Key points:
- Societal challenges are contributing to students’ absenteeism
- Remaining in consistent communication with adults and caregivers can help reduce chronic absenteeism
- See related article: 5 ways video improves school-home communication
Adolescents are in crisis right now. Social media, pandemic isolation, gun violence, and structural racism have formed a perfect storm. It’s been so devastating to teens that the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Children’s Hospital Association together declared a national state of emergency in children’s mental health.
CDC data show 42 percent of teens feel “persistently sad or hopeless,” and 1 in 5 have seriously considered suicide. Just tally up the effects of the past few years. The number of anxious and depressed teens soared during and after the pandemic. The harmful impact of Instagram, particularly on adolescent girls, was all over the news. Recently, the Surgeon General issued a warning about social media, saying, “We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis.” While coming to school should be for learning and friendship, students are pausing to practice in case an active shooter bursts in, leading to a syndrome called vicarious traumatization.
It’s no surprise absenteeism is at an all-time high.
So, how do we get kids back in school?
There’s no quick fix for the societal challenges we’re facing, but there are steps we can take to address absenteeism.
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