photo credit: Nghiem Pham
Anywhere from 3.3 to 9.5 percent of students in the United States are tardy to class every day, according to mtvnews.org.
Tardies at the high school are not uncommon. Students are tardy to class every day, and various staff members even stand in the halls telling students how much time they have to get to class without being late. It can be a very big issue, and it has left students with mixed reviews.
“When I attended Orange, students were rewarded for showing up to school on time every day. Students who didn’t miss any days of school or were on time every day in the previous quarter would get a pass, an orange or a blue card, at the start of a new quarter that gave them either a free day off school or could excuse them from a tardy,” 2023 graduate Nick Francisco said.
Before COVID, the district had a policy that rewarded students for having consistent attendance and not being late to school. If students didn’t miss school for a whole quarter, they were rewarded with an “orange card” the next quarter that allowed them to pick a day, be absent and not have any penalties for that absence. All of the Olentangy high school’s went away with them after COVID.
Student services described the cards as “ A whole lot of work and not a lot of kids used them.”
Likewise, if students weren’t tardy for a whole quarter, they were awarded with a “blue card” the next quarter that allowed them to be 20 minutes late to school one day the following quarter. Students used to be rewarded for being to school on time, every day. Having an incentive in place can help drastically with student motivation.
“It is important to reward students for being on time because it’s a good habit that is necessary to have for the rest of your life. Workplaces value people who are timely, so emphasizing the importance in high school can help students develop that skill early on,” Francisco said.
Francisco practiced being timely in high school and now is on time to his college classes and has good time management habits.
“My teacher did not care that I was tardy and was just glad that I made it, but the school’s admin still punished me,” senior Blake Westinghouse said. Westinghouse has earned 1 detention from tardies this year.
Having only punishments in place can be discouraging to students. If there is an opportunity for a reward, students can be more motivated. “Individuals learn that positive actions result in positive outcomes,” connectncareaba.com said.
“Instead of detentions, they should have a one-on-one conversation with their students and see what the problem is and how they could fix it. Some students may have actual problems behind the scenes that they can’t help and being punished for that is simply unfair,” Westinghouse said.
While some students don’t like the current policy, other students do like it and think it’s fair.
“It’s fair and effective because it gives students multiple chances to cut down on their tardies while giving them a clean slate every quarter,” sophomore Jabril Ali said.
Students’ tardies from the previous quarter don’t carry over into the next quarter, so students start the quarter with a fresh start.
“I’ve only had one unexcused tardy in the first quarter, and I didn’t have any more. They gave me a chance to correct my mistakes, and I did and got a clean slate next quarter,” Ali said.
If students don’t have a reason to be on time every day, then they might not have the encouragement to try and be on time so having an incentive in place would be a good way to get students at school on time.
“The tardy policy when I attended Orange was better than the one currently in place because the new attendance policy only has punishments in place for missing school and being late,” Francisco said.
If improvements were to be made to the current policy implementing a reward system for being on time every day, that could improve students’ overall attitude about being at school.
While the current tardy policy is effective for some students, it can be ineffective for others. Implementing a reward system that gives students a reason to be at school on time every day could be a major improvement to the policy and even improve motivation for students.
