“Bueller…Bueller…Bueller? Anyone…anyone?” No matter how many times I’ve seen it, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off always gets me to laugh. The classic ‘80s flick about bored teenagers skipping school delivers the one-liners, and the message that kids will go to great lengths to not get caught. Many of the best jokes in the movie come from the students staying one step ahead of the adults, so if Bueller’s parents were part of his plan, it wouldn’t carry quite the same punchline.
School’s out now, and we are into summer, but would moms in 2015 be willing to be part of the hooky plan instead of the punchline? Yes they would, according to new research from The Research Moms. In an online study conducted earlier this year, 57% of moms with a child in school between Kindergarten and 12th grade said they have ever played hooky with their child to do something fun for the day.
That percentage goes up when you look at employment status. Among working moms, 63% have ever played hooky with their child while for stay-at-home moms, less than half (43%) said they have done so. Each of us has a list of priorities and we make our choices based on those priorities. Whether you agree with playing hooky or not, as a parent you can appreciate that life grinds in high gear and schedules are tight. Throughout the daily hustle and bustle time marches on and it’s time with your children that can’t be gained back. For some, this realization provides the justification for playing hooky.
Undoubtedly, moms weigh the harm vs. the good before skipping kids out of school and extraordinary circumstances certainly must play a role. In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” About thirty years after that quote was spoken in the iconic film, it still holds true.
How the study was conducted:
The Research Moms conducted a national online survey of 540 mothers with children age 21 and under in February 2015.
