One Student Speaks: A Senior's Point-of-View
For three years, I have been a student at Hurricane High School in Hurricane, West Virginia, after transferring from Cabell Midland High School in Ona, West Virginia. For three years I have watched the immature student body and faculty push the school to the breaking point, a point where it cannot be picked back up off the ground and simply put back together with some Elmer’s glue. The school is a madhouse waiting to cave in on itself. The average high school student in Hurricane is spending seven and a half hours per day, five days a week, in filth. This is not to mention the eight and half hours for AP students, and over nine hours a day for students who go to school full time with AP and Band on their schedules. The floors are rarely swept, the bathrooms rarely mopped, and the common room tables rarely wiped down. There is rarely toilet paper, soap, or paper towels in our restrooms. Teachers have made it a habit to empty their own classroom trashcans in the dumpsters behind the school because the custodians no longer do. There is days old food left in stairwells, graffiti on the walls and stalls in the restrooms, and paint smeared on lockers. There are few restroom stall doors that close, let alone latch. Female students no longer have privacy when using the restroom. It would seem that with at least three custodians employed at Hurricane High School and student volunteers, more than in previous years, our school would be in better condition, but that does not seem to be the case.
The students of Hurricane High School are becoming more immature and more ungrateful to our faculty and custodial staff. Why should our custodial staff help to improve our school when a number of students are working to destroy it? With four consecutive days of bomb threats from our suspected trade school students, our administration has now made the decision to cut the student lunch hour to thirty minutes per day, leaving little or no time for many students to make their way through the lunch lines. Even with our previous sixty minute lunch hour, some students found it difficult to eat their lunch and make their way to club meetings and/or tutoring. As a senior involved in six school clubs and being an officer in two of them, I myself have had difficulty getting my tray, finishing my lunch, and making it to club meetings on time. What will a thirty minute lunch break bring our students but more negativity toward the school administration and a possible student rebellion? The rumor of a student walk-out has been floating around the school, MySpace, and Facebook for three days and counting. It has been said by many students that if another bomb threat is called, or if the lunch hour is cut, that some students will rebel against the school today, November 13, 2007. I have to say that this is a way to get the administrators attention, be it a negative one.
Perhaps students are tired of coming to school to learn things they have already learned in previous years instead of learning something new, tired of coming to school to eat tasteless food at unclean tables, sit in broken desks, take breaks to filthy restrooms, and spend their afternoons on the stadium track. Perhaps the students are tired of the harassment by the administration and faculty for the iPod ban, which is, in my opinion, ridiculous. It has been scientifically proven that some students do concentrate better while listening to music (I have made it a habit to listen to waterfalls, guitar and piano solos, and rain falling), while others can concentrate with complete silence. Either way, students will do better in classes when given a bit of freedom to feel comfortable that does not disturb other students or teachers. If a student listens and follows instructions, then why not let that student listen to his/her iPod while doing class work as long as he/she completes said work? I do agree, however, with the cell phone ban during school hours, somewhat. Students should not be allowed to use their phones during class, but neither should teachers. We usually see teachers answering their phones during class, which angers students and leads to the disobeying of the cell phone ban.
Hurricane High School is reaching the point where students feel unsafe in their daily environment due to harassment from the administration and other students, pressure from teachers, uncaring parents and guardians, and unhealthy learning conditions. Some students have made it a habit to carry towelettes and hand sanitizer in the purses or backpacks, and some have even resorted to packed lunches rather than the school-served lunches. My sister and I, along with a number of other students, are now packing our own lunches. This not only helps us to get through our lunch period more quickly, but lets other students make their way through the lunch line quicker. Personally, I think it best for students to rely on themselves and each other rather than the school administrators and teachers, seeing as they are not providing an adequately safe environment for students.
The students of Hurricane High School are becoming more immature and more ungrateful to our faculty and custodial staff. Why should our custodial staff help to improve our school when a number of students are working to destroy it? With four consecutive days of bomb threats from our suspected trade school students, our administration has now made the decision to cut the student lunch hour to thirty minutes per day, leaving little or no time for many students to make their way through the lunch lines. Even with our previous sixty minute lunch hour, some students found it difficult to eat their lunch and make their way to club meetings and/or tutoring. As a senior involved in six school clubs and being an officer in two of them, I myself have had difficulty getting my tray, finishing my lunch, and making it to club meetings on time. What will a thirty minute lunch break bring our students but more negativity toward the school administration and a possible student rebellion? The rumor of a student walk-out has been floating around the school, MySpace, and Facebook for three days and counting. It has been said by many students that if another bomb threat is called, or if the lunch hour is cut, that some students will rebel against the school today, November 13, 2007. I have to say that this is a way to get the administrators attention, be it a negative one.
Perhaps students are tired of coming to school to learn things they have already learned in previous years instead of learning something new, tired of coming to school to eat tasteless food at unclean tables, sit in broken desks, take breaks to filthy restrooms, and spend their afternoons on the stadium track. Perhaps the students are tired of the harassment by the administration and faculty for the iPod ban, which is, in my opinion, ridiculous. It has been scientifically proven that some students do concentrate better while listening to music (I have made it a habit to listen to waterfalls, guitar and piano solos, and rain falling), while others can concentrate with complete silence. Either way, students will do better in classes when given a bit of freedom to feel comfortable that does not disturb other students or teachers. If a student listens and follows instructions, then why not let that student listen to his/her iPod while doing class work as long as he/she completes said work? I do agree, however, with the cell phone ban during school hours, somewhat. Students should not be allowed to use their phones during class, but neither should teachers. We usually see teachers answering their phones during class, which angers students and leads to the disobeying of the cell phone ban.
Hurricane High School is reaching the point where students feel unsafe in their daily environment due to harassment from the administration and other students, pressure from teachers, uncaring parents and guardians, and unhealthy learning conditions. Some students have made it a habit to carry towelettes and hand sanitizer in the purses or backpacks, and some have even resorted to packed lunches rather than the school-served lunches. My sister and I, along with a number of other students, are now packing our own lunches. This not only helps us to get through our lunch period more quickly, but lets other students make their way through the lunch line quicker. Personally, I think it best for students to rely on themselves and each other rather than the school administrators and teachers, seeing as they are not providing an adequately safe environment for students.