At Kingwood High School, we’re told that if we want to exempt our finals, we need to keep our grades up and our absences down. And at one point, that does sound pretty reasonable—until you realize it means you can only be absent four days per semester.

Let’s all take a moment and truly think about that. FOUR absences over an entire semester (not including doctor’s appointments or school-related activities). That’s barely over two sick days. If you’re hit with the flu or even a bad cold, there goes all your effort to keep your grades up. Even worse, imagine if you have a family emergency or mental health struggles. The system doesn’t even make room to live a real life.

We’re students, but we’re also human. Our lives don’t always fit into a perfect attendance box. Some of us help take care of siblings, work jobs, or deal with stress and anxiety. And yet, even with all that, we show up, study hard, and do well in class. But God forbid we miss a fifth day—no matter the reason—we’re suddenly forced to take a final we were fully prepared to exempt. Instead of feeling like the policy is encouraging good attendance, it feels like it is just punishing students who deal with things out of their control.

Any and every adult reading this is probably wondering the same thing: What would be more beneficial? Well, maybe we could have excused absences not count against us. Or at least give students a chance to appeal why they missed if they have valid reasons.

We all have a common goal: we want to succeed. Most of us aren’t skipping school for fun. So why should we be penalized just for being human?