The Cause of Tardiness among Senior High School Students

in Inayawan Senior High School

Abstract

Being late for coming to school has become a major problem in many schools,

particularly the public schools with serious consequences. Current research has

demonstrated that many school are performing badly due to inefficient use of the

teaching and learning time.

In this research, the researcher argues that while major administrative

interventions are undertaken to improve the quality of learning and teaching, it seems

that very little attention is paid to late-coming.

Late-coming or Tardiness has become a cancer that saps away big interventions

and strays the performance of selected Inayawan Senior High School students in a

different direction. The purpose of this research is to investigate the causes of tardiness

among Senior High School students. A qualitative approach was used to draw data from

Senior High School students of Inayawan National High School. The findings reveal that

tardiness is common in Inayawan Senior High School. It happens almost every day for

varying reasons. The researcher recommended practical solutions ranging from

administrative improvement to learner behavioral change.

 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Rationale of the study

The most critical learning hours of a school day are the morning periods (Zeiger,

2010), Specifically 7:30 to 9:30 (Cowan Crier, 2007) and for the afternoon periods is

when it’s 12:30 to 1:45. These are the times when students are most alert and attentive

that’s why some schools teach more important lessons and subjects at this time. Tardy

students miss a part of these lessons or could even miss the whole subject period. It

could be worse if the class starts out with a quiz; the students may have lost a

considerable part of his/her grade. What more if there is a major exam scheduled that

time? These students will be a little fortunate if no sanctions or changes will be imposed

on his/her tardiness. In addition, Nakpodia and the Dafiaghor (2011) stated that

tardiness eventually leads to absenteeism. Tardy students feel the extent of their

lateness and very often they just decide to be absent.

The tardiness of a student also disturbs other students and the teacher,

distracting the flow and system of the whole class. According to Clackmannashire

council online (as cited by Nakpodia and Dafiaghor, 2011), “Lateness is disruptive to the

individual and the work of the class and maybe an early warning of other difficulties.”

The tardy student creates a diversion of attention as he/she walks in late in class and

disrupts other students and the teacher with his/her inquires about the missed lessons.
 Additionally, the school as an institution is also vastly affected. As Nakpodia and

Dafiaghor (2011) put it: “Lateness inhibits the process of achieving goals of the

schools.” The school cannot serve its function as well as it should be expected if

tardiness among students is prevalent.

As school must provide students with quality education and ensure that students

have full access to it. But students can’t fully experience this education when they are

tardy and absent. ETC (as cited by Nakpodia and Dafiaghor, 2011) stated that “Regular

and punctual attendance is of paramount importance in insuring all students have full

access of this curriculum valuable learning time is lost when students are late or

absent.”

As school also serves the country by producing professional and competent

citizens but this purpose can be defeated if the students are tardy in school. As study

according Weade (2004) showed that there is a high probability that a tardy student will

also be tardy at work. According to Weade (2004), Tardiness among employees has

shown to affect profitability. Abernathy (1989) added that since employees want

punctual workers, a tardy employee will most likely be relegated from the workplace.

This is a big detriment for a tardy student in a long run and a setback for the school as a

professional institution.
Literature Review

Several factors have been identified in different literature as some of the reasons

why students come late to school. Chiu Mochi (1993) identified factors such as age,

family commitments, change of jobs on the part of parent, health problems as some of

the factors that may affect tardiness among Senior High School students. Okwelle

(2003) noted among other factors that, learners may develop negative attitude towards

school resulting in tardiness or poor attendance because of non-employment of school

leaves, repetition of class and insecurity.

In a separate study, Alio (2003) highlighted social status and education level of

parents as factors that may influence school attendance and late-coming. The study

further pointed out that geographical location of the students’ home and school,

students’ attitude toward the first subject of the day and inadequate supervision of

students’ activities by teacher and parents and poor teaching methods among others

may also affect the tardiness on the part of students.

The report of Okpukpara and Chukkwuone (2007) identified the role of gender in

child schooling. From the study, Female headed household have higher attendance in

school whereas educated fathers are more likely to have strong impact in increasing the

probability of child school attendance than mothers. Emore (2005) reported that

tardiness is common among female students than male students. This may be due to

involvement in domestic activities.

Significance of the study

Inayawan National High school is maintaining the tradition of producing of

competent and professional citizens for the country. This could be altered if tardiness

amongst students abounds.

This research will determine the level of tardiness of Inayawan Senior High

school students and it is urgent call of concern of the school.

This research will help students realize the effect of their tardiness on themselves

and also in the community. The results of this research may also help them understand

their usual reasons for tardiness and hopefully help and motivate them to adjust their

habits.

Moreover, this research may also be a help to teachers or academicians.

Teacher may be able to realize that they have a certain influence to the tardiness of the

students. They may find the need to modify their personal and teaching habits and fully

serve as a role model to students both in terms of punctuality and education.

Furthermore, this research maybe useful to the administrators of Inayawan

National High School. The result of this research may help the administrator see if the

students are becoming too tardy that it may be a threat to the quality and competency
level of the school. In addition, other school and even workplaces can adapt the study

and find out the tardiness of their students and members and pinpoint the associated

reasons.

Lastly, this research may also help future researchers that seek to study the

tardiness in Inayawan National High School or in any other institution, and its reasons.
Research Gap

From the literature sighted above, much attention has been given to absenteeism

with little attention to tardiness. However, absenteeism cannot be substituted for

tardiness. The latter means partial absence for a few minutes, hours or periods in a day

and the former refers to total absence for a particular lesson or in a day. However,

absenteeism can be ‘partial’ meaning that the students may be absent for part of the

day or missing out of some periods (Moseki, 2004) or ‘full’ where the student is absent

for the entire day (Moseki, 2004)

Conceptualization

Literally, the term “tardiness” implies the situation where an individual arrives

after the proper, scheduled or usual time (oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 2010).

It could also be seen as a term used to describe people who failed to showed up on the

agreed time (Lauby, 2009). In some instances, tardiness may seem synonymous with

“lateness”. Tardiness can be seen as a ‘more severe’ form of withdrawal that eventually

escalates into ‘much more severe’ forms of absenteeism and turn over (Koslowsky et al,

1997). Tardiness is therefore viewed as a violation of the principle of punctuality. In

most cases, when condoned, it breeds a bad habit and an attitude detrimental to

success in numerous enterprises in life.

Lauby (2009) defined tardiness as inability of an individual or group of people to

arrive at an agreed venue at the agreed time. Tardiness in coming to school is an act of

arriving at school after the official hour of commencement of the days learning activities.

According to the official time table for Inayawan National High School, learners

commences by 12:45 PM, however, there are other activities that take place before the

commencement of lessons, which learners are expected to participate (assembly and

registration). This therefore means that all students are expected to be in school.

From literature, much emphasis was placed on school absenteeism with little

attention to on tardiness in schools. With absenteeism, it could either be in the form of

authorized and unauthorized absenteeism (Thambirajah et al, 2008; Reid, 2005).

Authorized absenteeism refers to the situation where a prior approval has been sought

from the school principal with consultation from the parents while unauthorized

absenteeism on the other hand refers to a situation where permission to be absent of

late for the class was never granted (Whitney, 1998). From the forgoing, the authorized

absenteeism involves the cooperation or good working relationship between the

learner’s family and the school authority. However, tardiness may connote partial

absence for some minutes for a particular lesson or non-arrival on time for classes.

Tardiness has been recognized as having motivational antecedents,

Theoretically, it is classified into three dimensions: chronic, unavoidable and avoidable.

Chronic lateness is a response to a bad environment and with students’ dislike by

mates. Relevant antecedents to chronic lateness among students in senior high school

could be level of commitment to school and lack of satisfaction. Avoidable lateness

(stable periodic lateness) occurs when students’ thinks they have better or more

important activities to do than arrive on time for a particular lesson or class and in most

cases this happens with mathematics classes (Sims, 2002). Finally, unavoidable

lateness is due to factors beyond the students’ control, such as transport problems, bad

weather, illness and accident/s (Shapira-Lishchinsky, 2007)

Tardiness poses the most problem to school administrators anywhere in the

world (Lauby, 2009). It is probably the most annoying breach of rules of attendance

which the school officials will have to deal with on a daily basis (Robinson and Bennett,

1995; Lauby, 2009). One of the major impacts of tardiness in coming to school is the

disturbance in the flow of lecture or discussion and distraction on other students

(Nakpodia and Dafiaghor, 2011). The study by Nakpodia and Dafiaghor (2011) further

reported that late coming to school may also impede learning and general erode class

morale especially if left unchecked. The habit can become chronic and spread

throughout the class, this is why the school places a high emphasis on punctuality. In
most cases, a teacher who teaches the first period is forced to teach only a percentage

of learners, while those who are absent will not be able to understand the work that they

have missed (Holbert and Stark, 2002).

However, it is probably not correct to say that tardiness is never justifiable, there

are few school officials who will deny that tardiness is generally un-justifiable and that it

could be eliminated by pupil if he wished and if the right attitude prevailed in the home.

In some instances, parents may consciously and willingly permit their children to arrive

late to school many times. From the forgoing, it is obvious therefore that late coming

could be seen as a system of network breakdown (Peretomode, 1991) a situation of not

meeting up with the established systems.

Research Design and Methodology

The study was carried out at Inayawan National High School.

Approaches

A qualitative approach was use to conduct this research. The strength of

qualitative research involved around its ability to provide complex textual descriptions of

how people experience a given research issue. It provided information about the human

side of an issue. This include the contradictory behaviors beliefs, opinions, and

relationships of individuals (Neumann, 2000).

Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews with the learners of

Inayawan National High School. The interviews conducted gave a representative picture

and provided a bases for interpretation. The interviewer insured that all question was

answered and the interviewers’ observations in terms of the quality of the interview and

characteristics of respondents were included in the interview schedule. The participants

were observed and interviewed in their natural setting. Their viewpoints, facts and

insights into the problem where useful for this study. The research questions focused

more on the cause of tardiness in coming to school among Senior High School

students.
Study Design

The Study Design involve of multiple case study research. Multiple-case studies

design allowed the researcher to explore the phenomena under study, through the use

of replication strategy (Yin, 2004). The conclusions from one case were compared and

contrasted with the result from the other cases. Two types of selections were used; the

literal replication where the cases selected were similar and the predicted results were

similar too. The theoretical replication where the cases were selected based on the

assumption that they will produce contradictory results (Zach, 2006).

Theoretical Framework

To understand why the senior high school student is chronically tardy, we must

understand what the student is experiencing or expressing by performing the tardy

behavior. According to some theorists, the behavior could be conditioned upon stimuli

prior to or resulting from the behavior, while others may suggest that it is based upon

the lack of sleep, anxiety, low self-esteem or even depression. There are many theorists

with several varying theories. A few are discussed here.

Of course reasons for being late to class and other factors affecting punctuality of

a student vary. There have been some theories that pointed out that tardiness is caused

by the personality of a person Santillano (2020) stated that psychological theorists

consider some “personality traits, including low self-esteem and anxiety” as triggering

factors of tardiness (para 2). She also mentioned that while some theorists considered

tardiness as an “inborn quality” since our being early or late is “partially biologically

determined”, which is also agreed, other experts also believed that some people are

“chronically tardy” for the reason that they consciously and unconsciously get good

things from it. (para 3)

In the book cited by Santillano, “Never be late again: 7 cures for the punctually

challenged”, the author Diana DeLonzor suggested that some personality traits could

most likely lead to a person being often this late. Some of the traits including were
“struggling with self-control”, “feeling nervous or uncomfortable with social situations

and are getting distracted easily” (para 4). Santillano also discussed about the study

conducted by DeLonzor at San Francisco State University in 1998 in which she

surveyed 225 respondents about their habits that makes them late from their

appointments. It was also a test on the personalities of the respondents that affect their

habits. According to the results of DeLonzor’s study. those respondents that were often

tardy apt to be anxious and gets distracted easily. In a recent article by Michele Novotni,

she writes that people with ADHD are often running late because of poor time

management. They are often distracted and scrambling at the last minute to find things

like keys, cell phones, or finishing last second tasks. Students with this disorder may be

trying to desperately gather notebooks and things from their lockers during the passing

period without realizing that they are late.

Nakpodia and Dafiaghor attribute lateness or tardiness to a lot of factors or

causes. Going late to bed and waking up late next morning are the most common. The

authors added film-watching late at night as a cause for tardiness. The student may

forget that he/she needs to be in school the next day. The distance between the

student’s home and school or solely the school’s location is also considered by

Nakpodia and Dafiaghor as a possible cause for tardiness. Not just because it takes

more time to get to school but according to the authors, the student is susceptible to

more distractions and hindrances along the way. Parents untimely tasks and commands

are also reasons that students come late to school. Habitual tardiness can also be

learned from other members of the family especially from the older ones. Lack of a firm
and consistent policy on the punctuality also encourages students to come late to

school since there are no consequences attached to late and tardiness. These causes

of tardiness will lead to serious effects.

Another study was conducted by Enamiroro Oghuvbu in Nigeria. The objective of

the study was to determine the causes of absenteeism and lateness among the Senior

High School Students in Inayawan and seek for solutions to the growing problem.

According to Oghuvbu (2008), female students in Inayawan are more likely to be late

than male students because of their involvement in domestic activities by their parents

(para 7). Also as cited by Oghuvbu, “distance for the tardiness of the senior high

students.

Oghuvbu collected the data from a sample size of 17.417 Philippine respondents

from 2005-2006. The sample was made up of 20 principals and 50 each from a set of

teachers, parents and students. The means of collecting data was through a thirty-item

questionnaire had four questions, one of which was about the causes of lateness

among the senior high school students of Inayawan.

The study revealed that the causes of lateness among the senior high students in

Philippines were going late to bed because of watching films and home movies,

resulting in waking up late in the morning, distance to school and keeping friends who

are not students (Oghuvbu, 2008). These results were consistent with the results of
Oghuvbu’s referenced studies which proves that tardiness among students has been a

growing problem and that it is caused not just because of the students but also because

of the lack of imposing discipline from the parents.

Sometimes, it is not solely the students’ fault for the chronic behavior. Another

factor that could affect the punctuality of a student is the response of the teachers to

tardy students Sprick and Daniels (2007) stated that the range of the teachers’

response was “from ignoring them to sending them to office” (p. 21). This variation could

lead the students to confusion as to how important it is to be on time in going to class.

Another reason is the lack of motivation. Students who come to school on time are not

given incentives or rewards. Also, responses to tardiness are lenient that is nothing

done until the tenth strike or more. Another reason is “giving the student the impression

that they won’t be missing anything if they are late” since in some classes, no important

activities or instructions and no lessons are being done for the first few minutes. Lastly,

crowded hallways could create traffic, thus blocking the way of other students and

making it hard for them to pass through.

 CHAPTER 4

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary of the research work undertaken, the

conclusion drawn and the recommendation made as an outgrowth of this study. This

study aims to determine the cause of tardiness among Senior High School Students of

Inayawan National High School.

Problem

This study is concerned about the cause of tardiness which is very common

among Senior High School Students nowadays.

This study aims to find out the reasons that lead to tardiness among Senior High

School Students in Inayawan National High School. The overall objective of this

qualitative research is to understand the causes of tardiness.

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

a. Age

b. Gender

c. Economic Status

2. What are the cause of tardiness?

3. Based on the findings, what action can be undertaken to solve the problem.

Findings

Base on the data gathered, the following significant findings are hereby

presented:

1. Age Profile of the respondents.

The table shows that the students who ages 15 and 16 years old got the most

number that engages themselves to tardiness in terms of age based on the gathered

data, with a total of 20 respondents or 30% of the overall population taken on the

survey, followed by 17 years old with a total of 11 respondents or 22% of the overall

population taken on the survey, nest by 14 years old with a total of 6 respondents or

12% of the overall population who took a survey questionnaire, lastly, with the students

ages 13, 19 and 20 years old with a 1 respondent or 2% of the overall population who

each took the survey questionnaire.

2. Gender Profile of the respondents

The graph shows that the highest number of respondents who filled the survey

questionnaire in terms of gender is the male students which has a total of 27

respondents or 54% out of 100% on the overall number of respondents. It is followed by

the female students with a total of 23 respondents or 46% out of 100% of the overall

number of respondents on this study.

3. Economic Status of the respondents

 The table shows that the highest range of family income/monthly salary is 20,001

and above and with only 2 respondents or 4% of the overall population got this range of

income in his/her family. The lowest range is below 1,000 and have 13 respondents or

26% of the overall population, had this family income. Majority of the respondents has a

family income of below 1,000. In this case, this can affect the behavior of the students

that leads them to engage in tardiness because of the family’s financial problem. 18 out

of 50 respondents had this family income. 12 out of 50 respondents or 6% had a family

income that ranges 10,001-15,000. Lastly, 2 out of 50 respondents or 4% had a family

income that ranges 15,001-20,000.

Conclusion

The researcher concluded that the assumption of the study was not true based

on the findings. There is a main outstanding reason from the survey that was conducted

that affects and leads the students to engage in tardiness. The main cause of this is the

lack of time management. It is based on the findings of the data that was gathered from

the overall respondents of the study.

Recommendations

The school should conduct a seminar to the students about tardiness to help the

students realize that tardiness is not a good behavior which could affect their future

employment and the school’s reputation. It is hereby recommended that the proposed

action plan be implemented.