With one hand I can count all the times I was ever taken out of school in all my twelve years for any unexcused absences like these. Some of these seem farcical. Vacation lining up with my cousins' breaks? That's what summer break is for dude.
Truth is, some families just don't take education seriously.
I also find that attitude wild. Missing school by choice was something to be done only in extraordinary circumstances. Word of kids being gone for long vacations and such would get that look (“oh, they’re those sorts”) and a disappointed head shake from my parents.
(My parents’ background was dirt poor, rural, and white, to set the scene—but skipping by choice was something not to be taken lightly, you go to school, that’s how it is)
Same background as me. The times I 'voluntarily' skipped school were funerals of relatives. I think our perspective is the more common one in the general population, but I guess HN has a lot of those sort of people.
Truth is, some families just don't take education seriously.