Skipping School #2Op-Ed About Skipping School

In Part 1 of “Skipping School,” I shared my husband Fred’s poem. It revealed the benefits of playing hooky to go oystering with his dad, even though his mother did not want Fred to miss school. Fred learned a valuable lesson—he would not want a career in oystering.


An opportunity like that never happened for me growing up, for the educational system—and my parents—did not allow even one day off to play hooky. I could only miss school if I could validate that I was sick. If a child skipped school, parents could suffer. They might be fined—or in a rare case, be considered unfit parents and have their children taken away! I don’t know if Fred’s mother feared this, but I know she thought it was breaking a rule, and she did not break rules. Also, parents could worry about being lax in setting a standard that would evolve into a habit and set a poor example for functioning later in life.


According to the American College Dictionary to play hooky is to be unjustifiably absent from school. Why is it called hooky? Perhaps the Dutch word hoekje, the game of hide and seek is the source, suggesting an illegal connotation to playing hooky as the educational system believed. American use of the term hookey as missing school started in the late 1840s.


Parents with a relaxed approach to missing school believe that education is not limited to what happens in school. I spoke with a mother recently who home-schooled her four children until ninth grade. She did this for a total of twelve years. During these years she had many experiences for her children, e.g., going to museums, seeing how apple cider is made, traveling in Europe for a month, visiting all that Washington, D.C. has to offer culturally, and relaxing around the swimming pool doing their homework. Her kids survived and in fact, excelled when they entered the public system in high school and as adults persevere, are dedicated to their jobs, and have high expectations.

I also think about my grandsons, who went to school in California where they had a designated “snow week” off each year. This probably was due to the thinking that if all the students had off during the same week of school, playing hooky would be uniform and not be sporadic in the flow of education.


What are the benefits of occasionally missing school—with parental permission? Besides having an educational advantage, getting away from the pressures of school can be mentally rewarding. Kids sometimes need to recharge and in a relaxing environment to regenerate both spiritually and physically. However, a parent with a child who wants frequent hooky days can see that as a warning sign of an escape from more serious problems.


I spoke with my youngest son about this idea and told him I wished I had felt the freedom to play hooky with him and his siblings. I think bonding with my children would have been more intense. I explained that we did do some special activities on holidays or after school. He said he forgave me, for when he got to college he was able to take part in Semester at Sea. Visiting other cultures from Spain to China, he said, broadened his life and transformed him into the adult he is today.


As Leah Hager Cohen stated in a conversation on Boston’s Cognoscenti, “By designating these activities as worthy—as containing at least as much merit as a day of standard lessons—my parents signaled something indelible and transformative about the meaning and purpose of learning, about the scope of human development and human being.”


Even for adults, having a day off once a year has mental health benefits to escape the stress of the job and to recuperate. Taking the day to take care of yourself is important. It’s a day to rewind, recharge, and get some balance. For those who are in a job that they dislike, this could be the time to think about options to possibly make a job or career change. In such cases, seeing a life coach or therapist would be helpful. In the meantime, a day of hooky provides an individual the choice to do anything . . . or nothing at all.


Submitted by Jo Ann Brannock, PhD
Retired Psychologist

Yet Another View of Skipping School

Dr. Brannock reveals positive insights about the benefits of playing hooky. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has cast a long shadow upon education in many ways, including large and troubling increases in student absenteeism. A different perception about missing school demands attention these days, and is cause for concern for our society. Hooky may have positive outcomes in families with financial means and strategies, but many students simply do not participate when classes are online and turning on the camera is not always required—nor even possible, in some situations.
How do parents deal with these cases of hooky if their family income is low and they must be at work? What strategies can help when appropriate supervision is difficult? How can they participate in enrichment activities with their kids?
Stay tuned for Part 3.