Senior Skip Day: Punishable or Harmless?

The tradition of Senior Skip Day is not a new one for SouthCoast schools. For decades, high school seniors have all chosen a day in which seniors will intentionally be absent from school.

Most classes decide to gather together at one particular place and spend the day together, perhaps taking part in a group outing or event.

Usually, it happens on a day late in the school year – because why not wait for the nice weather, right? Another reason, though, is because most of the actual school work of the year is wrapped up by the time the skip day occurs, so it’s rather inconsequential that students don’t show up that particular day.

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Some school administrators, however, take Senior Skip Day seriously and look to curb its participation, or even punish those who do take part.

My classmates from the Wareham High Class of 1996 still tell tales of how our principal Mr. Burke showed up in the woods where everyone had gathered to party. I personally wasn’t there – not because I didn’t believe in Senior Skip Day, but because I had to be in school to take an AP test that day.

A current Wareham parent recently posted to Facebook that she was annoyed by the fact that Wareham High Principal Scott Palladino had apparently told seniors that anyone who takes part in Senior Skip Day would not be able to walk at graduation.

The comments were filled with people stating that it had been threatened many times in years past, but never enforced, calling it an “empty threat.”

Those commenting were overwhelmingly in support of Senior Skip Day, with one parent even stating her child’s class has had three Senior Skip Days so far this school year, one each term.

What are your thoughts on the tradition of Senior Skip Day?