PAST

Rules at Antioch Community High School in the past were not as strict as they are today, but the punishment students received were much harsher. Today if a student gets sent to the dean’s office for failing to follow school policy, a detention or warning is usually the harshest punishment enforced. In the past, however, depending on what the student did, he/she was paddled. Of course, it is crazy to think about physical punishment in today’s world considering the con- sequences a teacher or dean would receive. Values changed since the old days, and back then, it wasn’t that strange for a student to be hit by a teacher.

Former ACHS Principal John Whitehurst said, “Deans and even a few teachers would paddle kids.”

In the earlier years at ACHS, no one had cell phones. No one texted, played games or used social media in class because no one had the resources to do so. Technology was very low and students did not have any electronics at all.

In the past, schools were stricter, but they also allowed for more freedom at the same time. There was no security, no doors were locked during school hours and there were no cameras watching students’ every move. Students would commonly smoke in the bathrooms between passing periods or just leave school grounds to wander around.

“Smoking in the bathrooms was a terrible problem back then. The bathrooms constantly smelled like a smoking room, and teachers had to check bathrooms between classes,” said Whitehurst. “Also, doors were not locked, and security, particularly against external threats, wasn’t as tight.”

Rules in the past do not seem to compare to the rules students have today at ACHS and changed drastically.

PRESENT

There were many rule changes within the past few years at Antioch Community High School. The excessive absence rule to prevent students from taking advantage of skipping school to new cell phone policies in the school.

The excessive absence rule specifies that after a certain number of days of being absent from school, the student will not be allowed to make up their missed work. Any homework, tests or projects will automatically go into the grade book as a zero until the student returns to school.

These sick days became a problem because some students started taking advantage of this right. Students would have their parents call in, and they would be absent for many consecutive days, all while still being given the opportunity to make up their missed work. The big problem was that these students missing weeks of school did not have to make up their work and were still receiving good grades. This was unfair to other students because they were being graded on these assignments while the absent students were not.

“We had a student absent (excused) for over 30 days in one semester, but yet still earning ‘A’ and ‘B’ for classes, which is unfair to other students,” dean of students Wilbur Borrero said.

In addition to absences, technology expanded drastically within a couple of years. Many students nowadays have smartphones and use them in their classes. No texting during class is one of the rules that many students disobey each day in the classroom. This is a down fall with allowing the use of cell phones in class but cell phones are an essential tool for students and staff to use in school.

“The cell phone has become such a valuable tool for the students and staff to use in school,” Borrero said.

Teachers sometimes allow students to use their phones to look up the answer to a problem, look up the definition to a word or even take notes off from a website. Smartphones have countless helpful tools and apps and can really improve the work of students and teachers and are a valuable piece of technology in schools today.

At ACHS, new rules are being enforced do to the fact of students disobeying rules, such as the excessive absence rule. There are some rules though that were added which benefit students, such as the use of cell phones being allowed in classes under certain circumstances.

FUTURE

The future will bring many new rules to ACHS. With technology increasing and the generations evolving, ACHS is not sure what rule changes it will see in the future.

Borrero believes the rules on technology will keep going back and forth, and there will not be a clear decision as to what the official rules for the school’s future will entail. However, ACHS is looking to increase the usage of technology in classes in the near future.

Borrero said, “I believe that the future with phones will continue to be like a revolving door.”

Students at ACHS believe cell phones should be allowed in future years.

Junior Wali Anjum said, “Cell phones should be allowed in the future at ACHS because they help us as students learn more efficiently.”

There are some questions that only the future has an answer for: Will the dress code be altered? Are future rules regarding technology become more strict or liberal? Will students be allowed to go off campus like in past years? Will students’ use of websites such as Sparknotes be banned? Or will the parking pass rules be enforced? Will they change?

For right now, there is no clear answer to any of these questions. However, solutions to today’s issues will definitely alter and have an effect on student behavior and expectation. Up until then, the standard for students in regards to appropriate behavior is set high for a reason. The more students abuse school policies, the more current rules will change.