“He’s gonna hate me saying this."
A Florida mother is sparking quite the debate on TikTok about kids skipping school at the end of the year.
Patricia Horton, who has a 12- and 7-year-old at home, took to her TikTok account on May 22 to ask fellow parents what their thoughts were on letting students skip the last day, or week, of school.
The responses were mixed, but Horton knew exactly where she stood on the topic.
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“I don’t make my kids go to school the last couple days of school. I don’t see the point,” she says in the video. “Most of the teachers would rather you keep your kids home anyway, at least around here.”
Horton argued that the last week of school primarily consists of watching movies and cleaning desks.
“We cleaned desks and we cleaned classrooms and I was a ‘professional’ at cleaning desks. So, why?” she asks. “What was the point of sending me to school on the last few days of school?”
“I just see no point. Grades are done. Teachers are done. Let them live,” she wrote in the caption.
@mrshorton87 I just see no point. Grades are done. Teachers are done. Let them live. #schoollife #schooldays #parentsoftiktok #momsover30 #momsoftiktok ♬ original sound - Patricia Horton
Instead of following in her own parents’ footsteps, Horton says she’s “not doing that with my kids.”
“Stay home, baby. It’s summer time,” she concludes in the video.
In an interview with Today, published May 29, Horton continued her argument and clarified that she doesn’t force her kids to skip school if they don’t want to. But if they do, she’s not going to stop them.
Instead, she lets her kids play in the pool at home or spend quality time with their grandparents.
And for anyone wondering how her decision sits with her kids’ teachers, Horton says they don’t mind.
“They always say, ‘It’s been great teaching your kid and I hope you have a great summer,’” she told the outlet. “It’s never: ‘Oh no, you’re not going to come?’ They totally understand.”
She also clarified that she gives the teachers a notice before pulling her kids from their class.
“I don’t want our teachers to feel like they are babysitting at that point,” she continues, adding that all exams are finished and grades are entered by the time she excuses her kids.
Parents (and teachers) share mixed feelings about kids skipping school
While Horton doesn’t see the point of attending the last days of school, many parents and teachers do.
In fact, a lot of TikTok users took to the comment section of Horton’s video to share their opinions on the topic — and many of them disagreed with her sentiment.
“I’m a teacher, and I hate when kids miss the last few days of school. We as a class have been a family for several months,” one commenter, who claims to be a teacher, wrote under Horton’s post.
“Kids and teachers would like to say good bye. Especially for kids who move away,” she continues. “The fun week gives them something to end school on a good note.”
Other parents said that, while they don’t make their kids go to school, their kids go anyways — because they want to.
“My kids would be SO disappointed if they missed the last few days,” another commenter wrote. “Splash pad, movies, field day, auctions… all on the last days. That’s the fun stuff they’ve waited all year for.”
But some teachers agreed with Horton.
“From a teacher, you are correct,” a third commenter wrote. “Those ‘fun’ days are just us babysitting. We are done teaching at that point! Start that summer break early!”
One comment, which was added to Horton’s Instagram post (of the same video), claimed that some schools can lose funding if too many kids skip class.
“The school (loses) ADA (average daily attendance) $$ which (in turn) affects financial allocation for all programs & services, thus hurting all students & staff,” the commenter wrote.
Horton replied to the comment, arguing that that’s not the case where she lives.
“That’s not true in our district. I know it is in some, but not for ours,” Horton wrote in response.
In a live poll on Today, which had more than 500 votes, as of May 30, more than two-thirds of all respondents said that allowing kids to skip the last day of school was disrespectful to the teachers.
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Twenty-three percent of the voters said that it’s “pointless,” while the other 10% remained in the middle.
