Skipping classes and being absent from school (repost)

I wonder if skipping classes or being absent from school have become a popular habit among students.

I still remember,as a little kid in primary school, it was instilled in me that it is not right to be absent for classes unless there's something urgent to do,for instance,attending your close relative's funeral or house-moving. The only times I was forced to be absent from school were during my house-moving event and the death of my paternal grandmother,both happening when I was studying in my secondary years. Other than that,regardless of whether there are replacement classes on Saturdays,I would faithfully make myself present for lessons.I never like missing classes.If I do,I would feel very bad.

However,a lot of students nowadays are actually getting into the habit of skipping classes and being absent from school often.You can observe this kind of scenario in secondary schools,especially in universities and colleges,where most students are no longer under their parents' supervision and they are given the freedom of choices.There is no one to force them to attend lectures and tutorials;the choice is up to them whether they want to do well in their tertiary studies or flunk it.Of course,the lecturers will be giving advices to pull them back to the right track but again,the students make the final choice.As for secondary school students,some of them even take "sick leaves" from school to go for a short vacation with their parents.Sick,huh? 

Well,who else is to be blamed but the parents themselves?If parents have inculcated in their children of the proper things to do at a tender age,then there shouldn't be any bad habits such as ditching classes for personal purposes.The most common excuse would be "Oh,I need to use the time to study for the upcoming exams".For goodness sake,this is such a debatable statement.Why do you need to make use of the time for attending classes to study for exams when you could have spent an hour or two daily on revision instead of wasting your time by playing around?This just shows that you have bad time management.And isn't it ridiculous when you find that your exam grades still drop although you have skipped classes for exam studies?

Skipping classes may seem to be normal and acceptable among students but in actual fact,it reflects a person's personality and attitude,and also,the family upbringing.Imagine,if this habit continues on in working life,it will only give the employer a bad impression.What's more,the "I'm sick" excuses won't work anymore.