Being Late to Class: Reasons and Ways to Avoid This

Last Updated on January 19, 2017 by Bharat Saini

It is important to be punctual for a student while attending academic session as it this period for him that shapes his career and not just give him a formidable standing among his peers but also bring him respect in the society at large. But it has often been seen that student fall prey to lateness and therefore their prospects to be distinguished in their academic life and from the viewpoint of career when they would be readying themselves for the real battle of life are likely to be damaged. Their carefree mindset make them think that 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there doesn’t seem like much at the time, but they are not aware that over the course of 6 months it will add up. Punctuality and regularity in work and study carries their

• social value
• professional value
• educational value

The reason behind lateness prevalent among the students first of all is that there is no clear cut syllabus on the harms which imparts teaching in this respect telling students about the loss that  is caused by lateness to them  in short as well long term. They are required to be reminded what expectations their parents and outside world have vis-a-vis them so that they may not lose sight of sense of appropriateness that is associated with being punctual and regular. They misperceive what is appropriate for them in other spheres of life is also appropriate for them in education. They are not taught about the value of time management which also hampers their skill to pay attention to detail and behave as dutiful student.

The Impact of being late in class The most crucial learning hours of a school day are the morning hours, because they are when students are most attentive. Students who are tardy miss the beginning of their morning classes and they also cause a distraction when they arrive late to class. Students who are frequently tardy have lower scores on standardized assessments, and lower graduation rates. Chronic tardiness in elementary and middle school is also linked to failure in high school. In the National Center for Education Statistics Indicators of School Crime and Safety, teachers surveyed reported that students who are frequently tardy have higher rates of suspension and other disciplinary measures. Tardiness causes students to feel disconnected with school, leading to behaviour problems and dropouts. Students who are frequently tardy to school are also more apt to be fired from a job for showing up late. When students are tardy, they negatively impact their teachers and other students. Teachers are often required to allow tardy students to make up work, which often requires them to restructure their lessons or re-teach missed material. Tardiness also takes other students’ attention away from a teacher’s lesson, leading to more behaviour problems and missed instruction.

Students are oblivious to the facts that by remaining absent in the class in initial hour  what they miss is the significant portion specially  framing information of their curriculum being covered  by the educator in the class as particularly when a class starts  the background of the subject is lost. For the rest of the class they grope in the dark but get no clue until there is help from their classmate however the explanatory essence lectured by the teacher remains elusive as ever. Just as when you watch a movie by missing its beginning the understanding of the movie for remainder of the story is seriously compromised.

How to improve those who have become habituated to, so to say, the evil of being late in the class. Here are the simple solutions:

• Penalize lateness through suitable fine as some instructor declare that two times late would be counted one absence.
• Draw attention to the behaviour or at least show the disapproval when a student enters late by making a pointed comment or posting a sign on the door such as: “you’re late; it is not good for your future and your academic career.
• Draw out short quizzes at the beginning of class as students who arrive late will miss the quizzes and lose the points. This may force them morally to mend their ways.
• The instructor must make it sure for himself or herself that he or she arrives and gets the class started on time. Also take care that the class gets over on time, too. It will help the students some way or the other to follow the principle “respect your time if you respect theirs”.
• It is good to have basic rules implemented from the very beginning of a course laying down the expectations that a teacher has from his or her student.
• Maintaining the visual record of students’ lateness also provide a good opportunity to the students to be conscious of need of fulfillment of their academic duties; as such visual records which  can work as hard proofs against their lateness cannot be rebutted by them.
• Learning contracts also provide to both the teacher and student to get time punctual because it constantly reminds them about the terms and conditions drawn up in the contract at the beginning of a course/semester, they become conscious that they will ultimately be responsible for the content. Thus, it grants a very good chance to the responsible authorities in charge that through discussions, they can elicit students’ views about being late and how the solution to this problem can be found out.