A's all year

 

[C*A-Shelby K]

I actually have my high school transcript right now and there's nothing about attendance. There's only grades, credits, GPA, and test scores. The only other thing is my name, grad date, birthday, id number, etc. I also don't think my district had a number of "allowed" absences as long as you pass your classes, but I don't miss much school so they could have one that they just don't let you know unless you're close to it?? Transcripts probably vary by district but mine definitely has nothing about absences.
I personally feel like if you take it upon yourself to know the material it shouldn't matter how many days you missed. I could've skipped every psychology class all year (minus tests) and still gotten an A and passed the AP test because we were teaching ourselves... So I would be beyond annoyed if someone tried to discipline me for missing that class "more than the allowed number of times".

My thought process exactly! I took advantage of every day I could have an excuse for missing! I would always plan appointments mid day so I wouldn't have to go at all and be excused, I would take every day off possible to get away with saying it was for traveling and not have the school question me, and a lot of times I would have my mom call me out of school at 12:30 so I wouldn't have to sit through my pointless last class of the day and have it not count against me whatsoever. It sucks that I had to do that because of all the rules about attendance. It blows my mind even more when some schools hold you accountable for unexcused absences because obviously there was a valid reason for missing! I understand if it was a free for all and there were no rules in place nobody would go and education would suffer, but honestly it should be up to the parent and student to decide that. If the parent sees grades slipping and doesn't do anything about it or the student decides to do the same then that's on them and good luck getting into college and being successful there. And to be completely honest I am sure 80% of colleges don't care about attendance (Dont quote me on that may be way off). They are looking at your grades and other things about you not whether or not you went to class in highschool. College is a completely different ball game. Its your choice to go to class or not and if you don't go you will sink! I had the worst attendance ever in highschool because it was too easy and I was bored sitting through my classes. In college its completely different I always go to classes and rarely ever miss. In the long run of education missing days of middle school and high school is not a big deal for most students. The way things in my school were set up at least was that you spent an entire week on material that could be taught in a day or two. If your a decent student and maybe even do some outside work/reading at home you could not pay attention for 3 days straight and be perfectly fine, again just my school every district is different so I could be way off base with this. I think I can also make the statement that most cheerleaders are very well rounded and are good in school and get good grades (Not true for all obviously but it has been a common observation over the years) I think it comes from our dedication and training that we are used to being good at things and striving to always be the best that many times that comes across in school. I know I am not a parent but sometimes you may need to think back to what it was like when you were in school... 1. Was it a big deal and how far behind were you in classes when you did. Also keep in mind how things have changed with how schooling works when thinking that. 2. If you were in a sport and got home late after a long weekend and had to wake up early and go to school and sit all day long would that be more detrimental to your learning? because face it you would probably be to busy trying to stay awake than focusing on what your doing. How do you feel at work the next day just picture sitting in a desk all day trying to be expected to learn. Try to think of these questions and try to relate more.


****Sorry this is so long and kind of all over the place but this is something that has bothered me for years and I get fired up about it just thinking about how mad this type of thing made me in highschool and to this day ****

 

[cheerKT]

My thought process exactly! I took advantage of every day I could have an excuse for missing! I would always plan appointments mid day so I wouldn't have to go at all and be excused, I would take every day off possible to get away with saying it was for traveling and not have the school question me, and a lot of times I would have my mom call me out of school at 12:30 so I wouldn't have to sit through my pointless last class of the day and have it not count against me whatsoever. It sucks that I had to do that because of all the rules about attendance. It blows my mind even more when some schools hold you accountable for unexcused absences because obviously there was a valid reason for missing! I understand if it was a free for all and there were no rules in place nobody would go and education would suffer, but honestly it should be up to the parent and student to decide that. If the parent sees grades slipping and doesn't do anything about it or the student decides to do the same then that's on them and good luck getting into college and being successful there. And to be completely honest I am sure 80% of colleges don't care about attendance (Dont quote me on that may be way off). They are looking at your grades and other things about you not whether or not you went to class in highschool. College is a completely different ball game. Its your choice to go to class or not and if you don't go you will sink! I had the worst attendance ever in highschool because it was too easy and I was bored sitting through my classes. In college its completely different I always go to classes and rarely ever miss. In the long run of education missing days of middle school and high school is not a big deal for most students. The way things in my school were set up at least was that you spent an entire week on material that could be taught in a day or two. If your a decent student and maybe even do some outside work/reading at home you could not pay attention for 3 days straight and be perfectly fine, again just my school every district is different so I could be way off base with this. I think I can also make the statement that most cheerleaders are very well rounded and are good in school and get good grades (Not true for all obviously but it has been a common observation over the years) I think it comes from our dedication and training that we are used to being good at things and striving to always be the best that many times that comes across in school. I know I am not a parent but sometimes you may need to think back to what it was like when you were in school... 1. Was it a big deal and how far behind were you in classes when you did. Also keep in mind how things have changed with how schooling works when thinking that. 2. If you were in a sport and got home late after a long weekend and had to wake up early and go to school and sit all day long would that be more detrimental to your learning? because face it you would probably be to busy trying to stay awake than focusing on what your doing. How do you feel at work the next day just picture sitting in a desk all day trying to be expected to learn. Try to think of these questions and try to relate more.


****Sorry this is so long and kind of all over the place but this is something that has bothered me for years and I get fired up about it just thinking about how mad this type of thing made me in highschool and to this day ****

I completely understand your sentiment on it. I was a good student in high school too but always got in trouble for going over (or close to over) my allowed absences. We really didn't have "excused" absences. Anything counted. Over 8 and you had to make it up time for time after school or on Saturdays in the last few weeks or in the first few weeks of summer. (and pay for it)

While it's silly to those of us who miss and can still stay on top of our work, that's not the case for some. I HATED (and still do) my high school's attendance policy, but I understand why it was there. Our district had some of the highest truancy rates in the state. There were students who's parents genuinely didn't care if they went or did well, let alone got in to college and made something of themselves. Attendance needed to be enforced with a blanket rule across the board. You can't bend it with a "yeah, she's missed 20 days, but her grades are still high!" situation. It may not be a big deal for us to fall a little behind with work because we could and would make it up. A lot of kids won't and don't.

In short, I agree with you. That you're not going to be very productive the day after a late night competition. But that's life. I'm not productive at work after a late night, but I have to go or I get fired. (unless I take PTO, which you could consider an excuse absence. Run out of PTO/excused absences and continue to not show up, you're outta there)

Basically to me, you can't put the full responsibility on the parent. Because, well, there are some sucky parents out there (none of which are here, of course ) And the kid shouldn't have to suffer because of that.

 

[Helen uk uni cheer]

When i was in year 13 (last year of high school but is optional school) one guy had severe chronic fatigue syndrome and my school
were not very supportive of his situation as he hardly ever attened but handed in all his work and got AAB because he did the work and did very well in the exams and went to a very good university

 

[omgitssydthekid]

In college, all of my professors take attendance. If you miss more than the allowed days per class you're dropped from the class/fail the class without any notice to you. This hasn't happened to me, but I've seen it happen to kids in my classes. Our universities policy is four misses per MWF class and three per Tuesday/Thursday class but classes are allowed to set stricter attendance policies. Most of my classes had a two miss (penalty free) policy or a zero excused absence policy. For the zero excused, you were deducted 10 participation points per time you missed and if you missed more than 4 you failed. I missed three total classes this past semester. Two for an allergic reaction, and one because my car wouldn't start.


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[Official OWECheer]

In college, all of my professors take attendance. If you miss more than the allowed days per class you're dropped from the class/fail the class without any notice to you. This hasn't happened to me, but I've seen it happen to kids in my classes. Our universities policy is four misses per MWF class and three per Tuesday/Thursday class but classes are allowed to set stricter attendance policies. Most of my classes had a two miss (penalty free) policy or a zero excused absence policy. For the zero excused, you were deducted 10 participation points per time you missed and if you missed more than 4 you failed. I missed three total classes this past semester. Two for an allergic reaction, and one because my car wouldn't start.


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That sucks.

 

[nicolee]

My school never really had a strict number of allowed absences, but managed it more on a case-to-case basis. Missing 7 days in a semester for 'a cold' was not good, but missing 7 days a semester for an important reason with parental permission (even some co-curriculars) was often okay. Although I would have to be on my deathbed before my parents would let me miss school.

My college, however? Not so forgiving... Getting below the required attendance requirement for the class is an automatic fail, no exceptions. Which I think is a necessary rule at the college level.

 

[omgitssydthekid]

That sucks.

I actually started crying when I called my dad because I didn't know what to do since it was my class that had zero excused absences. It seems silly now but it was a nightmare to me at the time. My fuel pump was stuck and my car started just fine the next day, but to avoid future issues my dad just had it replaced while I drive his car for a couple days. It ended up working out well, but I was just sad I had to give his car back lol.


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[cheeryjust]

My college (in England) (same as junior/senior year) has a policy that if your attendance drops below 90% then you can't progress onto the second year- unless you have medical notes to say why. By the end of this year my attendance was 71% (nothing to do with cheer as I don't have college on Mondays so it's alright) more to do with my bad health- and my tutors have been so lovely about it- when I knew I was going to be missing classes because of hospital visits they told me what work I had to do (even though we are a very independent studing course because we're an arts course) so that was kind... I actually love hearing about the difference between schools in America- I find the allowed attendance policy odd but then I suppose it's no different to mine?

 

[Jessicaa]

In college I had one class that dropped your grade one letter after 3 absences (Ballet), one where you could miss class but you were totally screwed (Math), one where he didn't take attendance however everything on tests was from the lessons.. I kinda love/hate that teachers are so individual.

 

[Carmen]

Wow, living in Canada I find it so weird that every school district in the states has a set amount of days you can miss per semester. We don't have anything like that here. You get whatever grade you earn regardless of how many days of class you missed.

That is not entirely true actually. Each province has their own number. For example, just a few months ago in some Ontario school districts (not sure if it's district wide or province wide) student attendance hours were bumped to 110 hours due to the high school strike that happened. Which means that if a student doesn't spend at least 110 hours in any give class they do not get the credit/grade because it's seen as though they were present long enough to have really learned anything.

 

[Cheerleading Is My Life]

That is not entirely true actually. Each province has their own number. For example, just a few months ago in some Ontario school districts (not sure if it's district wide or province wide) student attendance hours were bumped to 110 hours due to the high school strike that happened. Which means that if a student doesn't spend at least 110 hours in any give class they do not get the credit/grade because it's seen as though they were present long enough to have really learned anything.

I'm pretty sure 110 hours is the set amount of hours for each class in a semester... In order to achieve that you wouldn't be able to mis a single class.