Whether it be because of traffic, slow siblings or a snooze button betrayal nearly everyone has been late to class at one point in their lives. Naturally, with tardies come consequences, but to what extent should students be punished for them?
This year, Dana Hills High School has implemented a new tardy policy: students will be forced to serve detention upon their third tardy. While wanting to promote punctuality among students is understandable, this policy is not only unnecessary but counterproductive.
One major flaw in this policy is the number of factors it fails to consider. Making it to a first period class on time is an entirely different ballgame than the 5 minute walk to a third or fifth period class. Students may have to rely on a parent or another form of transportation to take them to school. During my freshman and sophomore year, I relied on my mom to take me to school. The issue with this was that my brother attends a school about 15 minutes in the opposite direction of Dana Hills. Getting the two of us out the door with a sturdy breakfast was a challenge in and of itself. I could do everything in my power to wake up and get ready on time, and still wind up a few minutes late. This is only one example of the 2,357 students that attend Dana Hills. Expecting each and every one of us to have complete control over our morning transportation is simply unrealistic.
Many may make the argument that this policy will promote greater attendance among students. Considering the numerous reasons students may be late in the morning in addition to this stricter policy, it will likely lead to the opposite. Many students may prefer to get called out of classes in order to avoid detention. Ultimately, the new tardy policy may discourage students from attending morning classes by instilling a fear of arriving late. Not only would this negatively affect student attendance, but it would negatively affect performance. Actually showing up for class should be prioritized over showing up on time.
Finally, the new tardy policy is also a threat to student safety. With a large demographic of novice drivers, arriving at school safely should be prioritized over arriving at school on time. Students are much more likely to speed or violate other traffic laws if they are worried about being marked tardy. Considering the lack of driving experience most students have in addition to the morning traffic being mainly composed of these students, there are countless opportunities for accidents. Making it to class one or two minutes earlier is not worth risking student safety.
Dana Hills administration should give students much more grace in regards to tardies. If they really want to crack down on students arriving late, they should focus on students that are consistently over 10 minutes late. Furthermore, it would also be much more beneficial to work with these students on why they may be late in order to prevent tardiness in the future, rather than relying on arbitrary punishment. Administrators’ first steps should be to ensure that these students have a reliable method of transportation, and progress from there.
Author: Avery L
