Though class attendance is a serious problem worth addressing, the new Saturday School policy is an ineffective solution that is wrong in principle.

Given, the plan may cause a few careless cutters to think twice about skipping a subject, but for many students, Saturday School is not a strong-enough incentive to attend class.

Often, students cut not simply to miss school but to avoid big tests and deadlines or study for other exams. For these students, attending class on Saturday is worth the extra time to study and make the grade, and non-attendance can be worth the consequence.

Further, people worried about grades would most likely study over the weekend anyhow, whether at Saturday School or at home. Making students do their homework is not a punishment.

Saturday School will not only fail as a program but also as a deterrent. High school is a place for fostering maturity, and kids should be taught responsibility for completing homework on their own time, not at Saturday School. In addition, because reasons for cutting vary, there cannot be just one policy. For example, forcing drug abusers to come to Saturday School for missing class will not solve their truancy issues. Also, in cases of extreme stress or depression, non-attendance can be necessary, and compelling students to attend extra class may worsen these problems instead of treating them.

Lastly, Saturday School may endanger student integrity. Excusing absences requires a parent note or phone call. To avoid detention, people may decide to forge notes and clear their own cuts. Even if some students decide to attend class rather than Saturday School, they can still not participate, disregard homework and fail the subject. This result is hardly better than not attending class at all.

There are many alternatives to stop cutting, such as a stricter policy on excusing absences, better parent communication or work on a counseling service to address the causes of cutting individually, rather than harsher punishments. The current system, dropping students after multiple absences, is punishment enough. Saturday School will neither deter nor curb cutting.