Northeast is becoming more strict when it comes to letting people in and having people out before and after school. If students don’t have a pass to be inside, they will have to wait outside in the morning until breakfast starts. And for after school, administrators will ask you to wait outside if you’re waiting for a ride or for the bus.They have good reason for this though. This rule or policy is used to keep people out of Northeast who aren’t staff or students. Throughout recent years, there have been many of unfortunate events taking place at schools, like shootings and clowns lingering nearby. The staff here want to keep their students out of harm’s way and that’s completely understandable. However, by doing this, they are actually putting kids in jeopardy at the same time.
A lot of students wait outside of the commons until 7:30, even in the winter. Students also wait in front of the main office until those doors open at 7:50. “Just like with any business or any place of employment, we have a start time. The start time for us is 7:30,” our principal, Mr. Glathar, mentioned in an interviewed. As it turns out, not every school is required to open at a set time, at least not for a handful of high schools in Lincoln. Schools like North Star and East are able to wait inside a bit earlier. According to a Marcus Botti, a junior at East, the doors open at 7:20 am. Unlike at Northeast, at East, students don’t need a pass to enter the building before 7:20. All they need to do is tell/ask one of the security guards at the doors that open at 7:20 am. Botti believes the doors open at a decent time because it allows a few more minutes of preparation and it’s early enough for early birds to not wait as long outside.
Northstar is a bit different though. They have various classes that start at 7:00. This means that the doors open around 6:30 am. Carlie Nelson, a sophomore at Northstar, explained how their mornings work. Because more classes start earlier, some doors need to be open for students. Due to these doors already being open, students who arrive early to school are able to wait in the cafeteria instead of outside. To prevent wandering students and other problems, the doors leading to other classrooms and the rest of the school are locked. She included that security guards will only open the locked doors if you have a pass to go to your locker or a specific room. Northeast could improve by adopting some of Northstar’s guidelines or rules.
If you have ever came to Northeast early in the morning, you know the struggle of having to wait until 7:30 for the doors to open. And if you come to school early every day, I feel for you. Nothing is worse than starting off the school day having to wait 10-30 minutes in below freezing weather.
There are many students who are low or middle class within Northeast. With this in mind, it’s important to know, there are many families that can’t afford to pay for more than one or two cars. A majority of freshman and sophomores also can’t drive. So, a great number of students aren’t able to choose when they arrive at school, causing them to have to wait in the cold.
Students can’t always choose when they can come to school, but they can choose what they wear since they know they have to wait outside, right? Well that’s a bit inaccurate. Sometimes I have to wait outside when the weather is dry and the air is frozen. One morning I was waiting when I heard a student say, “Can we go in already? It’s cold!” One of the security guards responded, “You knew what the weather would be like. You should’ve dressed appropriately” as he walked away and closed the door behind him. What the security guard said is reasonable. But again, many students at Northeast don’t have money to spend on clothes for the winter, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Mr. Glathar, commented on this matter by saying, “When you live in Nebraska, you know the weather is going to be like this. And there’re a lot of months leading up to that point…so anticipating some of the issue of cold weather is something to be considered.” And it’s true. Students are aware of what the upcoming weather is going to be like, but then again, we live in Nebraska where all four seasons can happen in a week. But the main point isn’t about students not preparing for cold weather; it’s about students not having sufficient resources to do so. What comes with colder weather, especially standing in it for prolonged time, is the infamous flu.
When students are forced to wait outside whether it’s raining or the weather is below freezing, it puts a risk on the students’ health. According to a Harvard Health Letter, “Out in the cold” from Harvard Health Publications, during the winter, flu viruses spread more easily and and people are more susceptible to getting the flu or other respiratory diseases:
Cold weather and respiratory disease, including flu, also go hand in hand. Research has shown that cold spells are reliably followed by upticks in the number of deaths from respiratory disease. Some of this may have to do with a few infectious organisms, like flu viruses, thriving in colder temperatures, but there’s also evidence that exposure to cold temperatures suppresses the immune system, so the opportunities for infection increase.
The health of students not only affects themselves, but it can also impact their academics and other students as well. It isn’t good for students to miss school, but sometimes it’s necessary, especially if they are sick. But missing school days comes with a price: missing assignments, homework, notes, and getting behind. All of which can eventually take a toll on grades, whether it’s formative or summative work. When students get sick, especially with the flu, although it’s not ideal, they will have to stay home to prevent passing the sickness on to other students at the school.
It’s clear that the faculty here at Northeast care for students a lot, but right-minded people wouldn’t leave their dogs outside in the rain, let alone leave their dogs outside in below freezing weather. So why is it okay for students to be treated this way? There’s always room for improvement at Northeast, and hopefully, soon enough, students will have the right to start their days off on a better note.