Social distancing is a thing of the past. Flights are full and stadiums are sold out. Masks are sometimes worn, by a few. And while it often feels like life has largely continued post-pandemic, that’s not the case for students, many of whom have spent their crucial adolescent years online.

Four years later, schools are still recovering, with chronic absenteeism becoming a more widespread problem after returning to the classroom from distance learning. In March 2024, a New York Times article examined the reasons why truancy rates were “exploding,” citing research from the American Enterprise Institute that found 26 percent of public school students were considered chronically absent in 2023 — a 15 percent increase from before the pandemic.

The reasons range from parents being more casual about planning their family vacations to more sick days being taken as illness etiquette has evolved in recent years. And while the causes vary in severity, the effects on the classroom are significant. “Most teachers are just really frustrated and feel like when the kid finally shows up, they don’t have time to catch them up, which is understandable,” Avery*, a middle school principal in Brooklyn, tells PS. “They just feel kind of hopeless.”

Avery, whose name has been changed to remain anonymous, has worked in New York City public schools for more than a decade, starting as a special education teacher and then working her way up to principal. She says recent data on chronic absenteeism is consistent with what she’s seen in recent years.

“Before the pandemic, I was in charge of special education for about seven years, and I had one child in that entire time who was severely absent due to his mental health,” Avery says. “Since then, I’ve probably seen 15 to 20 kids like him.”

There are reasons, like rogue vacations, that can be more easily addressed over time. “Families are taking their kids on vacation when it’s convenient for them because they’re like, ‘Oh, my kid can learn online. I listened to what school looked like back then during the pandemic. I can just teach them and they’ll catch up,’” Avery says.

When students do not show up due to psychological problems, the challenge is greater.

Avery recalls one student who was on an honors track and miles ahead of his peers in test scores and credits. But after losing his mother to COVID early in the pandemic, the student struggled. “He and his father both almost lost their sense of reality,” Avery says.

While the student was shy before the pandemic, afterward he became “a completely different version of the kid they knew,” she says. He always kept his headphones on and sat alone at the front of the class. Over three years, the student ended up attending school for a month, in addition to a summer school session. And while he was once on track to graduate a year early, his graduation is now in jeopardy.

Avery has seen parents feel a greater, “more intense” empathy for their children and their mental health, but she worries that they don’t always understand how the school can tangibly help. “They don’t have the tools in their toolbox, and the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with is explaining to parents that the people who do have the tools in their toolbox are at your child’s school,” she says. “We have trained mental health professionals here every day to support your child. We just have to get them out of bed and come here.”

For students who have chronic absenteeism due to mental health issues, the school will work with the student to adjust their schedule or place them in a smaller classroom. In the case of the aforementioned student, Avery says, psychiatrists were sent to the home and teachers brought groceries for the family. “We just tried to do everything we could to get him to come to school,” she says.

Still, sometimes getting students to school can be only half the battle. Avery says many students have had to adjust to tighter deadlines because of the extra time they were given to turn in assignments during the pandemic. “All of us as teachers had kids at home changing their uncle’s IVs and things like that, so none of us had strict deadlines about when assignments were due during the pandemic,” she says. “We intentionally had that much leeway, and for the right reasons. And so we’re in this mindset shift now — for the teachers as well, but especially for the kids.”

Avery adds that it’s especially challenging for rising high school students who went to high school online, because high school has higher stakes and consequences. “That was really hard to unlearn,” she says.

But teachers remain hopeful, and despite all the criticism Gen Z gets — they’re spoiled and lazy and the list goes on — Avery describes them as creative thinkers. “They’re able to make so many more connections to what’s happening outside of what we’re doing in the classroom,” she says. “As a teacher, it’s so fun to be able to make those connections with them.”

And yes, they’re big on boundaries, but Avery wonders if that’s such a bad thing: “They’re so much better at communicating their needs and advocating for themselves, which is so valuable. That could be called ‘entitlement,’ but are you just communicating your needs more clearly?” She adds, “Sure, we can work on the tone, but other than that, you’re telling me you need something. That’s really helpful, instead of just shutting down.”

That kind of exchange — and communication of needs — can be the key to moving forward, Avery says. Education often emphasizes the importance of strengthening literacy and numeracy skills, which are undoubtedly crucial, but Avery also stresses the value of socializing.

“You don’t just learn that from your parents — you have to learn that in school,” she says. “That’s something I really try to work on with our teachers: making sure that when we’re working in groups, we’re talking about the meta of why group work is important. I hope and wish that’s the direction education is going. There’s so much obsession around testing, especially in low-income, low-achieving schools, because that’s how you get your funding, and we forget how important the social aspect of education is.”

Kelsey Garcia is the associate content director of PS Balance, where she oversees lifestyle coverage ranging from dating to parenting to financial wellness. Kelsey is passionate about travel, skincare trends, and shifting social media landscapes. Before joining the PS team as an editorial assistant more than eight years ago, she interned at Elle and Harper’s Bazaar, among other publications.