Cutting class hurts students more than they think

In a perfect world, school would begin at 1 p.m., class work would be given out instead of homework, and school would only last for three hours. In the real world, however, school starts at 7:30 a.m., homework is given on top of class work and school lasts for seven hours.

With these energy-consuming requirements, many students have been considering and even engaging in alternatives that sound more appealing than school like cutting class, which is also known as ditching. Many students find that 35 hours a week of school can be a bit overwhelming, and sometimes cutting class is the best remedy.

“I start to feel my lack of sleep catching up to me around Wednesday,” an MC senior said. “I normally do it about five times a month, it really depends on my mood, like if I feel like I don’t need to be at school that day I just won’t go.”

Student’s reasons for ditching have been constantly expanding over the years from sleep deprivation, to catching up on homework. However the consequences of truancies can be a lot more severe than turning in a late paper or missing a couple hours of sleep.

According to the California Department of Education, Students who are found outside of school grounds during school time can be required to serve at least 20 to 40 hours of community service in a period of under 90 days, or they can pay a fine of up to 100$ for which a parent or guardian of the student can be liable for.

Although these penalties may be a strong argument for students to re-consider ditching, MC’s attendance officials also make the process of cutting class a more challenging procedure. They have figured out the pattern of students who have a tendency of being absent.

“First, they’ll have multiple truancies and low grades,” attendance accountant Shevaun Teegarden said. “And typically, it’s not lower classmen, just because they don’t know the ropes yet.”

Many students will attempt to call in sick, impersonating one of their parents. However the distinction between a 40-year old man’s voice and a 15-year old boy’s voice can sometimes create a big problem for the student’s attempt.

“They usually sound really nervous when they call and start stuttering, and sometimes they won’t even know how to spell the last name,” Teegarden said. “If there is any speculation that it is not the parents that are calling to clear the student, we’ll call back the parent at their work or their phone to make sure that they just called us.”

Regardless of these severe penalties, some students are still having a difficult time trying to juggle afternoon practices, four hours of homework, and only three hours of sleep. A few apparently don’t look at ditching as a form of rebelling, but as a way of trying to catch up with reality.

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