National Skip School Day Date in the current year: December 2, 2024

National Skip School Day was born on TikTok, a social media app that allows to create and share short videos (because this is where modern teenagers apparently spend their free time). In October 31, teenage users began to create and post small videos urging other teenagers to skip school on December 2. The format of these videos was quite straightforward: they showed a person pointing to text proposing viewers to skip classes on December 2, accompanied by a jaunty tune playing in the background.

Soon the hashtag #2December received over 2 million views on TikTok and #December2 received over half a million views. Someone even started a Change.org petition to support Skip School Day. Although it was signed by a little more than three dozen people (as of late November 2019), it was enough for a relevant article to appear in Urban Dictionary. And we all know that if something can be found in Urban Dictionary, it definitely exists. Probably.

Interestingly, the tradition of skipping school on a certain day isn’t new. In American schools, seniors have been skipping school on what is known as Skip Day, Ditch Day, Senior Skip Day or Senior Ditch Day for decades. Senior Skip Day usually occurs on the Monday following Senior Prom or other large event. On Skip Day, seniors would usually gather at an alternate location to have some fun. Sometimes they come to school, but roam the halls instead of sitting in class.

School administration attitude towards Senior Skip Day can vary greatly depending on the school. In some schools, it is frowned upon, while others openly encourage the tradition, agreeing with seniors on a date when they can skip classes and asking teachers not to schedule anything serious like quizzes or exams on the skip day, so that the students’ GPA won’t suffer.

By the way, Polish high school students have a similar tradition. They observe Truant’s Day on November 21 to celebrate the first day of astronomical spring.