We All Need To Skip Every Now And Then

Well, Mom, Dad, I love you guys. And I hate to admit it, but occasionally I sin, although you may think it impossible. And yes, I have skipped class once. Well, more than once. A couple times, here and there, when I’ve felt a little too burned out to sit and drool all over my papers and books.

Well, shame on me I suppose, not to mention the other 10 billion students across America who occasionally feel like ditching chemistry or basket-weaving or whatever other class gets a little boring at times. The truth is, who doesn’t skip every once and a while? If I sit in school every period, every day, every month, every school year, I will become the most dyspeptic individual ever to grace the Spokane schools. Teachers will beg for me to leave.

And hey, who’s to say teachers don’t occasionally duck out of their classrooms, calling in sick when they simply want to stay home with their children or watch Donahue? Teachers also get a few days where they can dismiss their responsibilities and take a breather. Maybe students, who are learning new and stressful subjects, should also be given a break.

Just because I skip, does that make me a bad person? I still make honor roll and have friends and don’t beat up on kids or yell at teachers. And hey, every once and a while I wash the dishes for my mom.

And personally, obviously, I disagree with the recent school official plan to cut down on truancy. Hiring police officers to scout and capture hooky-playing students is rather childish. As the Washington law sagely asserts, it is the responsibility of parents and students themselves to make sure they’re in school, not the school officials.

The district’s arguments in favor of the program center around the impressive results in Salt Lake City. Shoplifting down 31 percent, home break-ins down 34 percent, car stripping and prowling down 30 percent, blah blah blah.

The skippers who commit these crimes should be punished, but these feckless individuals should not be put back into the classroom.

The school officials suggest that parents, after being called to pick up their truant children, must take them immediately back to school. Well gee, that’s a good idea, except for the fact their caustic comments and behavior to both students and teachers may cause more problems than they solve. If someone is too lax to take part in education, let them skip. At least they won’t be damaging another’s chance in class.

If teens skip a class in which they might learn something, they will only be damaging themselves. If they choose to skip it again and again, let them. Their punishment will be delivered in the future when they fail to find a job or just miss getting into that college they wanted so desperately to join.

Perhaps the few times I skipped a class will come back to haunt me someday. If they do, I will take it head on. I honestly do not need someone to hold my hand and lead me back to school. After relaxing a bit, I will return myself.