What Are The Pros And Cons Of Skipping School And Why Should You Do It
We have all thought of it once or twice…
We have all thought of it once or twice, perhaps we have even daydreamed about while sitting in a boring lecture with our eyes locked on the clock until it strikes one, and recess begins or something better school ends.
Don’t let the picture deceive you, my school wasn’t as colorful and synergistic as this one. It was perhaps like a prison, with our very own uniform and a creditworthy discipline that had to be maintained if you want to even remotely attend the classroom.
But there would also be the corporal punishments given to students who would fall below average grading or not maintaining the uniform code or discipline.
“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” ― John A. Shedd
It would suck, well if I would go into detail as to why I skipped school, there are many reasons but the most important one was that I wanted to challenge myself to risk it all, for one thing, i.e. freedom. I learned from an early age, the art of experimentation and failure.
I believe critical thinking comes from doing critical experiments and taking risks in life. It doesn’t come from rota learning or sitting in a classroom where your teachers whether male or female would hit you for every wrong answer just because you are boys and you can take it.
Thus, I took it upon myself to risk skipping school — it was something I would say was on my to-do list of things along with jumping from the school balcony towards the juniper tree in the courtyard. (Fun Fact, if you jump from a height on a juniper tree it does go down towards the ground.)
“The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.” ― Marcus Tullius Cicero
Thus, I thought it best to wing it as I usually did in those teenage years. If you fear failures or even punishments — you can’t ever learn and you can’t necessarily learn in a school such as mine that was an all-boys prison where the goodie two shoes who could fairly memorize would be removed from the classrooms and placed into separate sections, thus I thought it best to remove myself from the equation.
“I just let the pain take over, allowing it to numb the pain of being left behind.” ― Jessica Sorensen
We were already abandoned as the average ones, we were never considered as we had mental health issues, undiagnosed even if we had them it would never be accepted, that time was far behind and still is nowadays.
I could get bored in the classes, they were always running around a single circle, when I would ask questions, I would get silenced whether through getting hit sometimes, or even sometimes I was made to stand barefoot on one leg, in school grounds as a sense of shaming.
I wasn’t alone, so I didn’t feel bad that much. We all had a disability, we didn’t let that or the punishments affect us. It was perhaps our strength.
I was a fairly disciplined kid, with a humble moral compass. It wasn’t that I was a bad student, but I was bad at writing answers having ADD and all. It all reached its limit when I was severely beaten once. And that perhaps was in the biology classroom where it just was enough. I decided that I will skip class, and skip school.
“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” ― Marilyn vos Savant
Thus, I studied people at a very early age. I understood the timings when there would be no guards at the school gates and even the times where the courtyard would be empty. There was time at noon where there would be almost less traffic near the school and also around the courtyards, thus I thought it best to escape school, at that moment.
I would keep coming back to school every day, but I would study these patterns. I learned the art of understanding patterns given my ability to hyperactivity. I would watch everyone, I was an avid observer from an early age. Thus I wrote the timings and also tried to roam around once or twice near the gates.
“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” ― William Faulkner
There were many risks, though I did calculate them and I took my chance on a Wednesday and I made my leap — I fairly made it with my bag on my back. I stopped when I heard the guards coming my way, they stood for a while I was hiding behind the juniper trees in the courtyard, they soon left and I swiftly ran through the gates, and tasted freedom for the first time. But it wasn’t the first time, it was just the first time on the new campus.
I had skipped school first a year before but that wasn’t as tough as this one. This challenge gave me hope that I can face odds stacked against me. I came back the next day and told my mates “I did it”, they didn’t believe me and then I showed them, how you can do it, and then we did it together. If one prisoner frees himself, he should free the others from the shackles as well.
It was a fantastic time, though I know someone who did watch us and got caught, he was severely beaten by the guards to the point his face was swollen and red. His parents found out and sued the school. And then perhaps they stopped their beating practices but continued in separate wings.
There are so many things, you learn when you skip schools such as enjoying the busy bazaars and the malls. You learn to go to parks by yourself. And even enjoy an ice-cream by yourself. You learn to become a man perhaps and even become an adult or what it feels like to be one by yourself.
You learn to take control of your anxiety and fear and perhaps walk with a strong gait, something that is similar to a soldier marching in a band. Many things come with the freedom of skipping school, and the following are the pros of doing such.
The Pros of Skipping School
- The first thing I would say is that you learn to anticipate risks. Taking risks from an early age gives you the ability of perception and critical thinking. You learn to mitigate them through these psychological processes and are able to withdraw yourself from imminent danger as well.
- The second thing you learn is the ability to savor freedom, freedom to do as you please, but with consideration for yourself and also other people as well. You learn to work with others aiming for a common goal, and it gives the ability to be thankful for the efforts you make as your heart and mind are in it to win it.
- The third and most important aspect is that you can put yourself on paths that you have never trodden before, you learn to accept failures, and also understand the what, why and how things happen through your actions.
- It just feels good to know that when you were abandoned, you learned to pick yourself up — by yourself. That attitude helps you to become your motivation and instills this magnanimous faith that will inspire others in your presence as well.
- You learn concepts such as synergy, teamwork, pragmatism, contribution, communication, navigating, planning, critical thinking, risk-taking, risk-mitigating, Success, pre-cognition, and so much more to name a few. All these are learned when you take the first step towards self-discovery.
The Cons of Skipping School
- I can honestly say, and I will be blunt you learn to miss it, I mean school even if it’s like a prison and 80 % of the times it is not fun or even remotely interesting. But yeah, I missed school and the beatings and everything in between, and I did come back I had an 80% attendance record always, so I skipped when I needed to push myself but came back right afterward.
- If you get caught, you will face life-threatening consequences, humiliation, and even depression, but unless if you’re like and have ADHD it’s gonna be all right. Though I never was caught, and even if I was I always had contingencies and thus I was saved by the bell.
- There aren’t many cons honestly, These two are probably the only two can happen. The heaviest would be you would miss classwork and I’m being honest. I could do all that classwork in one night of study, and I did and still passed an Above Average Grade “A-” when I passed the first half of high school.
- You might be left behind but it is better to leave a queue of slavery than to follow a flock that is doomed from the start.
Why should you do it?
My dear aspiring fellows who may ever be reading this I can assure you that skipping school is bad, you will probably fall behind the class but you will be light years ahead of them in life even if they are a few percentages ahead of you in the classroom.
It all comes down to what you want in life, good grades, or improvise…
It will build all the “great” qualities a person can possess because you would be challenging the rhetoric and yourself. You will learn by pushing where you lacked by yourself for yourself using your own set of skills or by acquiring newer ones to substitute towards the ends you want to meet.
It will build character, I knew from an early age perhaps even at an age of 8 or 9 I was fairly mature if I go back and understand. I was very mature, I knew the world and all the intricacies it beholds in the years to come, that I learned and persisted through with gusto.
Look life isn’t easy but you know what makes it easy, your mindset. But what has it got to do it with your mindset, well firstly if you develop these skills early on in your life it gets easier because where Plan A, fails you always had a plan A2,…, X, Y, Z. And you learn to wing it.
It's probably the best lesson I can teach you is that sometimes you have to sail the waves with the utmost prejudice and fury because you can’t plan everything and you have to experience it all, through all the pain and hardship that you will bear.
I know how hard school life can be, trust me I have seen it all. I have been there for myself, my friends, and even my teachers as well. I know what it’s like to feel like you’re the only one who got astray or abandoned when you’re following the flock but perhaps I’m here to assure you that you are not alone.
We pick up our own, we are here for you. You are strong and can do anything.
Age is a concept of mind over matter, if you don’t mind it doesn’t matter.
I sailed life’s tides more than that I could handle but that is where you improvise and perhaps use your wit and tear through the impending waves that are gunning to crash your paper boat, perhaps you can, and you will as have I in life not so long ago.
The best lesson that it gives you is to “think” for your self. When you start to think outside the box, possibilities are endless — when I look back on my life. I’m so overjoyed I did the things and were thrown into that I survived with scratches and wounds but perhaps it is the only thing I believe I am truly proud of.
And thus, you should take such risks in life too as you will learn to attain the satisfaction you require to persist through any hardship, wherever it may arise.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this anecdote, the journey it presents, and the opportunities for learning and connecting with my past self. Though if you met the kid, you will be surprised he was a gem beyond all else, and still alive in the adult body of mine.
Remember life is something that presents opportunities for you, take them and the rest will follow in time. Take the first step, and make the leap. You will learn to pick yourself up, again and again until you finally land where you aimed to when you began.
And if you’re patient and lucky, you might even make it the first time.
Stay Blessed and Stay Safe!
With Love ❤️
