Opinion
Opt out to decrease drop out
Since then this fine privilege has been evoked, reducing the level of incentives for students to do well in their classes or attend class regularly and on time.
The new tardy and attendance policies were set in place to try to train students and improve their overall performance. Instead these policies have forced teachers to punish their students by assigning detentions, in-school suspensions and calling parents.
As an alternative to such strict policies that waste the time of students, teachers and parents, the administration should bring back the privilege of opting out of two finals.
The conditions of this privilege are simple. Students can only choose two finals to opt out of. Students must have either an A or B in the class. And finally students must have no more than three tardies and two unexcused absences.
Schools across the country and even within the district are currently using this system or one that’s similar to this as an incentive for students to do well in their classes. The big shocker is that it actually works.
It doesn’t take a brainiac to realize that students respond better to incentives rather than punishments. Punishments take time and paperwork to carry out while incentives are quick and painless.
The substantial number of students in the school who don’t care about their education will benefit the greatest. They’ll finally see some reason to pay attention, be on time or come to class. They’ll also learn more by the end of the semester from trying to keep their grades up.
Not only would this easy incentive work wonders in the decline of tardies and absences, it would also increase student morale—a huge win for both the administration and students. Students might even start to show less hostility toward the ridiculous tardy policies.
If the administration is smart, it will allow this school to rejoin the thousands of schools across the country with this valuable privilege.
The Hoover Challenger voted 6-1 for this editorial