Why are some students absent?
There are many reasons students are absent and they fit into four broad categories: Barriers, Negative School Experiences, Lack of Engagement and Misconceptions. Barriers are factors that impede a student from getting to school.
Reasons included not being in the mood, personal issues, health issues, lecture issues and no negative consequences. Results showed that personality traits, especially conscientiousness, play significant role in students' tendency to skip classes.
Among all the causes presented, physical factors are the primary reason why students are absent from their classes. The distance of their houses from the school is the leading factor in this category. Personal attitudes, classroom atmosphere, health, and teacher-related factors reasons follow in that order.
Asthma is a leading cause of school absenteeism, accounting for about 14 million absences each school year, or one-third of all school days missed.
Absenteeism refers to an employee's habitual absence from work—usually intentional and without any good reason. Some of the main reasons for absenteeism include workplace harassment, family-related issues, illness, and job hunting.
A child's school attendance can be affected if there are problems with: bullying. housing or care arrangements. transport to and from school.
Several notable factors that influence attendance and grades are motivation, prior grade point average (GPA), self-financing by students, hours worked on jobs, quality of teaching, and nature of class lectures.
- Family obligations.
- Financial difficulties.
- Moving to a different part of the state or country.
- Unprepared for the academic requirements.
- Need a break from the rigors of education.
- Lack of dedication and time for classes and coursework.
They might do this for a few reasons: They want to do something they couldn't otherwise do at school, they give in to peer pressure, or they simply don't want to sit through classes and do homework. Technology is an issue that we, as crisis counselors, have heard more and more about over the last few years.
- Planned absence. Planned absences are the best-case scenario, because they give you the most time to prepare. ...
- Last-minute absence. These things happen. ...
- Unexpected absence. Uh-oh, someone didn't show up. ...
- Virtual absence.
What are the factors affecting the attendance?
Personal factors and their affect on 'attendance' (people sticking at it) Personal factors include such things as; smoking, age, income, weight loss diet, level of education, weight, personality type, gender, exercise history, sporting history. Personal factors are things about the person and their history.
Asthma is a leading chronic illness among children and adolescents in the United States. It is also one of the leading causes of school absenteeism. On average, in a classroom of 30 children, about 3 are likely to have asthma.

Causes of long-term sickness absence
Recent research data shows the most common reasons given for long-term sickness absence are: Acute medical conditions, such as cancer or heart problems. Stress.
Example Sentences
The products showed a remarkable absence of defects. He had many absences from work. I expected to see her and was surprised by her absence. She returned to the company after a long absence.
Stress is the most common cause of long-term absence and is especially prevalent amongst office-based staff. This is also related to absence due to depression or anxiety. Picking up on data related to mental health absence is paramount.
What makes a student 'truant'? While chronic absenteeism measures total absences, including excused and unexcused, truancy measures only unexcused absences. The number of unexcused absences it takes for a student to be considered a "truant" differs by state.
Other Common Reasons
While financial issues are probably the most common reason for dropping out of college, every student has their own reasons. Some unfortunately have family issues, a lack of support, or unexpected medical problems that are beyond their control.
Being chronically absent affects high school graduation rates and the chances for success in college. In a Rhode Island study (PDF here), only 11 percent of high school students with chronic absences made it to their second year of college. That's compared to 51 percent of students who didn't miss that much school.