Before going into the claim of “there should never be an attendance policy”, let’s give some context!
When going to high school most classes or institutions, for not to say all, have an attendance policy that requires their students to attend everyday but they are allowed to miss up to 3 days without a grade punishment unless there is a great motive that retains the student from attending. This superior motive must be notified to the school officials and most of the times require a doctor’s notice meaning the students are not attending because of health issues.
When going to university, attendance is considered by the class instructor and the department that the class may belong to, for example technical writing belongs to the English department. Some classes consider attendance for grade and others without having countability pass the list and in the syllabus it is mentioned that if you miss more than a certain maximum of lectures you would receive a letter grade punishment. If I get an A as final grade because of low attendance I receive a B.
Given the different attendance policies, what happens if the student has anxiety or an overload of stress during the school calendar? Are they mandated to attend a professional that particular day to submit the notice so he/she cannot be punished? Some professionals actually have a waitlist and most of the time because of mental issues not everybody is strong enough to reach a psychologist. In some other way, it could also be considered a breach in the privacy of students as these most of the times have the need to report their doings to the professor/teacher if they do not attend class.
Quick and easy, under my consideration, attendance should not be taken into consideration as long as the student can successfully pass the class and learn the essentials taught.
Unruly Bodies 
I do agree, and I think attendance policies need lots and lots of changes if they continue to exist. It’s tough to strike a balance between not punishing students who just need the time/break and wanting people to show up. I think this is really different when comparing college to high school/middle school, because you’re paying to be at the college in some way. Although I really don’t agree with attendance policies, I can see why they have existed. I highly disagree with a doctor’s note being a requirement, either because of privacy or mental illness like you’ve discussed, or because sometimes it’s just a cold and there’s not even a reason to go to the doctor. I think the biggest problem is having to choose between my attendance grade and the exposure/health of my classmates.
I agree with you, too often, students are penalized for missing class. Sometimes all we need is mental health day, a day to decompress and relax. Do nothing and just relax without worrying about things that need to be done. University can be overwhelming, which can cause us to feel tired and stressed. Too much homework can also lead to academic failure. Due to this, it is common to feel overwhelmed and not be able to focus on the studies. I think that if the professor took attendance every day, it only makes the students more stressed. If professors give students the option to have an attendance grade, it would alleviate a lot of the stress that students endure during the semester.
It’s a tricky issue with the current education system though. Missing multiple classes often results in missing new information that the instructor will not teach again (at least in depth). If too many classes are missed that’s a lot of information that the student just does not have and is likely unable to fill that gap. Also some students will absolutely abuse this system and it’s hard to find a way to make it so students who actually need the mental health days are able to have access to them without providing a way for abuse.
I like your blog. Its very different. I feel as if many people don’t touch on this topic of attendance and sometimes how us humans having so much going on cant always control it. the school system shouldn’t have any effect on attendance but than again more people wouldn’t come to school for the sake of no rule.
Attendance has always been a tricky issue for me. I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum. In middle school, I was awarded a special certificate stating that I had attended every day of school from 6th grade to 8th grade. In 9th grade,I was so focused on having perfect attendance because I wanted to flaunt that on my college application (spoilers, covid killed that dream). From 10th grade to now, my attendance has been lacking to say the least. I understand the need to enforce something so kids don’t abuse the system, but at the same time, life is too complex, so anything could wrong. Personally, as long as the student is able to catch up or demonstrate that they understand the general idea of what was taught, they should be fine. If it becomes a pattern, they should at least inform the instructor. Also, when instructors begin to ask for death certificates or extreme forms of proof to excuse your absence, that is doing too much.