Senior year: fondly remembered by most as the best year in their high school experience. The memories made, the big events, the firsts, the lasts, the relationships and friendships; it all rounds up the adventure that senior year could be. For this reason, seniors usually decide to get involved and participate in school events or outside activities. These final memories and fun adventures are vital for many, so it’s easy to understand why our students decide to live life to the fullest in their final year. However, whether Senior Ditch Day classifies as one of the rites of passage a senior should experience is up for debate.

Since students go to school for almost 200 days, missing a single day seems insignificant, especially for students who are in desperate need of a break from working hard to fulfill the expectations of teachers, friends and parents. It’s hardly fair to blame students for wanting a day off; however incessant absent calls, missing students who will be receiving hours and extra tasks for the attendance office who have to deal with the consequences of students ditching school show why people are so divided over the topic. Math teacher Karen Evans, calls the “Have your parents excuse your absence day, ” which seems silly as it “eliminates the ditch part of the day, which is what is supposed to be the exciting part about it.” While it is true that most students take Ditch Day as an excused day off and this causes more trouble for administration, I believe this is not such a bad thing.

Some students will choose to come to school, some will gather up with friends to enjoy some time together and others will just decide to stay home and relax. Some students will ditch and accept the consequences of it, while others will have their parents excuse their absences. Either way, the memories and experiences that students choose to have are entirely up to them. Seniors will soon be in college or working and will be less no longer dependent of their parents. So why should we penalize them for making their own decisions in their final year?  If students decide a final trip with friends is more necessary for them than a single day of school, we should accept their decision. If a student decides a break is needed and wishes to nap all day instead of doing school work, that day off should be allowed. Most of our students have years of school left after high school and have already been through a long and rigorous school life; let’s allow them to decide what they want to do for a day. High school is what you make of it, and your experience should be made solely by you, so decide how you’d like to spend and enjoy it.