Years after students have left my classroom, memories of different kids still pop into my head. Some because of how amazing they were, others because of how they drove me bananas and still others because there was that one unforeseeable moment when they taught me as much as I was aspiring to teach them.
Marcus was an avid reader, something that has become increasingly rare these days, especially among teenage boys. He sat in the second row by the door, and he'd often stay after class just to bemoan how the racial injustice and systemic flaws of the legal system in To Kill a Mockingbird really hadn't changed all that much. ("That's why it's called classic literature, Marcus," I'd tell him—but that's a story for another blog.)
Unfortunately, Marcus's after-class conversations became fewer and farther between as the months passed. By November, I was calling his name during attendance only to be greeted by an empty chair.
His absenteeism had become chronic.
Marcus no longer felt that school was connecting with him. He didn't believe he was pursuing anything meaningful, and once he fell behind, coming back felt even harder. The calls home didn't work. The truancy referral didn't work.
What did make a difference was one of his friends deciding to build a video game on one of the school's computers.
That project lured Marcus back onto campus.
I could see that gaming with his friends and learning to build games meant enough to him that he was willing to push through the general apathy he felt toward school and his other classes. He started attending more consistently. I also knew that without that video game, there's a very real chance he wouldn't have finished his senior year.
To many people, gaming and esports are viewed as distractions. The reality, however, is that they can ignite passion, commitment, and perseverance. They can provide students with something every struggling learner desperately needs: a reason to come to school.
Educators have been watching this transformation happen for years, and the momentum is only growing. When implemented thoughtfully, esports isn't just another extracurricular activity. It can become one of the most effective tools a school has to reduce chronic absenteeism and reconnect students with their education.
What Is Chronic Absenteeism?
You need to understand the true definition of absenteeism. To put it simply, chronic absenteeism means missing at least 10 percent of the school year, which is about 18 days. Many students cross this line without ever even being called a truant.
What are the Stats on Chronic Absenteeism in the US?
Now, before the pandemic, roughly 15 percent of American students were already there, missing 18 or more days of school in a year. Then, during the pandemic, U.S. rates for chronic absenteeism reached about 31% between 2021 and 2022 before falling to 28% in the 2022 to 2023 school year. Thereafter, in 2024, chronic absenteeism remained 57% higher than before COVID, and the next year it improved by less than a single percentage point. That’s quite shocking.
Since then, absenteeism has remained high, and the US Department of Education states that this cannot be the new normal. That’s why it is doing everything it can to reduce absenteeism. However, despite efforts, the scale of absenteeism remains enormous.
Unfortunately, it's believed that roughly 10.8 million students were chronically absent in the 2024 to 2025 school year, and in one federal survey, 72% of public schools reported numbers above pre-pandemic levels. Not to mention chronic absenteeism seemingly gets worse with age. In fact, chronic absence hovers near 14% in fifth grade and climbs to 32% by senior year (in other words, exactly where Marcus was).
Why Does Chronic Absenteeism Keep Climbing?
There are many reasons chronic absenteeism continues to rise in the US and remains stubbornly high post-pandemic. These reasons can be grouped into real-world barriers, disengagement and school aversion, and changing mindsets. Let’s discuss:
Real-World Barriers
When it comes to real-world barriers, there are quite a few that children and teenagers have to contend with. For instance, nowadays school-going children are experiencing severe health and mental wellness challenges. Many suffer from untreated physical illnesses such as asthma, anxiety, poor dental care, and depression. These often lead to frequent or extended lockouts from learning.
Another real-world barrier is economic and family stress, where things like food insecurity, housing instability, and parents who have to work multiple irregular shifts impact school attendance. Then there are also transportation shortages. Unfortunately, bus driver shortages and unreliable public or rural transit leave many students without a reliable or consistent ride to school, which can prompt them to stay home.
Disengagement and School Aversion
Many school-aged individuals feel disengaged from school and are even averse to continuing to attend school regularly. In part, this is because of the pandemic, where many students fell behind academically during remote learning. Unfortunately, this has led them to avoid classes where they struggle to catch up.
Additionally, the pandemic also contributed to social isolation, fraying peer and teacher bonds. This social isolation has since lowered the social pull of school for many students. Plus, there are still safety concerns to bear in mind. Many students still choose to remain absent when they experience bullying, peer conflict, or fear violence surrounding school or their community.
Changing Mindsets
The most notable mindset shift has come about post-pandemic. Nowadays, more and more families have grown accustomed to keeping their children home at the slightest sign of illness, and this has since shifted social expectations around minor illnesses. To put it bluntly, minor colds are now treated with more urgency and fear than they once were because of the more fearful mindset surrounding illnesses in a post-pandemic landscape.
Then, illnesses aside, there is also a diminished value on daily attendance, with some families underestimating the cumulative damage of their children missing a ‘few days’ of school. Unfortunately, many parents fail to see the direct tie-in between poor school attendance and academics and high school graduation.
Why Truancy Letters and Robocalls Don't Improve Attendance
Even with an understanding of the different reasons why absenteeism remains high, most schools in the US still rely heavily on truancy letters and robocalls, but these don’t improve attendance.
I can understand the impulse to keep doing things this way, having signed my fair share of those referrals, but it only strengthens my argument that they don't work. And the issue is that these letters and calls are aimed at the wrong target:
- The automated call: These go home the day a student misses school, but are they even listened to, and do they reach the parent? In many situations, they may not be, or they may be ignored entirely.
- The truancy letter: This is sent out when absences start piling up (Marcus received a few of these). Unfortunately, they are highly ineffective and can even backfire. However, it is worth noting that more modern truancy letters that embrace ‘behavioral nudges’ according to Harvard Kennedy School can have better outcomes.
With both traditional truancy letters and automated robo calls, they both try to treat the ‘empty desk ’, but the desk is only the receipt for the decision made long ago by a student or their parents. That’s why alternative solutions, such as esports in schools, need to be explored to try to draw students back in.
Does Esports Improve School Attendance? What the Data Shows
If esports is a proposed solution to school absenteeism, does the data support it? Yes, in fact it's a resounding yes.
So much so because in recent years the evidence has moved well past the stereotype, and people can no longer think of esports as teenagers wasting an afternoon on video games.
If you’re on the fence about it, these three findings might help you understand why esports should be something more schools (and ahem parents) start to take seriously:
- Moreno Valley, California: The Riverside County Office of Education compared esports participants with their peers and found that students in its esports program attended 7.34 more days of school on average between 2022 and 2023. The next year, after researchers controlled for demographics and prior attendance, those same students recorded a 33.5 percent lower absence rate.
- Three high schools in New Jersey: A 2025 study by Garden State Esports and Monmouth University tracked 229 students and found that participants in esports programs missed fewer days of school. Findings indicate that the average number of absences dropped from about 10 per student to 9. This was enough to help those districts recapture more than $20,000 in average daily attendance funding.
- The gains go beyond attendance: A NASEF study of its scholastic esports league, measured against national academic and social-emotional standards, found participants improved on 17 of the 19 outcomes researchers tracked, with school engagement and STEM career interest among the biggest gains.
These statistics demonstrate the positive impact of esports and how students are finding, week after week, that esports programs are a place worth showing up for, thus avoiding absenteeism.
Why Structured Esports Programs Keep Students Coming Back
It can be challenging to understand why structured esports programs keep students coming back, but it's important to realize that the gains don’t come from the games themselves.
In fact, it's often the structure, planning, discipline, excitement, and joy around them that keeps students in schools and in these programs, especially when done well. With that in mind, here’s a closer look into the why of things:
It Starts With an Interest They Already Have
Esports programs meet students where their attention already lives. These programs allow students to feel genuine enthusiasm over their interests instead of having to fake happiness over alternative programs that try to keep them in school.
This then allows them to turn their natural passion for gaming into an inclusive, formalized community that requires academic eligibility and regular attendance to participate.
It Gives Them a Place to Belong
Esports targets the unengaged, meaning it appeals to those students who aren’t necessarily participating in traditional sports or arts but who want a place to belong. These students feel seen and heard in esports programs by coaches who notice when they are gone. It might not seem like it, but simply being missed is often enough reason for them to keep walking through the door.
Not to mention, there are no physical barriers, offering an equitable playing field regardless of size, gender, or physical ability, which also helps with one's sense of belonging. Additionally, esports programs offer safe social spaces for marginalized and neurodivergent students to connect with like-minded peers in a supervised, highly structured environment.
It's Wrapped in Real Curriculum
Many parents and schools get it wrong when they think an esports program is just another casual gaming club. The truth is the two couldn’t be further from one another if they tried, since a real esports program offers a curriculum within the gaming competition framework.
For example, in our Academic Esports program, the competition is built on a standards-aligned, project-based curriculum rather than tacked on to it. This means that although students are playing games, it isn’t all they are doing. In this program, they are also learning how to start and run a team, and the curriculum introduces them to coding and game development while weaving social-emotional lessons directly into the gameplay.
Additionally, because the curriculum is designed by educators and aligned with real academic standards, it is held to the same scrutiny as any other course on campus. So, schools can offer it during the bell schedule or as an extended learning option, and it includes the professional development teachers need to lead it effectively.
It Points Toward a Future They Can See
When done well, a well-planned and structured esports program can show students a future they can actually see themselves living after school. In many instances, students in these programs have a clear path to certifications and careers in fields such as game design and esports broadcasting.
That means that, ironically, the very thing a child was told to push aside might be the very thing that pays his or her rent one day, and that is the whole idea behind turning gamers into makers.
The Real Fix for Absenteeism
With the current state of school absenteeism and esports programming as a potential solution, where does this leave us? Well, absenteeism continues to rise, and truancy letters, alongside robocalls, are not helping anyone. Esports, though, offers a worthwhile consideration for addressing the problem. After all, the research is in, and a well-run program keeps kids in school, grows their interest in STEM careers, and saves schools money in the process.
But if I'm honest, the money and the metrics aren't what get me out of bed. As an educator, I've spent my whole career on a single belief, which is that when children win, we all win. So, if your desks are emptier than they used to be, that belief is worth acting on. Come see how our Academic Esports program runs inside a real school, and schedule a demo so we can talk about the students you're working to bring back.
