I would have never thought of this in a million years, but it at least appears that it works. Supposedly, a lot of poor attendance is due to kids lacking clean clothes to wear. If this article is to be believed, giving them the opportunity to do laundry at school greatly improves their attendance.
“Whirlpool Put Laundry Machines In Some Schools And Increased Attendance By 90%”
Some caveats: The statement “over 90% of participating students increased their attendance that year” gives me pause. How many participating students were there? It would seem that students who choose (or whose parents choose) to participate are more motivated to begin with. Still, it sounds like a good idea, and if Whirlpool is willing to be charitable then great.
I wonder though if some washing machine lobby (is there such a thing?) isn’t behind this, looking to sell machines to school districts all over the country based on studies of specially selected schools and handpicked students.
Maybe I’m being cynical. If this really does work as well as claimed then I’m all for it.
I can’t remember ever missing school due to not having any clean clothes, although I think I tried to use it as an excuse at least once, but it never worked.
However, I do remember going to school in clothes that were not as clean as I would have preferred. I know it made me very self conscious and I felt embarrassed about it. So if this program had been available when I was young, I’d have been grateful for it.
If it works, then why not? Plus it would have the added benefit of showing young kids how to do laundry, and maybe take the burden off of some of their parents.
I got the impression the laundry was done for them. If that’s the case, then school has become free maid service. Definitely a motivation for parents to make their kids go to school.
And I get the impression that the kids go to school because they’re no longer ashamed of their dirty clothes. I don’t know if you’ve watched the video on that page, but it’s very informative.
I will say that it seems like a band aid solution for the problem of parents being unwilling, or unable, to do the laundry at home. It shouldn’t be the schools job to do their laundry. But as long as we have the societal problems that lead to laundry not being done at home, if this improves school attendance then it seems like a good idea.
Kids not attending school comes down to a whole shitload of reasons…and yes, it shouldn’t be the schools job to fix the problems. But if SOME kids get to school with washing done, and some others get there with breakfast provided, and a few more with other programs going, the net benefit is more kids going to school.
Band-aids? Absolutely…but if bandaids keep the kids from bleeding out of the education system, then they work.
I agree with Kambucta. Whatever it takes to get children’s rumps in the seats at our schools is fine with me. Without schooling, a child has no chance of making it in this country. If we can’t get them to attend, we allow them to be doomed to, at best, a substandard life. We can look outside the box for solutions like this one. If they work, as this one apparently has, we should embrace them.