School’s out for summer a little early.
Patricia Horton, a mother of two in Florida, unapologetically pulled her kids out of the “last couple days” of school because she insisted there was no reason for them to go.
“I don’t see the point,” Horton shared in a viral TikTok video posted on May 22. “Most of the teachers would rather you keep your kids home anyway.”
Horton, whose children are 7 and 12, admitted her parenting style is very different from how she was raised.
“My parents, they made me go to school every single day,” Horton added. “Every single day, all the way to the very last day of school every year.”
Horton revealed that her parents would only let her miss class due to a doctor’s appointment or if she was extremely sick.
The mom argued that kids aren’t learning during the final days of class and implied that they were being put to work cleaning the school.
“I have cleaned a lot of desks,” Horton revealed while talking about her childhood experience during the final days of school. “That is what we did the last week of school when I was a kid. We cleaned desks, and we cleaned classrooms, and I was a professional at cleaning desks.”
“I’m not doing that with my kids,” Horton added. “Stay home, baby, it’s summertime. Time to go.”
Horton claimed the teachers have no problem with her decision.
“They always say, ‘It’s been great teaching your kid, and I hope you have a great summer,’” Horton told TODAY. “It’s never, ‘Oh no, you’re not going to come?’ They totally understand.”
But Horton said she doesn’t force her kids to stay home and allows the duo the opportunity to attend classes.
“If my kids want to go to school, they are absolutely welcome to go,” Horton added. “If they want to stay home, I’m not going to make them go to school to sit there and maybe watch a movie.”
Horton received mixed reactions when she posed the question to her followers on how they handle the last week of school.
“I’m a teacher, and I hate when kids miss the last few days of school,” one TikTok user wrote. “We as a class have been a family for several months. Kids and teachers would like to say goodbye.”
“My kids would be SO disappointed if they missed the last few days,” another mom commented. “Splash pad, movies, field day, auctions… all on the last days. That’s the fun stuff they’ve waited all year for.”
One mom even joked that she made her kids go because “that’s the last little bit of my break.”
Others agreed that there was no reason to require kids to attend class.
“As a teacher, we aren’t doing anything fun,” a user confessed. “Sorry, we have checklists we have to get done, such as cleaning, seeing what things need repairs, etc. We don’t have parties or anything like that. It’s just babysitting at that point.”
“I did when they were in elementary,” another mom commented. “Middle School and High School don’t even take roll the last week. So they do not go.”
