Throughout life, people often get a chance to take the easy way out. When students ask their parents to excuse them from class to avoid a test, they have chosen to take the easy road.

It is understandable for students to be overwhelmed by work and not have enough time to study. However, getting excused makes tests unfair for the other hardworking students.

Everyone in the class has an equal amount of time to prepare, and if a student did not study, they should not manage to escape the exam. The blame should rest purely on their shoulders; they elected not to study, possibly to watch television or take a nap. Teachers allot plenty of time to study for a test, often announcing the date several classes before.

If a student does not study, they did not make an effort. Without effort, students should not get to push off the test for extra study time. If the teacher scheduled the test on a Thursday or Friday, students who ditch the test have an entire extra weekend to study. This system penalizes students who took the time to study, and rewards the students who are able to be excused by their parents.

Since the school cannot prove that the student did not have that convenient doctor’s appointment during the test, students get away with this. When their peers find out, they think it’s funny rather than disrespectful.

There is a good, but unrealistic solution to fix this problem. Students would have to change their opinions on those who intentionally miss class to skip a test. If the student body began to view these “skippers” negatively, far fewer people would want to skip class.

Since changing the way high school teenagers act is nearly impossible, the school has to do something else. Checking the excuse would be a good start. For example, if a teacher notices a student who only missed their class on a particular day, someone could look into it and question the student. The administration should require students to obtain a doctor’s note, or a paper that explains the absence. Another way the school could fix this is with incentives. If someone misses the test, they should receive a different, more difficult version or not get the chance to receive extra credit.

In short, many students at Ladue have skipped tests. If the students aren’t willing to change this habit, the school should enact policies that give every student the same amount of time to study for a test.