It’s pouring rain and you’re walking into school from lunch. It’s 12:54 and you’re pounding on the doors outside the parking lot to be let in, but there is no budge. You are forced to walk around and enter through the commons, and by now you’re late. You finally make it inside and hurry to your class dripping wet, once you arrive at class everyone stares. This can be avoided. The locking of doors has had a major impact and the effect has been felt by many students. 

This brings up the question: why have doors at the end of the hallways if students are not able to use them? It has always been that after 8:10 the doors lock, but once lunch comes they don’t unlock for students to be able to get in. I am not saying that the doors should be unlocked the whole day; however, it is a shared thought that it would just be easier if the doors were unlocked during the lunch period. It is very frustrating for many students including myself because there are perfectly good doors that allow students to enter and exit but not at one of the busiest times of the day. Let alone that security guards now monitor the doors to make sure that students don’t enter through any of the doors not in the cafeteria or main entrance, it has just become a hassle and something that can be avoided. 

Due to having to walk around the school, I have felt an impact on my learning. I have become late to school because I either am walking around or waiting for a fellow student to let me in. While most of my teachers understand, it is still frustrating to be late when there are ways that it can be prevented. 

It is no secret that the door locking is for the protection of our school and our students. While this is a positive thing, to feel safe and secure in your school, the doors being locked at specific times affects many students and consequently has had negative effects on the students’ learning as well. 

There is a solution though and it isn’t complicated: unlock the doors during lunch and don’t tell students and teachers that they aren’t allowed to open the doors for others. It is not a massive thing to say or ask of students or teachers, and it would overall greatly benefit the students who leave and come back to school during the day.