Kids Can Recover from Missing Even Quite a Lot of School

Single data point here I missed my first two years of highschool (less than 40% attendance) due to being immunocompromised + side effects of immunosuppressants + depressed. Work and readings were sent home. I did most of the work but not all. I did exams and did very well. There was talk of having me repeat the second year despite getting mostly As and Bs but luckily I didn't have to.

Fast forward to the final two years of high school. I was much healthier, didn't miss school but did terribly. Maybe undiagnosed attention deficit, maybe depression, which led to a lack of motivation once my grades started to slip + general adolescence and socialising.

That being said, I had a relatively privileged upbringing and depending on your definition(s) of intelligence I would be generally considered above average. (I would hazard a guess that, a lot, if not most of HN leans that way) If either of those things didn't hold I probably wouldn't be where I am today.

I missed a massive amount of high school and am doing just fine. Most of the work was a complete waste of time which I could easily catch up on.

> So my prediction is that an average student could miss a year or two of school without major long-term effects. Their standardized test score would be lower at the end of the two years they missed than some other student who had been in school the whole time. But after a short period they would equalize again. I don’t think you need to burn yourself out working overtime to send your kid to a private school, I don’t think you need to risk your immunocompromised kid’s health to send her to the classroom, I think you can just chill.

> I want to present some of the evidence that makes me think this.

> II. Evidence In Favor From Various Unusual Situations

> III. Supposed Counterevidence From Absences, And Why I Am Pretty Sure It’s Wrong

> IV. Supposed Counterevidence From Disasters and Strikes, And Why I Think It Is Most Likely Wrong