Driving is something that a number of people look forward to from the moment they enter high school. The idea of being able to go anywhere without parental supervision is appealing to many people as they become eligible to get their license. As a result, we’ve seen many people skip school in order to attend their driving tests. However, the practice of leaving school for driving has exploded recently, to the point where everyone seems to be using driving as an excuse to avoid class. Personally, I believe that it’s okay to skip school in order to take a driving test because driving is such an important and fulfilling skill that people should learn how to do for the rest of their lives.
Many juniors and sophomores tend to believe that skipping school for driving is an acceptable practice as Hannah Barisonzi ‘26 explains how “driving is something that you’ll need for the rest of your life. It isn’t the end of the world to skip class once just to take a test.” Not only is the anticipation of driving appealing to a number of students but people also feel that they need to take advantage of their opportunities, since driving tests are incredibly difficult to schedule due to the high demand. In fact, Uma Bastodkar ‘25 believes that “it’s impossible these days to find a time to take your driving test. I think that whenever people have the opportunity, they should take it so that it’s out of the way.” Skipping school might not be the best option but is likely the only option for juniors and seniors who are looking to get their license as soon as possible.
Even though skipping school is a one-time thing and generally appealing for students who want to end class early, ultimately many teachers have expressed their concerns over students leaving class for driving. Since a new wave of juniors, seniors and even sophomores have begun driving, we’ve seen an uptick in the number of students who feel the need to get their license as soon as possible, even if it means that they’re forced to miss school. Even though I think that missing school for driving is a perfectly reasonable practice, I think that there are other alternatives to skipping class entirely. For example, booking your tests early in advance allows you to have a greater variety of choices when it comes to time management. Though I don’t believe that fewer students will miss class for driving, I still think that we shouldn’t scrutinize these people since driving is a long-lasting skill that should be mastered as early as possible.
