Students stand by the door, ready for the bell to ring. When it does, kids race out of the classrooms to get to the exit as quickly as possible trying to arrive at their next class within five minutes. Many students have complained about not having adequate time in between classes; some needing to run to class. Something needs to change about how much time we are provided. Problems such as overcrowding and the distance between buildings are all reasons I believe that we need more time to get to class.
The minute the bell rings, the halls are flooded with students. The breezeways aren’t any better. When I am on my way to class, I find myself having to slowly shuffle instead of walk due to the sheer number of students in the way. Every other day, I have to go from the 300 building to the APAC which takes the majority of the five minutes we are provided.
Because of the time crunch, students don’t have enough time to use the bathroom or do other necessary tasks before class. Some teachers will not allow students to use the bathrooms during class and say, “why didn’t you go before?” Because we don’t have time! Some days, I don’t even get a chance to use the bathroom during the school day.
However, teachers and administrators might think that having additional time would not be a good idea as many students may misuse this time. Even now, some slow the class change by dragging their feet while talking to a friend, or looking at their phone while walking, forcing people to navigate around them. During my trip to class, numerous people have walked slowly in front of me, while others have shoved against me to get through.
Even though this lack of transition time is a major issue, there are some solutions. First and foremost, we can be given more time, at most ten minutes to get to class and do something else on the way. Perhaps we can also be given strikes. If a student is late twice, it won’t be counted, but if it happens again, it will be. If we are not provided more time, teachers should dismiss us earlier so students move faster. Schools could also choose their dismissal time. Something needs to be done. No student should be late to class because of things they can’t control.