But 88% of high school dropouts were chronic absentees and have missed at the least 20 school days. Chronic absenteeism means missing 10% of a school year for any reason and it is a leading cause of dropping out. Upon missing a lot of school students tend to fall behind in their classes and miss out on more days out of the embarrassment and lack of motivation to catch up. They then will begin to feel disengaged and behind with their school life. When struggling with being behind and alienated from the rest of their classmates they conclude the best decision is to