Why Skip?

Lots of students know skipping is a problem, so why do they do it?

Story by Alicia Narum

STUDENTS IN THE

HALLS. The halls are often full of students who use hall as a way to avoid class, while students do use these flex spaces for educational purposes these spaces are also a prime spot to hang out when advoiding class. Photo by Dru White

FREE STATE HS

ENTER NORTH EXIT - 8:32:05 AM

THE BATHROOM

STALL. Students hideout in the bathroom as a way to advoid class, even with surveillance measure taken this year Photo by Lady Ortega-Perez

While many students realize that skipping class isn’t always in their best interest, a poll from @fsjournalism’s Instagram story displayed 61% of 492 students have skipped. Skipping school can set students behind on lectures, assignments and even get them in trouble with the school and parents. Despite this, students still continue to skip which leaves the question, why?

TROUBLE IN CLASS

One of the most obvious reasons that students skip is that they simply don’t want to go to that class. While nearly every student has taken a course they lack interest in, senior Maxwell Collmeyer found it harder to attend class where the teacher had a negative attitude or where he was not interested in the topic.

“If you are kinda a jerk, then I don’t really want to be in your class,” Collmeyer said. “Or if you don’t have a good attitude towards what you are teaching. There’s some classes that I really didn’t like last year, and some teachers I didn’t really like last year, so I would just generally skip their class.”

However, skipping classes can quickly become a slippery slope according to English teacher Kylie Johnston.

“I’ve had a couple students in the past say ‘ yeah but everyone in my group knows that I’ve been gone for a couple of weeks. So they’re probably going to be mad at me that I didn’t [come to class],’” Johnston said. “I know it does feel embarrassing, but once you come back, you just get that over with and it gets better from day to day.”

MENTAL HEALTH

Additionally, many students find themselves skipping class for their own mental health. During the school year, many students work hard juggling academics, extracurricular activities, family responsibilities and work.

“Sometimes you’re just not having a great day, and sometimes you just need a few minutes to not be talked at or working or needing to think, and you just need a break,” senior Grace Malin said.

HAVE OTHER WORK

Though the majority of students take six to seven courses a semester, not every class has active lectures or assignments each day, resulting in workdays. Some students decide to skip these class days in order to prioritize work in another class.

“We were doing a review for math, so it wasn’t going to be an active lecture,” Malin said. “I had an English assignment that I really needed to get done and so I decided to stay in the choir room for that hour.”

HOW TO HELP

Though students skip, many wouldn’t recommend doing it unless necessary. After skipping at least one class a day last year, Collmeyer noticed that his grades significantly dropped.

“I had garbage grades last year,” Collmeyer said. “[I] just barely passed all of my classes, but now that I’m in school and kind of always doing my work and always in class, I have straight A’s and B’s.”

Many say the most effective way to eliminate skipping is through communication. For Johnston, opening up a line of communication with the student can help create a mutual understanding and work to help eliminate obstacles that are preventing the student from attending class. These obstacles often include assignment misunderstandings, stress, or other life pressures.

“Having an open conversation makes both parties feel better in the end because they feel like they understand each other,” Johnston said.