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Students are forced in and kicked out
SUN. | 01-09-22 | OPINION
When I first arrived at Rose my freshman year, I remember what it was like coming to school really early — a little before 7:30 in the morning.
I did this because my mom would need to be at work before school started, so that meant dropping me off an hour before the bell rang. I was glad that I had the opportunity to walk in and sit against a wall somewhere waiting for someone to talk to or for class to start. Not only that, but if my mom took awhile to get off work, I could sit in the commons and wait. It was especially good around the winter time when temperatures dropped. However, this year, things have since changed.
Since the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, students have been required to stand outside in the blistering heat or freezing cold until 8:10 a.m., and once the day is over, they must be out by 3:45 p.m.
Now, I understand if this is meant to help prevent the spread of germs, especially since we are still in a pandemic, but it can still be upsetting in the long run. Since I can’t drive, my
Graphic by Liv Carpenter
boyfriend is my ride to school. However, he has an early bird class, so I have to sit in his car. I may be lucky enough to have this, but not everyone is.
Sometimes, I will see students getting dropped off as early as 7 a.m., and they’ll have to sit outside for an hour and 10 minutes waiting for the bell. It seems like Pitt County Schools doesn’t realize that you can still get sick outside, especially since some people don’t wear their masks. I think when temperatures are at a certain level, students should be allowed inside.
When it comes to leaving school, I’m lucky enough to leave on time, but if I have an after-school event, I’ll come back and see students still waiting for their ride at four or five in the afternoon. Honestly, this seems incredibly dangerous. I understand that having students out by a certain time is meant to give teachers and other faculty members the opportunity to leave when the bell rings, but leaving students unattended and unsupervised can lead to them getting hurt or even kidnapped.
I feel that to handle this, there should be someone on standby that can watch over the remaining few students until they’re picked up or at least allow them back in the building. I know that it’s hard to find someone for this job and school faculty have lives outside of work, but these are still minors that need protecting.
It’s best to try to keep my peers safe by at least providing a resource officer or an adult to look after them so they’re not alone. I can recall someone once telling me that in their freshman year, they waited to get picked up for three hours after school. If he had been sitting outside, he could’ve gotten sick because of the cold, or worse, he could’ve gotten hurt.
I know school faculty are trying their best to make students feel safer, but if I had to sit outside in 46-degree weather with no heat whatsoever and no means to attain it in an area that is said to be “dangerous,” I would not feel at peace. I say that students should be allowed inside at least earlier and expected out later. If not, then students should be allowed in when they arrive.