Ditch Day a Delight, Not a Transgression

Re “Let’s Get Lost” (June 13): As a great-grandmother, I am far removed from the school scene and not aware of what today’s high school students are up to other than the really grim things that make headlines.

I was actually delighted to know ditch days still happen. Traditions are good; they give us continuity and meaning. To me, ditch day was a memorable, innocent adventure. It took great courage, which I seldom had, just to tell my parents what I was doing. I did tell them, and I had no written excuse in which my parents would have had to lie. I faced the girls’ vice principal on Monday morning, and whatever punishment I received, I felt was justified.

I faced the same situation with my son at Hollywood High, only they would not allow him back in school until I saw the principal. I explained to him that my son had ditched with my permission as a tradition, and I had refused to write a phony excuse. I was told they were preparing to withhold his diploma. We went to his graduation not knowing whether he would receive his diploma. He did.

DOROTHY STEVEN

Los Angeles