What’s the Problem With Being Late?

When students are chronically late to class, they’ll experience a wide range of problems. First and foremost, a late arrival is disruptive to the entire classroom. Instead of being focused on the beginning of class procedures, students turn to look at the late student–especially if they make an issue of being late or try to turn it into an excuse to get everyone looking at them. Other common issues with late arrivals include:

• Spreading lateness as other students realize that it’s becoming increasingly common for their peers to be late to class.
• Students who miss information that’s shared at the beginning of class.
• Students who are unable to complete assignments in a timely manner and struggle to keep up through the rest of the class.
• Disruption to the entire classroom environment, including a lack of respect for the teacher and the subject.

Lateness impacts the entire class–especially when it happens on an ongoing basis. At its most extreme, teachers may have to start class 5-10 minutes in order to account for late arrivals, which means that students will miss out on valuable instructional time on a daily basis.