The reason this mom won't let her son accept a perfect-attendance award (1 Viewer)

[NotSmart]

When I saw the title of this article, I was fully expecting to see some     or     or selfish look-at-me reasons why this mom was doing this.

I mean, why wouldn't a mom be proud of her kid getting a perfect attendance award?

But after reading the article, I now fully agree with her.

She gave me a new way of looking at this issue - and for something I never even thought was an "issue" before reading this.

Sometimes, all of the sudden, you see something from a different angle.  

I bolded the key points that resonated with me.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/reason-mom-wont-let-her-son-accept-perfect-194505385--abc-news-topstories.html

A U.K. author and mom of three is making waves with a recent parenting decision: Rachel Wright won't allow 10-year-old son JJ to accept a perfect-attendance award from school.

It may seem cruel on the surface but Wright believes she has good reason.

In a blog post that has now been viewed millions of times, she outlines the four reasons JJ won't be accepting the award. They vary, ranging from it actually being Wright's responsibility to get JJ to school each day, not his; to not rewarding "luck.” In other words, JJ is a healthy kid. He's lucky. Many are not.

Which highlights Wright's most important point about perfect-attendance awards. From her blog:

"In this family you are not shamed for ill health, vulnerability or weakness. In this house you are not encouraged to spread germs when you are not well. In this house we look after ourselves and the weakest amongst us.

Can you imagine a work place that at the end of each week marked out all the people who hadn’t been sick? Where all the departments with the least number of people off were rewarded – in front of everyone else? It happens in schools all the time.

Can you imagine what kind of atmosphere that would create with people who had days off because of bereavement, mental health problem or chronic conditions?

What on earth are we teaching our kids about value and worth? What are we teaching them about looking out for each other and looking after the sick or disabled in our community?"

Author of the book “The Skies I'm Under,” Wright has two other children. Her son Sam, 11, has cerebral palsy.

"My post was written as a way of communicating our values and thoughts explaining a little of our story and why we think the way we do," Wright told ABC News. "I was trying to spark a conversation about what 100 percent attendance teaches our children about health, values and those who suffer long term conditions."

She declined to identify the school but harbors no ill will toward administrators or their policy, explaining that it’s just not right for her family.

For perspective, a number of New York school districts, including the Greater Johnstown School District, for instance, reportedly have done away with annual perfect-attendance awards over the years out of fear that they encourage sick students to come to school where they might infect others.

JJ, she said, was not surprised about his not being able to accept the prize for perfect attendance, which is free admission to an indoor park. "When he was sent the letter saying he was eligible to go, we made plans for an alternative event that was equitable and recognized his hard work through the year rather than his avoidance of getting sick," Wright told ABC News.

While feedback has been generally supportive, Wright said there are some who think she's "making a fuss. I would argue that the decision I made was very simple and not making a fuss at all. JJ simply didn’t go to an event. What made this personal decision seem like a ‘big fuss’ was the fact that because it resonated with so many people."

 

[ChiefD]

People are weird.

 

[AAABatteries]

I get her point but the perfect attendance award is for not missing any days - if he didn't miss any days he should accept it.  She can make her point either way.

 

[Ilov80s]

She makes a good point. Nice article. I do see why schools do want to emphasize the importance of attendance reward people for good attendance. My school has so many students with attendance problems. Kids missing 30-40-50 and more days a year is probably like 8% of our students. It sucks.

 

[parasaurolophus]

I get her point but the perfect attendance award is for not missing any days - if he didn't miss any days he should accept it.  She can make her point either way.

There is no way that perfect attendance is just luck. Her point is dumb. 

Should kids stop guessing on multiple choice tests when they come across a question they dont know? Should unintended bank shots get taken off of the score? 

 

[AAABatteries]

There is no way that perfect attendance is just luck. Her point is dumb. 

Should kids stop guessing on multiple choice tests when they come across a question they dont know? Should unintended bank shots get taken off of the score? 

I think there's a element of luck in health - good genes, not having siblings that get you sick, just random #### - also, I think her better point is that we shouldn't encourage people that are actually sick to go to work/school.

 

[NotSmart]

There is no way that perfect attendance is just luck. Her point is dumb. 

Should kids stop guessing on multiple choice tests when they come across a question they dont know? Should unintended bank shots get taken off of the score? 

For kids in particular, there is a lot of luck in whether they have good health or not.

They have to be fortunate enough to have parents that are aware of the importance of proper nutrition for their kids, or even care about it.

And fortunate enough to have parents that can afford to buy nutritious food, or afford good healthcare for their families.

 

[parasaurolophus]

For kids in particular, there is a lot of luck in whether they have good health or not.

They have to be fortunate enough to have parents that are aware of the importance of proper nutrition for their kids, or even care about it.

And fortunate enough to have parents that can afford to buy nutritious food, or afford good healthcare for their families.

I didnt say there wasnt any luck. I said there is no way perfect attendance is just luck. 

Her point is really no different than the parents that dont want us to keep score. All those same things can basically be said about sports. Good genes, nutrition, parents driving, parents caring, good coach, etc.

 

[Courtjester]

I get her point, but it seems more to feed into the participation ribbon mentality l than anything else. We don't want anyone to get their feelings hurt ever  

Sure being healthy contributes immensely to not getting sick, but that in and of itself is no guarantee of not coming down or developing something. 

It is like my wife (who is rarely sick) but when she does get something, she tries to figure out "how" she got sick. It drives me insane. Guess what, Honey, it could have been the guy standing next to you in line had something and you got it from him. Or the guy preparing your salad today had a touch of something and now you have it or a person sneezed and then touched a doorknob and that you just touched. There are very few certainties in life and just living a healthy lifestyle helps, but in way guarantees you won't catch something. 

It is a great idea people should stay home if they are sick, but tell that to an hourly employee living check to check. 

The kid should take his award and move on. I just seriously doubt there are parents or children out there so obsessed with getting a preprinted certificate that they force themselves to come to school with the flu.   or in laughable alternative that some kid out there feels depressed because he didn't get an award. 

 

[GroveDiesel]

Her best point, by far, is that it encourages kids to go to school when they're sick and get other kids sick. 

The company I work for actually hands out perfect attendance awards with a $200 gift card for having zero sick days. The division that sits next to my division constantly has people hacking, sneezing and all sorts of disgusting stuff because they come in sick and continually infect each other. They eventually all end up missing time because someone was too important/selfish to stay home.

 

[toshiba]

I hate them because it encourages kids to come to school sick and infect others.

 

[Jayrod]

There is a lot more luck (good and bad) to life than we like to admit.  Genetics, environment, your family, natural disasters, disease, the actions of others, etc....all of these things are completely out of our control and yet affect a great deal of our lives.

Personally, I know I'm extremely lucky.  I'm 6'2", was a good athlete, am not unattractive and have a high enough IQ that school was easy.  I also had good parents, a very supportive family in general and went to a good public school.  I had no say in any of those things.  Heck, just being born in the USA is a leg up on like 80% of the world's population.  Then throw in that I'm white and middle class and extremely healthy, and I'm probably in the top 1% of the world as far as luck goes.

I'm not feeling guilty, I'm just saying I understand this mom's point.  Her son didn't do anything special other than not fake that he was sick (and she seems sharp enough to not allow that).  Basically, she made him go to school every day that he was healthy and he never got sick.  It's worthy of celebration, but not recognition.  Recognition is for achievements.  We get awards for doing things well, but we celebrate things like birthdays...which just requires being alive.

 

[Ilov80s]

I get her point, but it seems more to feed into the participation ribbon mentality l than anything else. We don't want anyone to get their feelings hurt ever  

I didnt say there wasnt any luck. I said there is no way perfect attendance is just luck. 

Her point is really no different than the parents that dont want us to keep score

I actually think it's the total opposite. Kids are supposed to come to school everyday. Why are we giving kids awards for showing up to school? That is the definition of a participation trophy. 

 

[dutch]

Yeah, my brother was always getting perfect attendance awards to the point that he never missed one single day throughout his high school career even on days when he was really sick.  Point of pride for him.  He got some award for it when he graduated.  And in the intervening decades turns out that "honor" he received when he graduated High School means exactly jack crap to his life today.  It's nice to know he probably infected dozens of his fellow students  just so he could keep his perfect attendance though.  Yeah him, I guess.

 

[AAABatteries]

Her point is really no different than the parents that dont want us to keep score. All those same things can basically be said about sports. Good genes, nutrition, parents driving, parents caring, good coach, etc.

Maybe if her kid was one of the kids who missed but she was advocating that they still get the award - I think you're off base on this one.

 

[El Floppo]

NYC public schools use absences as part of their admissions criteria (for middle and high school). so people are forced to send their kids to school sick- just so it doesn't mess up their chance at getting into their preferred schools later on.

completely idiotic.

and I agree with most of what the woman is saying. kids get sick- they should stay home... not win prizes for showing up and spreading their illness. getting sick is a random, luck of the draw kind of thing... seems stupid to give awards because the kid somehow avoids it. kids have other things come up (deaths, travel opportunities, etc). 

 

[El Floppo]

Her point is really no different than the parents that dont want us to keep score. All those same things can basically be said about sports. Good genes, nutrition, parents driving, parents caring, good coach, etc.

Maybe if her kid was one of the kids who missed but she was advocating that they still get the award - I think you're off base on this one.

misplaced analogy, in this case.

 

[parasaurolophus]

NYC public schools use absences as part of their admissions criteria (for middle and high school). so people are forced to send their kids to school sick- just so it doesn't mess up their chance at getting into their preferred schools later on.

completely idiotic.

and I agree with most of what the woman is saying. kids get sick- they should stay home... not win prizes for showing up and spreading their illness. getting sick is a random, luck of the draw kind of thing... seems stupid to give awards because the kid somehow avoids it. kids have other things come up (deaths, travel opportunities, etc). 

This is completely false. 

1.. Do you think the fatty that sits in his room playing video games all weekend has the same likelihood as getting sick as the kid that runs around outside and plays basketball?

2. Do you think the kid that eats candy bars all the time instead of apples and yogurt has the same likelihood of getting sick?

3. Do you think kids have zero say on whether or not they miss school for certain activities? At what age do you think this changes?

4. Do you think kids that wash their hands often and dont have to play with every object that isnt nailed down have the same likelihood of getting sick?

If you guys really believe that any time a kid is contagious they should be kept at home, I would bet good money you are doing it wrong. Do you really keep your kid home for 6 days whenever they get a cold and two weeks when they get the flu? Do you take two weeks off of work?

I realize that a 6 year old doesnt have as much control over these things as a 16 year old, but they still have some control. I also realize there is a lot of luck, but there is a ton of luck in tons of things in this world. If you really want to try and dissect everything you could probably explain away everything. You only got that job because you got lucky your car didnt break down on the way to the interview. You only made that good stock trade because you got lucky you didnt get your internet cable cut. You only finished that marathon because it was below 75 degrees that day and wasnt windy. You are only physically fit because you didn't tear your acl in high school like I did.

 

[El Floppo]

This is completely false. 

1.. Do you think the fatty that sits in his room playing video games all weekend has the same likelihood as getting sick as the kid that runs around outside and plays basketball?

2. Do you think the kid that eats candy bars all the time instead of apples and yogurt has the same likelihood of getting sick?

3. Do you think kids have zero say on whether or not they miss school for certain activities? At what age do you think this changes?

4. Do you think kids that wash their hands often and dont have to play with every object that isnt nailed down have the same likelihood of getting sick?

If you guys really believe that any time a kid is contagious they should be kept at home, I would bet good money you are doing it wrong. Do you really keep your kid home for 6 days whenever they get a cold and two weeks when they get the flu? Do you take two weeks off of work?

I realize that a 6 year old doesnt have as much control over these things as a 16 year old, but they still have some control. I also realize there is a lot of luck, but there is a ton of luck in tons of things in this world. If you really want to try and dissect everything you could probably explain away everything. You only got that job because you got lucky your car didnt break down on the way to the interview. You only made that good stock trade because you got lucky you didnt get your internet cable cut. You only finished that marathon because it was below 75 degrees that day and wasnt windy. You are only physically fit because you didn't tear your acl in high school like I did.

Lol. Some dumb stuff in there. Kids get sick. You can't control this.

ETA... Meant to say completely control this.

 

[brun]

If you're not born with superior potential in academics or athletics or looks, or had parents who could afford to send you to sports camps or tutoring, and your one claim to fame is that you at least showed up every day, you shouldn't receive any recognition. You are less deserving because you haven't achieved in the same way that other students who hit the genetic lottery have achieved. Instead, you should probably feel shame. Because even though it was your parents decision to send you to school, you probably passed along a cold or flu a day or 2 before actually becoming symptomatic.

 

[matuski]

This is completely false. 

1.. Do you think the fatty that sits in his room playing video games all weekend has the same likelihood as getting sick as the kid that runs around outside and plays basketball?

2. Do you think the kid that eats candy bars all the time instead of apples and yogurt has the same likelihood of getting sick?

3. Do you think kids have zero say on whether or not they miss school for certain activities? At what age do you think this changes?

4. Do you think kids that wash their hands often and dont have to play with every object that isnt nailed down have the same likelihood of getting sick?

If you guys really believe that any time a kid is contagious they should be kept at home, I would bet good money you are doing it wrong. Do you really keep your kid home for 6 days whenever they get a cold and two weeks when they get the flu? Do you take two weeks off of work?

I realize that a 6 year old doesnt have as much control over these things as a 16 year old, but they still have some control. I also realize there is a lot of luck, but there is a ton of luck in tons of things in this world. If you really want to try and dissect everything you could probably explain away everything. You only got that job because you got lucky your car didnt break down on the way to the interview. You only made that good stock trade because you got lucky you didnt get your internet cable cut. You only finished that marathon because it was below 75 degrees that day and wasnt windy. You are only physically fit because you didn't tear your acl in high school like I did.

What in the hell is this gibberish?

 

[[scooter]]

On the last day of my senior year, we had an awards ceremony. One kid was given a Perfect Attendance Award for never missing a single day for all 4 years of high school.

He could not accept his award because he was absent that day.

 

[OrtonToOlsen]

Her best point, by far, is that it encourages kids to go to school when they're sick and get other kids sick. 

The company I work for actually hands out perfect attendance awards with a $200 gift card for having zero sick days. The division that sits next to my division constantly has people hacking, sneezing and all sorts of disgusting stuff because they come in sick and continually infect each other. They eventually all end up missing time because someone was too important/selfish to stay home.

I hate them because it encourages kids to come to school sick and infect others.

Amen.  I've told the story before but I had a kid come to school the last couple of days before Xmas break sounding like Doc Holiday.  She didn't want to screw up her perfect attendance.  I spent the week before Xmas on the couch sick as a dog.

Stupid kid.

 

[Brony]

On the last day of my senior year, we had an awards ceremony. One kid was given a Perfect Attendance Award for never missing a single day for all 4 years of high school.

He could not accept his award because he was absent that day.

It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

 

[parasaurolophus]

Lol. Some dumb stuff in there. Kids get sick. You can't control this.

ETA... Meant to say completely control this.

Of course you cant completely control it. You cant completely control anything. You stated before it was just random. Well there are studies that show that active kids get sick on average a lot less(like 25-50% less). I would say that is a decent degree of control. Washing your hands, not touching everything and putting your hands on your face, also have a huge impact on this. Why do you think pretty much every doctor on the planet advises this way? Why do you dismiss this?

Serious question, are you an anti-vaxer? 

Another serious question, do you teach your kids to cough in their elbow instead of their hands?

 

[El Floppo]

Of course you cant completely control it. You cant completely control anything. You stated before it was just random. Well there are studies that show that active kids get sick on average a lot less(like 25-50% less). I would say that is a decent degree of control. Washing your hands, not touching everything and putting your hands on your face, also have a huge impact on this. Why do you think pretty much every doctor on the planet advises this way? Why do you dismiss this?

Serious question, are you an anti-vaxer? 

Another serious question, do you teach your kids to cough in their elbow instead of their hands?

Dude. Kids get sick... Unless you're keeping them in a bubble, they get sick. You're on a weird rant here.

Would it make you happy if I was against vaccines? Ok. Knock yourself out. And I don't teach them how to be healthy in their lives through diet, personal hygiene or exercise. Which is clearly why they get sick. Not because they go to school with hundreds of filthy, bacteria infested other kids 

 

[parasaurolophus]

Dude. Kids get sick... Unless you're keeping them in a bubble, they get sick. You're on a weird rant here.

Would it make you happy if I was against vaccines? Ok. Knock yourself out. And I don't teach them how to be healthy in their lives through diet, personal hygiene or exercise. Which is clearly why they get sick. Not because they go to school with hundreds of filthy, bacteria infested other kids 

Seriously what is your problem? I have already acknowledged there are factors out of our control. Why cant you admit your original statement was incorrect and every doctor would agree that getting sick isnt always just some random lottery. 

 

[parasaurolophus]

Dude. Kids get sick... Unless you're keeping them in a bubble, they get sick. You're on a weird rant here.

Would it make you happy if I was against vaccines? Ok. Knock yourself out. And I don't teach them how to be healthy in their lives through diet, personal hygiene or exercise. Which is clearly why they get sick. Not because they go to school with hundreds of filthy, bacteria infested other kids 

And it wouldnt make me happy. It would make me sad that you have made terrible decisions for your kids. If you were anti vaccine and hygiene that is. 

 

[Politician Spock]

2. Do you think the kid that eats candy bars all the time instead of apples and yogurt has the same likelihood of getting sick?

Eating apples and yogurt all the time is a diet with ridiculously high sugar content. You might as well just eat candy bars all the time.  

 

[AAABatteries]

Seriously what is your problem? I have already acknowledged there are factors out of our control. Why cant you admit your original statement was incorrect and every doctor would agree that getting sick isnt always just some random lottery. 

Except you started out by putting words in the ladies mouth saying she thought it was just luck.

 

[El Floppo]

This is completely false. 

.

At the end of the day, this was my problem.

Kids get sick, regardless of hygiene, diet and exercise. There is an element of total randomness to it... Just like the lady said. I don't see not getting an award as a punishment, but I agree that the reward is based on this randomness and silly. Still 100% correct, in spite of any of your other posts.

Do kids with better diets, hygiene and exercise get less sick as you're claiming? Dunno. Not what I've seen based on my own- albeit limited-experience as one of those kids and a parent to two plus observer of our peers  but I'm happy to see you link a study or get some of our resident FFA pediatricians to prove that they do and change my mind. But won't disprove your original claim above.. that you've been banging the drum about. 

 

[Ilov80s]

Of course you cant completely control it. You cant completely control anything. You stated before it was just random. Well there are studies that show that active kids get sick on average a lot less(like 25-50% less). I would say that is a decent degree of control. Washing your hands, not touching everything and putting your hands on your face, also have a huge impact on this. Why do you think pretty much every doctor on the planet advises this way? Why do you dismiss this?

Serious question, are you an anti-vaxer? 

Another serious question, do you teach your kids to cough in their elbow instead of their hands?

In no way does that illustrate control. It could be those kids are more active because they are less sickly. Correlation/association and causation are not the same. 

 

[MattFancy]

Perfect attendance is weird thing to celebrate. Nothing wrong with missing a couple of days of school. Hell, we all can't wait to use vacation days at work.

 

[AAABatteries]

Perfect attendance is weird thing to celebrate. Nothing wrong with missing a couple of days of school. Hell, we all can't wait to use vacation days at work.

I'm definitely stereotyping here (and could be way off base too) but it always seems like the parents of the kid who gets perfect attendance are more excited than the kid.  I do think it's admirable for a kid to both want to be at school and to then actual do it, assuming he's not sick.  There's an element of truth to "showing up is a big part of life" - so I'm ok with there being an award for it.  What is kind of crazy to me is what I see schools doing now - there's 3-4 levels of attendance awards.  Missing a hand full of days and having several tardies will still get you an award - I don't know if that sends the right message or not. 

 

[MattFancy]

I'm definitely stereotyping here (and could be way off base too) but it always seems like the parents of the kid who gets perfect attendance are more excited than the kid.  I do think it's admirable for a kid to both want to be at school and to then actual do it, assuming he's not sick.  There's an element of truth to "showing up is a big part of life" - so I'm ok with there being an award for it.  What is kind of crazy to me is what I see schools doing now - there's 3-4 levels of attendance awards.  Missing a hand full of days and having several tardies will still get you an award - I don't know if that sends the right message or not. 

Yeah I don't get how missing some days and still getting "perfect" attendance would work.

 

[AAABatteries]

Yeah I don't get how missing some days and still getting "perfect" attendance would work.

At my kids school they dropped the perfect attendance part and now it's Platinum (no missed days or tardies), Gold, Silver, Bronze or something along those lines.  It was actually funny IMO as the lower levels are such low bars that probably 75% of kids got some level of the award.  That does start putting it in the participation award category, which does very little good IMO.

 

[El Floppo]

At my kids school they dropped the perfect attendance part and now it's Platinum (no missed days or tardies), Gold, Silver, Bronze or something along those lines.  It was actually funny IMO as the lower levels are such low bars that probably 75% of kids got some level of the award.  That does start putting it in the participation award category, which does very little good IMO.

all of this stuff reminds me of the one of the FFAers going to a HS graduation and seeing almost a third of the graduates called "valedictorian".

fwiw- my kids' school has a special lunch with the principal (who all the kids love) if you have perfect attendance. no inbetweens or qualifiers.

 

[Ilov80s]

At my kids school they dropped the perfect attendance part and now it's Platinum (no missed days or tardies), Gold, Silver, Bronze or something along those lines.  It was actually funny IMO as the lower levels are such low bars that probably 75% of kids got some level of the award.  That does start putting it in the participation award category, which does very little good IMO.

75% might be extreme, but it's no different than having Honor Roll, Silver Honor Roll, Gold Honor Roll or 3rd Team All American, 2nd Team All American,etc.  We give out awards or ratings based on varying degrees of quality all the time. For some reason when those honors/ratings are going to kids, people get worked up about it.

 

[Brony]

At my kids school they dropped the perfect attendance part and now it's Platinum (no missed days or tardies), Gold, Silver, Bronze or something along those lines.  It was actually funny IMO as the lower levels are such low bars that probably 75% of kids got some level of the award.  That does start putting it in the participation award category, which does very little good IMO.

yeah that seems pretty stupid.  I see nothing wrong with an 'attaboy' for perfect attendance as a symbolic thank you for showing up on days that you probably didn't feel like it.  We should encourage consistent attendance, but it shouldn't be the golden ring.  For the most part, I think it's acknowledged properly in the schools I've seen. 

 

[bigbottom]

On the last day of my senior year, we had an awards ceremony. One kid was given a Perfect Attendance Award for never missing a single day for all 4 years of high school.

He could not accept his award because he was absent that day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o_-GGDNIVg

 

[glock]

I've worked for a LARGE multi-national company for more years that I would like to admit. Years ago we had an attendance policy that was known as "Income Protection"- which actually amounted to unlimited sick time. To keep that from getting out of hand, attendance was tied into a multi-categorized review process that rewarded employees with percentage driven profit sharing. You could use your sick days as needed, but if you dipped below given percentages on a sliding scale over a rolling calendar period, your profit sharing took a hit. It was actually a great system until middle management got caught gaming the system for some employees, essentially falsifying in the review process.

At that time the company came out and said that it was going to do something new. It claimed it was listening to employee feedback that told them that those with perfect attendance weren't being rewarded adequately and should be. Attendance's role in the review process was minimized- at the same time that profit sharing was going the way of the dinosaur, anyway- and a new system was put in play.

Each employee was to start the fiscal year with 5 sick days. Should one use all 5 before the end of the fiscal year, any ensuing sick days were unpaid. At the end of the fiscal year, any employees who had perfect attendance for that year were to be rewarded with a bonus 5 days pay. ( dumped into one pay period and taxed accordingly! ) Now- in essence- every time someone called in sick, they were in effect taking a days pay out of that nice check waiting at the end of the year.

So, sick employees now find themselves sitting at the end of the bed in the morning weighing whether or not they wanted to lose a day's pay by not going in. And they come to work when they shouldn't, turning the workplace into a veritable incubator.

Perfect attendance? Bah humbug!

 

[matuski]

Seriously what is your problem? I have already acknowledged there are factors out of our control. Why cant you admit your original statement was incorrect and every doctor would agree that getting sick isnt always just some random lottery. 

You are acknowledging luck and denying it at the same time.

This is some odd schtick here.

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

While perfect attendance is a somewhat interesting subject on a macro level, color me completely unimpressed by the lady's blogging or whatever "look at me" methods she used to "raise the issue", a first-world mommy blogging issue at best and clearly a (not so) humble brag. I guess I'm sorry that my first reaction was "good for you lady", but it was.

 

[dutch]

While perfect attendance is a somewhat interesting subject on a macro level, color me completely unimpressed by the lady's blogging or whatever "look at me" methods she used to "raise the issue", a first-world mommy blogging issue at best and clearly a (not so) humble brag. I guess I'm sorry that my first reaction was "good for you lady", but it was.

Got us talking about it.

 

[Gally]

I would venture a guess that schools (public) want to celebrate and reward perfect attendance because they get paid money per kid attending school and miss out when kids miss school.  So if they can find a cheap way to push kids to never miss it helps in their budgets because they get more supplemental money. 

Being exposed to germs as you are growing up is a good thing in moderation.  It helps your body build up immunities on their own so you don't get sick as much.  There are many kids I see now that are sick all the time and many of them were in homes where they bathed in hand sanitizer and their parents wouldn't let anybody touch their babies unless you lathered up in the hand sanitizer.  It never gave them an opportunity to let their natural defenses fight germs and the older you get the worse it can be when you get sick. 

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

Got us talking about it.

The subject itself is interesting for discussion, but I just couldn't help first reaction to the specific lady was  . I think both can be true.

 

[EYLive]

It's quite common for Asian parents to send their sick kids to school. Not for an award but for academic achievement, high standards, tiger-mom type reasons.

 

[Tom Servo]

Her best point, by far, is that it encourages kids to go to school when they're sick and get other kids sick. 

The company I work for actually hands out perfect attendance awards with a $200 gift card for having zero sick days. The division that sits next to my division constantly has people hacking, sneezing and all sorts of disgusting stuff because they come in sick and continually infect each other. They eventually all end up missing time because someone was too important/selfish to stay home.

My company just did away with sick time and gave everyone an extra week of PTO.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

The whole perfect attendance thing is ridiculous on a number of levels.

Miss one day and you may as well miss 50.

My youngest daughter was embarrassed beyond belief to have to collect one for not missing a day, halfway through the school year. Only 3 kids in her year were eligible and the other 2 were "nerdy asians" (my daughter has many asian friends btw). The vast majority of children missed at least one day for all kinds of reasons - medical appointments, family reasons, not wanting to participate in a sports carnival, swimming carnival or leadership camp, heck some even had a day off because they were actually sick. Teachers often are on "vacation" before end of term breaks and some parents think there is no point in sending their kids to school, when the school isnt interested in educating their child, especially in the lead up to the summer break. 

Bottom line is that my daughter begged to have a day off so she wouldnt be eligible for the next one. She has missed one day in 9 years of school and that was because of a concussion that occured after a dodgeball game at school went wrong. 

I would only consider a perfect attendance award if they hadnt missed a day of school ever, but how embarrasing is it if other people are getting awards for genuine achievements and some poor kid gets an attendance award?