Opinion: Mandatory attendance places unnecessary burden onto already overstressed students

This post was updated May 23 at 7:07 p.m.

Sometimes we just need a break.

After over a year of online learning, we’re tired. And that burnout won’t end once we return to campus.

College students have struggled with mental health for a long time, and the pandemic and its resulting changes haven’t exactly helped. According to the Journal of Medical Internet Research, 71% of students said the pandemic had increased their stress and anxiety. Not only are we still adjusting to online learning, but we are also worrying about health – both ours and our loved ones’. Many of us have also found ourselves struggling to find quiet places to attend class or get work done.

UCLA’s academic departments should learn from the unique struggles presented by remote learning and eliminate attendance-based grading policies. Such rules do nothing but hurt the very students who are paying for a high-quality education at one of the nation’s best universities.

Forced attendance is not a requisite for learning, whether we’re in person or online.

Students are finding it harder to stay motivated and engaged in distance learning, said Nicole Green, who is the executive director of both UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services and the Resilience In Your Student Experience program.

“I’ve really seen over the course of the year … much more exhaustion and fatigue, trying to navigate the year under such stressful circumstances,” Green said.

All of this adds up to heightened levels of stress we have to deal with. And deprived of opportunities to get together with friends or even leave our houses, we may find outlets to relieve that stress are few and far between.

Sometimes we need a day to take a step back from school and relax; however, graded attendance doesn’t allow GPA-conscious students this often desperately needed break.

At a competitive university, it’s not as though students don’t already face enough stress from the classes themselves.

“I personally would have too much anxiety to miss those classes,” said Lilly Deljoo, a second-year psychobiology student.

It is undeniably important to attend class regularly, but mandatory attendance doesn’t reinforce this habit. If someone cares about the class or is able to attend lectures and sections on a regular basis, they will make it to as many as possible.

“Let’s be honest – people who are going to skip class are going to skip class anyways,” said Joshua Yang, a fourth-year biology student.

On the other hand, those dedicated to learning the course material can do so without attending every lecture in real time. This is especially helpful for Bruins who have busy schedules, such as commuter students and student workers.

“I don’t think it necessarily helps you (with) enjoying or understanding … the material as long as you are willing to put in the work after the fact,” said Lily Rafat, a first-year business economics student.

When students who normally attend class have to miss a day, it unfairly impacts their grade, even if they put in the effort to catch up afterward. And with recording and uploading lectures for asynchronous viewing now easier than ever, there just aren’t any good excuses left to be anything less than accommodating.

When classes go out of their way to be strict without good reason, we notice.

“It makes you like the class a little bit less just because there is that added pressure,” Rafat said.

And the important part of going to class isn’t just showing up. Participating is how students gain the most from a class. However, students can attend classes without actually participating, said Verónica Cortínez, a professor in the UCLA department of Spanish and Portuguese.

“I want them to participate,” Cortínez said. “The classes are better and they become better students.”

The point of mandating attendance is supposedly to allow students to get as much out of their classes as possible. But when students feel like they have no choice but to attend, they often don’t participate, defeating the purpose of having students attend live classes.

“I’ve always just had to try and keep my camera off or try to not participate as much as possible,” Deljoo said.

By allowing students to miss classes without it affecting their final grade, professors will allow them to avoid the added stress of having to either attend class when it isn’t in their best interest or provide proof of an acceptable excuse for their absence.

The fact that this puts the burden on students who are already experiencing difficulty is downright cruel.

Many professors say they care about students’ mental health, but their policies often only focus on helping students once problems have already arisen. When it comes to something as serious as mental well-being, we need proactive – not reactive – policies.

With the transition back to in-person classes next year and all the struggles it will bring, prioritizing students’ mental health will only become more critical. All of the departments at UCLA have a responsibility to account for that as they continue to outline policies for the future.

Attendance is worthless if we are burnt out.