This year, Stafford High School has made some drastic changes, from changing lunch policies to changing safety protocols that are intended to improve student life. In the first month of the school year, problems have arisen. Students have been fighting, skipping classes, and even deciding to make and distribute hateful signs for football games which may have caused Stafford High School to receive threats. These acts of misconduct have consequences both for the students participating and also for those who are just on the sidelines, but weren’t the policies put in place to curb the conduct in the first place? Shouldn’t these things be under control in the first place? Do things have to get worse before they get better?
On September 6, 2023 Principle Allen Hicks sent out an email to all of the Stafford High School community informing everyone about a new county-wide policy. In this email he wrote “Effective immediately, Stafford Schools will not permit bags of any kind at any after school high school activities. This includes any backpack, bookbag, purse, diaper bag or large medical bag. We will allow small clutch type purses/wallets and clear bags into the stadium but they are subject to search.”
This email caused some confusion for many. Would that mean parents with infants would have to leave the game in order to get a diaper to change their child? Would photographers no longer be able to take camera bags? Would medical assistance not be able to take in medical bags and kits? Much like another rule/policy that has recently been implemented, this policy leaves much to question and over time may cause some problems.
On September 8, 2023 Allen Hicks sent out another email, this time to only parents. This email stated the following,“Starting Monday families will get notifications when students are tardy to class by the text feature. This is to help keep families informed. This is something that we are trying to provide more communication to families and collaboration on supporting students getting to class on time.”. This new policy made many students weary, these text messages could not only cause some problems for students but also cause problems for parents.
These messages to parents can cause unnecessary amounts of worry as it could make them think something is wrong with their child. This new policy could also get students in trouble for something that sometimes isn’t even their fault. Being tardy can have numerous reasons. You could stay after to talk to a teacher, be helping someone new get to class, be stuck in traffic on the way to school, or even going from one side of the building to the other.
These new policies are pushing already in place policies that didn’t work to begin with. Do things need to get worse before they get better?
