*The names Cameron and Ferris have been used to protect the identity of sources used in this article.
Jacob Heller waits anxiously in the closet, hiding from his dad. While Heller was skipping school, his dad had come home, unaware that his son wasn’t in school. His dad finally leaves the room and relief washes over him.
According to the KSD 2023-24 Student and Family Handbook, there are different stages too. Principal Dr. Seth Harrell said there were a total of 779 days of absences from last semester. Usually, when a student is missing from class and doesn’t have an excused absence, an email or an automated call is sent to the parents. Despite the cautions the district takes to alert parents to be more aware of their children, that doesn’t stop students from skipping class.
Cameron, senior, said he isn’t an avid school skipper. When he does skip from time to time, he said it’s a day of relaxing and catching up on school work.
“When I am not in school, I’m [probably] at home, doing homework and laying down,” Cameron said. “[Or] I just sit up here in the weight room because everyone thinks I have gym classes since I’m a senior.”
Cameron said he doesn’t really skip school with his friends since they have different schedules. He said when he skips, he’s giving his brain a break by having a mental health day, or to let himself get caught up on whatever he needs to get done.
“Mental health is real,” Cameron said. “I don’t hate being [here] because it’s a good environment, but you need time to yourself. Sometimes school isn’t always the best option and you just need to get yourself together.”
Jacob Heller, who gave permission along with his parent to use his real name in this article, said he stays home instead of going out. He said by the end of first semester, he had about 15-20 absences in each class.
“[The school] didn’t email or tell my parents that I was missing school,” Heller said. “It’s very irresponsible.”
The Kirkwood Call reached out to the tenth grade office. Due to privacy concerns, the administration cannot discuss individual student records.
Heller said he never goes out when he skips school, but usually stays home and hangs out. He said since he was doing well in school, he didn’t have much to worry about if he was missing a class.
“My grades weren’t bad, [they] were going up since I was skipping school,” Heller said. “Skipping school helped me, but it may not be smart for other people, especially if they’re more of a hands-on learner.”
Ferris, senior, said he usually stays home or goes to Chick-Fil-A. He will occasionally go out and have fun with friends.
“I usually just go home and chill or go to Chick-Fil-A,” Arnold said. “Sometimes I’ll go out with friends, it’s 50/50.”
There was a time when Ferris regretted skipping school. He said it was when KHS had a gas leak and everyone in the building evacuated. Ferris said he decided to go home and play video games, but when he opened up his phone, he saw how much fun everyone was having, blasting music and having a party in the school parking lot while he was scrolling on Instagram.
Ferris said the type of student you are determines whether or not you should skip school. He said it is okay to miss “a day or two.”
“If you’ve got good grades and good work ethic in school, I say you should be able to miss some school,” Ferris said. “If you’re not good at school though, sit your butt in class.”
