This year, a new Homeroom Policy has been added to the lunch schedule during the school day. This policy mandates that everyone must stay in an assigned homeroom during the LB period they do not have lunch. It is clear that homeroom is negatively affecting our time with friends, availability for extra help, and changes to club meeting times.
When asking other students what they thought about this new homeroom policy, three opinions stood out. Joel Vasquez-Home said, “I understand it’s improvement, but at the same time, although everything’s more organized than last year, the issue is that we cant get extra help from the teachers we really need it from easily.”
Doga Varol brought up another point: “I don’t love it but I don’t hate it. I’m not against it, but I would like it to be optional, so people who don’t want to be in the lunchroom because it’s loud would like to be in a quiet environment instead.”
Molly Tepper stated, “I think the homeroom system is somewhat flawed. Homeroom affects our time with friends because now we don’t get to see them that often, especially since classes aren’t guaranteed with them. Before homeroom, people used to be able to get extra help whenever they wanted and also still be able to eat lunch. Now these things happen during our lunch and we don’t get to eat. Teachers have homeroom and aren’t available all the time for extra help or clubs during school for both under and upperclassmen, and this is bad because after school many students have other activities and aren’t available.”
Some people may claim that homeroom is a good thing because it enforces student safety by limiting the number of places a student may be. However, this is incorrect because many students who don’t have homeroom with their friends or who dislike the homeroom policy will still find some way to leave homeroom to do things they want to do in the halls, thereby reversing the whole point of homeroom safety in the first place. It must also be remembered how last year people could pick which room to stay in for one or both LBs, and since people had free will, fewer people were roaming the halls. A forced homeroom can cause people to resent it and want to leave the classroom.
As can be seen, homeroom has affected many students in negative ways that they are unhappy about. Some students have to miss lunch because of mandated musical sectionals or extra help meeting times so they don’t get a chance to eat. Others have to miss out on clubs that aren’t available during the school day, and still others don’t get to see their friends throughout the whole day. One solution to fix this is allowing students to pick which room they want to stay in for one or both LBs, and not to have it be divided by name or class. If teachers are constantly present in one room both LB1 and 2, and students get the freedom to choose where to go, students will be allowed to get their extra help, hang with their friends a little longer, and have their own will of when and where to eat lunch.