umm. the parents should have a talk with the teacher and tell the teacher what you have told us.

I remember when my siblings and I were in high school.  Our mother was dead.  Our father lived and worked away from home for most of the week, only coming home on his days off.   We wrote each other's school excuses.   "Please allow Bill to leave the school grounds at noon hour.  He needs to buy a notebook."   "Please excuse M--- for missing school.  She had the stomach flu."    Sometimes we signed Dad's name.  When I got in a stubborn mood, I signed my own.   It seemed to me that, if we were capable of living on our own, we should be capable of making minor decisions for ourselves.

My parents were overseas for my grade 11 year. My sister in grade 13 signed things for me.and my sister in grade 10. (We did have an adult couple staying in our house and doing meals etc for us).

I'd probably just leave school - how would not having a note prevent exiting? 

Seems a silly ruling tho for kids in high school and of legal driving age. 

I believe it is because the school is responsible for the students whereabouts for the day, legally responsible.

At my daughters school, you could sign up with the office for the. Grade 12 student to be more autonomous though they still had to sign out of the office.

Things like fire issues, how many kids are a tally in the school, who is missing in an evacuation......

Hi seeler,

When she is 18.  Until then she has a legal guardian.

Permission to leave school when sick is a new concept to me.  I suppose if she was nauseous hurling in the office would probably be enough for the school to dismiss her without a parent's note.

I would be called if my kids were to ill to make it home on their own but not to give permission for them to leave.

Typically our children would go to the office, state they were sick, sign out and walk home themselves (if they were able) the only time parents were consulted was in the note sent to school asking them to be excused for reason X.

My girls were very happy when they were old enough to write their own notes.  Apparently my sense of humour was not appreciated.

To Whomever it May Concern:

Please excuse my daugther from periods 3 and 4 yesterday afternoon.  She felt it more important to roll around in her room wishing she was dead and occasionally vomiting.  Kids these days.  What do they really know about suffering eh?  I remember when I was a student I'd have to . . . .

That kind of thing is apparently not acceptable in our daughter's eyes as a sick note.

Little ingrates.

Grace and peace to you.

John

I imagine you're right lastpointe, re the school considering it a liability issue.  But in reality, I don't think they can likely ever accurately account for each & every kid;  at one time, attendance was taken at beginning of every class - I imagine to try to keep track in that way - and to report absences to parents.  I do remember that phone ringing around 6pm & wondering ... "so who took off which periods of school today?"

Ah yes RevJohn - crafting one's own note - a rite of passage for many!   Personally I love your note!  Little ingrates indeed!

I went to school with someone who had no legal guardian from the age of 16 I think.  I don't know the details, but I don't think she was a ward of the state, I think she was legally independent or whatever the correct terminology is.

There was a bit of a debate with a teacher when something had to be signed by a parent for marks.  The teacher felt she should just have to forgo them, I think she got someone else's parent to sign or something ridiculous like that.

I went to an overcrowded school.  Other than automated phone calls if we missed classes without a parent calling in first not much happened.  They couldn't do anything to make us stay.  As it was, I had a sub teacher when I was younger who got in trouble for physically keeping me in a classroom when she denied permission so that I could use a water fountain to take medication.

I have no complaint about someone having to let the office know, or sign out, when leaving the school - or the teacher or secretary asking if they are well enough to go home by themselves.  I just don't see why it would be necessary to try to summon a parent (working with a chain saw in the forest; or at an important meeting; or flying to another country, or in hospital- or even sleeping after working the night shift) to give permission.

And it creates problems for kids who live on their own, whose parents don't speak English, or whose parents may be passed out drunk.

Did you comment or inquire at the school about it seeler?  Sounds like it could just be one of the 'that's the way we do it here' things that hasn't been fully considered since implementation probably a good many years ago.  Life has changed a lot - sometimes (?!) policy & proceedure doesn't keep up. 

i would have just walked out.  your granddaughter is a good kid, to have asked permission.

Hi seeler,

Frankly I think it is more about handing off responsbility.  If something untoward were to happen to the student when they are supposed to be under the oversight of the school there is probably some grounds for litigation.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Sometimes 'rules' get put in place that really don't fit the circumstances that arise, I think.  At High School level I guess I'd expect a student to tell the Office or classroom teacher if they were leaving the building.  "Someone" should know where they are.  We do/have always done this within our family.  It was rare for us to object to the ativities of others, but should an emergency come up it would be vital to know how to contact them.  Much the same 'manners' should prevail in schools. Fire events happen, as do accidents on the way home.

As a current high school teacher, I can tell you that it is all about liablilty.

A student is not legally an adult until 18 years of age.

Here's some sample scenarios:

17-year-old feels ill and want to go home: Student goes to office and calls home. Parent or guardian then tells school that they (or a designated individual) will come to school to pick kid up.

17 year old feels ill and wants to go home, but school can't locate parent/guardian to ask: At my school, whem students enrol, the parent/guardian provides 5 names and phone numbers of emergency contacts. Usually we can find one of the 5 contacts. If we can't, then we don't let the student go home on their own. If they are seriously ill, a school staff member can go with student to hospital, and the school would continue to try to contact the parents.

17 year old feels ill and just walks out of the building without telling the school: Attendance is taken every period, so the absence would eventually be reported to the office. A robocall goes home to say student was absent period C, or whatever. So school showed due diligence to report it.

When I was in highschool, if something happened in the middle of class (we felt sick) we'd go to the office and call home. If no one was home, we'd lie in a first aid room with a cot off to the side of the office until we either felt better or someone could come and get us. I imagine, if there'd been an emergency, they'd call 911. Other than that, between periods, we just left- and came back with a note if requested (some teachers were stricter than others. There was an art teacher who never asked for a note. In fact, stray students would come to his classes on their spares and he didn't seem to notice! Lol. He was one of the best loved teachers- not the most disciplinarian, for sure. Some, only if there was a pattern of missing class at a certain time. Some made no exceptions. Class times rotated.) In grades 11/12 we had the option of taking extra credits- or we chose 'spares' we called them (1 per week in grade 11 and 2 in grade 12. There's no grade 13 in BC) or study periods that were supposed to be used for studying or homework, but often they were used for an extended lunch, late morning, or early end to the day. It was frowned upon but not enforced. They didn't really chase after kids that much in those days unless their grades were falling behind. I had a friend who went to a different (rival) school, that I knew from elementary. She missed school all the time and still managed to get on the honour roll. I wasn't that smart.

GO - thanks for the teachers' pov. 

I'm thinking of the generally responsible 17 year old, who gets good marks and generally shows maturity.   I would probably think differently if I were supporting a teen who didn't show any maturity or responsibility, if I packed his school lunch, put his breakfast on the table, nagged him about his homework, reminded him to dress for the weather, gave him the money for after-school activities  - how would I feel if I called the school sometime and found out that my kid was leaving the school early every day because of some mysterious 'appointment' he had told the office he had to keep - or that most days he didn't show up at all?

Seeler, if we were sick we could just go home between periods. Yes, high school kids were known to skip classes now and then- play 'hookie' for no good reason. I skipped a few classes, but not much. If I missed it was mostly legitimate- but I wasn't a perfect kid. I wanted to fit in. However, some kids didn't adapt well to high school. I had a friend who hated school so much- I imagine it was all the peer pressure to fit in- that she skipped morning classes constantly. She was falling behind- and she was a smart girl. First, her parents got after her, grounded her. Then, she was suspended. Finally, she was put into an alternative program whereby she had to do work experience. She went to work at a cafe in the mornings, arranged by the school, and got some sort of work experience credits. She showed up on time and worked hard. She didn't graduate, but she went back for her GED later.

Nobody I knew had a mom or dad who made them breakfast and packed their lunches in high school. We poured our own cereal, made a piece couple of pieces of toast and took it out the door in a hurry. Made our own lunches the night before. That's how I remember it. No one reminded me how to dress (our weather's pretty mild though). I did my own laundry. So, it was a time of feeling semi-independent. Maybe that wasn't good but that's how I remember it. I moved out at 18. My impression is, in the late 80's, that was a time when parents were caught up in their own careers and interests. I, and the friends I knew looked after ourselves a lot. Now, you hear of the opposite being true, with cell phones and 'helicopter parenting'. Maybe that's my generation trying to compensate.

Kimmio - I always made breakfast for the family and we sat down to eat it together.  (because of different schedules it was often the only family meal we had together each day).    My kids made their own lunches.  I called them in the morning - and I sometimes reminded them that no one leaves the house with their beds not made and the dishes in the dishwasher.  I also reminded them of homework (but I didn't check) and told them if it was cold and they would need a scarf.  I didn't fool myself that they would wear a scarf, but I did my duty reminding them - no one had been around to do little things like that for me.   My kids occasionally skipped class - or an afternoon.  If I found out I didn't worry about it.

But, I have known people who took in a niece or nephew who was having problems - or ran into problems with their own kids.  They would call the kid in the morning - make sure he was up before they left for work - buy them supplies and clothing - presume that they were going to school.  And find out later that the kid hadn't been to school for three weeks - and was too far behind to even hope to catch up.

It seems that there is a difference in kids (as well as in the home situation).  Each case may need to be evaluated separately.

Your kids were lucky to have you. Noone made me breakfast or made me make the bed past elementary school. Occasionally, we might eat a bowl of cereal at the same time, by chance, but noone cooked breakfast on weekdays. By highschool I was fluctuating between my dad's and mom's place (and I lived at my friend's place for a month- they didn't eat breakfast together either). Everyone had their own agenda. Busy, busy. No time for sitting down for a cooked breakfast together. :( My generation Generation 'X' has been dubbed the generation that raised ourselves.

Weekday mornings there was no way we were having breakfast together!  My Dad was up first, then me, and depending on the year (jr high/high school for my sister) she or my mom might be up next.

My Mom often didn't get up until my Dad was gone.  Sometims he would be gone really early, so that I would barely see him.  She would be up a good hour after me usually.

As for breakfast itself, that varied.  I used to get sick frequently in the morning.  My mom wouldn't eat until later in the morning, she would be drinking coffee shortly after getting up though.  My sister sometimes skipped breakfast and my mom would usually make her at least take a granola bar or something.

When it came to being sick, I would drive myself home if capable.  Otherwise it would mean 2 people showing up later to get the car.  A few times my sister drove home with her learner's permit when I had a migraine, but that was when I suffered through the whole day.  I'm not sure if it was completely legal or not.

While the student is in secondary school, it should be up to their parent or legal guardian to write such notes for them. Should the student then go off to post-secondary education, they can begin writing their own notes.

In post secondary we didn't need to bring notes, unless maybe it was a doctor's note to miss a test (to be made up)- usually assignment extentions and tests could be negotiated between the student and instructor. Mid-terms and finals were different. I never missed one. I don't remember the policy. I think if you miss one, too bad, is generally the policy.

In post secondary we didn't need to bring notes ( and it didn't matter what the reason was- we're adults), and unless maybe it was a doctor's note to miss a test (to be made up)- usually assignment extentions and tests could be negotiated between the student and instructor. Mid-terms and finals were different. I never missed one. I don't remember the policy. I think if you miss one, too bad, is generally the policy.

In post secondary we didn't need to bring notes ( and it didn't matter what the reason was- we're adults), and unless maybe it was a doctor's note to miss a test (to be made up)- usually assignment extentions and tests could be negotiated between the student and instructor. Mid-terms and finals were different. I never missed one. I don't remember the policy. I think if you miss one, too bad, you'll probably have to re-take the class, is generally the policy.

I missed a midterm once and emailed a prof about a second because I wasn't certain about it.  Some profs were easy going about not requiring a note (when I had pneumonia it was kinda obvious I was sick), some weren't.  Some had deferred exams, some just moved the weight to the final.  All finals had deferred exams.

There was a weird policy here, the university doctors would note provide notes for anything below a certain weight (forget the percentage), a student had to go off campus.  Then with H1N1 if someone said they had the flu, no note was required as they didn't want people going to the doctor just for a note.