SouthCarolina has new school law.........

[brunota2003]

Well, you guys are still bickering over docters' notes and such? Up here, its 10 days a semester. If you miss more than 10 days in one semester, excused or unexcused, you automatically fail. If all of your absences are excused, you may take it to the school board for a waiver, but if even ONE of those does not have a docter's note, your waiver is thrown out. Needless to say, very, very few waivers are actually given out.

10 days is 10 days. They dont even want you to bring in notes anymore here.

[gtalum]

Gtalum...it is your choice to take your child out of school for a vacation but are you really doing him/her a favor by doing that?

Kids can learn a lot more by seeing the world than they ever will sitting in a classroom. A smart child will more than make up the lost material with just a little effort. Sadly, public schools in this country are so poor that I will be teaching my daughter significantly in advance of what she will be learning in school anyway.

[Derek Ortt]

uh, no they don't gtalum

Yes, the schools are not the best. However, as a parent, it sets a PATHETIC example to take a child out for a vacation. It teaches them that they do not have to meet their obligations and can do whatever

[Opal storm]

My parents always took me out of school for a week every year during the Fall to go up north for our family reunion. And maybe a disney trip every other year. I didn't know taking your kid out of school for a vacation was so sinfully wrong these days.

[Ptarmigan]

What a stupid law.

[Dionne]

If parents don't want to send their kids to school.....more power to them. Somebody has to work in all those minimum wage fast food joints.

Here in Mississippi we don't have schools. They are called attendance centers. What's really cool is that passing grades are not required......all you have to do is show up. After 12 years you get a certificate of attendance.

We have high school "graduates" that cannot pass the armed forces entrance exam. Pitiful.

[MGC]

I've raised three boys that have done well in society. Two of them served in the Navy, my youngest is in college. I held my kids out of school on several occasions due to various reasons including vacation. I don't agree with laws like these that take away from parental authority. These laws are just another reason to home school your kids. My youngest son's last few years in high school were like being in prison for him. The rule book was like trying to read the state code, a rule for everything. I'm glad my days of putting up with public schools are over.......MGC

[Cryomaniac]

I know a guy who went to school like 1 day a week for more or less a whole year. His dad was warned a few times but never got fined as far as I know.

[gtalum]

Yes, the schools are not the best. However, as a parent, it sets a PATHETIC example to take a child out for a vacation. It teaches them that they do not have to meet their obligations and can do whatever

No, but it teaches them that the obligations that others try to lay upon you are not necessarily the obligations that you need to meet. My parents took me out of school a lot, and I managed to do well at Georgia Tech and am successful now. I meet all of my obligations with no problems whatsoever. I will do the same with my child(ren?).

[chadtm80]

Im with you gtalum.. Oh well. Guess we are pathetic lol.. But hey.. Big Brother and Big Derek know whats best for our kids.. Not us as thier parents

[andrewsmith1]

My junior year of high school I came down with a really bad case of Mono. I went half days (alternating the first and second half of the day) the entire second semester because I was so sick I honestly couldn't even stay awake the whole day. I had to take 3 months off of my part time job as well. I still had a 4.0 GPA because I studied for the classes I missed. My teachers were great and knew how sick I was. If I had a problem I could go to them and say "I am sorry, I was in class, but my mind was in a fog and I didn't pick up this material." They would teach it to me when my mind was clear enough to take in the information. The difference between me and many who skip class for other reasons is that I took responsibility for my education and made up for the classes I missed. I slept 16 hours a day, went to school for 4 hours and studied for 4 hours. It was probably the most intense studying I have ever done. I almost lost my girlfriend because I was too sick to spend much time with her, but she stuck with me and is now my wife.

Many kids who fake illness to get out of school for a day or two are probably not terribly interested in getting an education and may not get anything out of attending school anyway as their mind will be elsewhere. As a taxpayer, I want kids to be in school because I am paying for their education regardless of whether they attend class or not. On the other hand I don't want a bunch of sick kids in school passing around the latest virus because they can't afford to see a doctor, or just don't want to risk paying a fine.