Mitchell: new security measure seems pointless, remains temporary

“The 30-30 Rule: No students in the hallway the first 30 minutes or last 30 minutes of the block.” You see it everywhere, officiated upon the walls of classrooms and hallways in laminated sleeves, so you know it’s official (FYI: Lamination = Official Legal Document). Humor aside, it’s a pretty basic policy that is made up to be a lot more than it actually is. Sure it’s another rule to add on top of the pile and you’ll no doubt have to follow it, but is it really that big a deal, anyway?

 

It’s been mentioned at least once every first day of a class this school year. Teachers and administrators seem to be really pushing it, setting the grounds for it early on in the year. There’s clearly a lot of commotion and several complaints surrounding it. Luckily, for this policy in particular, all these signs and things are cautions or little reminders so that no one forgets it. You don’t hear teachers talk of repercussions or punishments if the rule is broken because it is not necessary. Anyways, most students, quite frankly, don’t care about the policy. Not in a way that their attitudes disregard it because it undoubtedly affects the student body as a whole, but in a way that no one’s worried about it. So is this policy as big an issue as it’s all made up to be, really? Through all my years of attending school, nobody in any of the classes really asked to go to the bathroom all that often. Sure, there would be an occasional emergency bathroom break from time to time, but even then it was pretty rare for someone to go sprinting out of the classroom because they couldn’t hold it anymore. I personally believe that if we abide by the new 30-30 policy long enough, it will become a little more lenient over the course of the year or it will at least get easier to bear. Also, keep in mind that this is the beginning of the year and this is the trial year for this policy, here, at Lawrence North. So if you hate the new policy, it’s really too early to say that it will be sticking around for good, so cross your fingers. Irregardless, no matter how you feel about the policy, all it is is just 30 minutes.