Truancy (Chronic Absenteeism)

By Joe Slater     You aren’t supposed to call it truancy anymore. It’s “chronic absenteeism.” Most schools don’t have truant officers anymore. Now they’re “Professional Student Advocates.” The new title supposedly helps parents to be less defensive when approached about their children’s non-attendance at classes. I feel better already!     I read that in Connecticut a student who misses 18 or more days out of 180 (ten percent or more) is considered chronically absent. Hmmm. What if we used that kind of standard for church attendance?     A typical year has 52 Sundays. How many of us miss fewer than five of them? I shouldn’t have to re-state the obvious, but to prevent any hurt feelings let me make it clear: this has nothing to do with absences due to health or other legitimate reasons.     Absence by choice has been problematic for as long as I can remember and has only grown worse post-pandemic. In far too many cases absenteeism far exceeds ten percent, and that’s if we count only the Sunday morning assembly. Add the Sunday evening service and Bible classes (as we should) and the picture is even more dismal.     “Professional student advocates” are focusing less on enforcement and more on determining why children are skipping school and then remedying the issues. I can only imagine the reasons they’re hearing: Johnny doesn’t like his teacher; Susie doesn’t enjoy Biology; the cafeteria doesn’t serve what my children like. Truth be told, they probably don’t understand the importance of education. Maybe their parents don’t either.     Why are some Christians chronically absent? I’ve heard a freight car load of excuses with abundant finger-pointing and blaming. But the bottom line remains the same: failure (or refusal) to see the importance of it. What about you?

- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com