Senior Skip Day: The Good and The Ugly

By Emily Schmidt
Editor

As the weather gets warmer and Senioritis hits even the most conscientious students, the decades-old tradition of “Senior Skip Day” gains widespread attention across this year’s graduating class.  Before becoming a senior, I’d always imagined this incredible, exciting, unofficial holiday to be like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  Boy, was I wrong.

A little over a month ago, several of my peers decided suddenly to declare the upcoming Friday the first “Senior Skip Day.”  The weather forecast was in the low forties with a chance of snow.  Many students objected to it, but others insisted that as seniors, we are entitled to a day or multiple days off at the end of the year.  Dozens tried to organize the day on Facebook but were only partially successful.  I simply watched amusedly as the entire situation unfolded. 

I went to school that Friday, along with probably more than half of the twelfth grade.  I sat through several classes where teachers spent half the class expressing their frustration.  Tests needed to be rescheduled, lesson plans were ruined, and unnecessary extra credit was given out.  It was simply a strange day that I spent the next week thinking about.  How has “Senior Skip Day” changed over the past few decades?  Are seniors actually entitled to a few days off?  What is the feasibility of every student’s actually skipping on the same day?

I’ve never skipped class in my entire life, nor have I ever thought about doing it.  Staying home sick from school is one of the worst parts about being a senior in high school.  Making up classwork, homework, and tests within a certain timeframe can be nearly impossible with extracurriculars and sports practices.  Skipping on a Friday is more convenient, but for what real purpose are we cutting class?  I don’t agree with my peers that we, as seniors, are entitled to a day off.  Yes, we’ve worked hard for twelve years.  Yes, we all need a break once in a while.   However, I understand the viewpoint of the frustrated teachers. They need more of a skip day than any of us really do.

​It is also fairly ironic that the students who chose to participate in “Senior Skip Day” probably had their parents write notes purporting to excuse students because of “illnesses” for the day.  Skipping school is more difficult to pull off nowadays without getting into trouble.  Not all of us can be as lucky and sly as Ferris Bueller.  

---