Mandatory attendance needs to be left in the past, as it does not fit the realities of everyday life.
No one is immune to the unpredictable parts of life such as sickness, family emergencies, and mandatory attendance makes it so that students are punished if their lives do not go perfectly.
If you’re sick, you might want to just grab your tissues and head to your class, otherwise, you might fail a quiz. If your dog ate chocolate, you might want to hold off on the vet appointment, or else your grade will drop a whole letter for missing.
Especially with the cold months approaching, sickness will be on the rise. Let’s be real, nobody wants a classmate to sit next to them who is dripping snot, sniffling, and coughing. It takes more attention away from the class, and it is also just straight-up gross.
Not only is sickness not fun to be around, but it also compromises the health of others. Those who are sick feel obligated to go to class so they do not fall behind. It is not fair that they do not get to rest, and it is also not fair for people to risk their own health by coming to class.
It’s also crucial that mental health is not excluded from the mandatory attendance issue. Sometimes, students need to have a break. If they get burned out too quickly, they will not be putting their best foot forward in their classes.
In theory, mandatory attendance would be helpful for all of us. Professors can teach their material, and all students are there to discuss, elaborate, and ask questions in real time.
However, life is not all rainbows and butterflies. Hurdles come up in everyday life, and mandatory attendance does not allow students to account for them.
The Daily Utah Chronicle highlighted issues students have with mandatory attendance.
“Independence is a crucial part of developing as humans, and it needs to be respected rather than taken away in these primal years,” they mentioned. “As students who work hard, we deserve to have our own autonomy and ability to make decisions for ourselves, whether it hurts or helps our grades. We have moved beyond the years of our parents driving us to school, packing us lunches, and telling us what time to be home.”
Not to mention, we are all adults who are paying to go to college. If a student chooses to skip class consistently and fails, they have created their own problem. Students are more than capable of making their own decisions, and professors should not make students feel guilty for doing so.
Mandatory attendance needs to hit the road, and professors need to realize there is so much more to life than just their class.
