Senior skip day is a tradition in American schools where students in the senior class skip a day of school. Annually, seniors have this “skip day,” a chance for them to not go to school and do whatever they want.
There is no specific beginning to this unofficial tradition but it has been happening since the 1930s. The movie Ferris Bueller’s Day off was an incentive to have skip days and since then it has become an annual tradition.
Senior skip day is an unexcused absence, and students who miss still have to make up schoolwork. While it may be fun, there is the downside of having an unexcused absence on your records.
Although students do have the luxury of calling in sick and having the ability to skip without any consequences of being absent, it depends on the parent’s decision to condone this or not.
There is no specific date in which students in the senior class skip. Nov. 1 was a day chosen by seniors to skip, as it was the day the Common App was due.
On skip days students have different ways of occupying themselves. Hanging out with friends, getting food, going outside, shopping, are examples of the activities students can do.
Seniors have different opinions on skipping school. Senior Antonia Roach said, “I have been looking forward to senior skip day for a while, I am going to skip because it’s fun and a lot of my friends are skipping also.”
Seniors anticipate participating in this tradition based on the amount of school work they are projected to have on that day. Senior Haley Scheinberg said, “I’m skipping Friday because I don’t have any work in my classes, or any quizzes or tests so I don’t feel guilty missing.”
While some students are looking forward to participating in the ritual, others are against it. Senior Olivia Kerben said, “I am not skipping on Friday because I don’t want the absence on my records and its a stupid day to just miss work for no reason when I could just do it in class.”
Other students agree with this philosophy that skipping school for no reason is not worth it. Senior Larry Feldman said, “I would skip but I would rather get all my work in school done instead of having to make it up afterwards. It just doesn’t make sense to skip for no certain reason.”
While the students intending to skip Friday have different activities planned to do on their free day, senior Ben Bloch said, “I plan on sleeping in late and getting food with my friends. Just having a chill day and a nice break from school.”
Some students may be skipping but don’t plan to take any break from school. Senior Arian Nyandjo said, “I’m skipping because it’s something seniors always do every year and I wanted to be a part of it, but I am still going to do schoolwork at home so I don’t fall behind in class.”
