As unnecessary and extreme as some rules may seem, they are created and enforced for a reason.
Although many students may believe that the regulations at New Trier are put in place to make our lives harder, this is not the case. They are put in place so that the student body and faculty have structure.
Think about it. If there were no rules, how could people decipher between what is right and what is wrong? This school would be a nuthouse. People could be stealing from lockers or even destroying school property. Who knows?
Let’s take the sexting scandal for example. I’m sure that the students who sent these graphic images had no understanding of the extent to which their actions would affect others.
Obviously, these students also didn’t plan on having their phones searched at school or getting suspended, but this was ultimately necessary to teach them how to act responsibly.
Many students believe that what they do on their individual iPads, especially during school, should be kept private because they have “rights.”
However, rights are limited during school hours. Anything you do on your phone or iPad under the school WiFi can be accessed by administrators.
Keeping this in mind, the students involved in the sexting scandal should have been more aware.
I’ve heard two sides to this case, though. Some said that it was unfair for administrators to confiscate students’ phones and participate in a full search for harmful material.
Others said that the search and suspension of these students was beneficial because students now have a better understanding of what is considered a violation of school policy.
I have to agree with the second opinion because without administrators having the right to investigate by examining the electronics that students bring into school, the sexting scandal could have turned out much worse.
With no punishment, students would have continued to send the pictures around, causing more issues within the school.
Our freedom of speech is also somewhat limited in a school environment. Of course, classes encourage having different opinions, but if these ideas or words come off as offensive or disrespectful in any way, a trip to the adviser chair and an appropriate consequence would not be surprising.
I’ve seen cases where students from all over the country have tried to justify their disruptive words by saying that it falls under their right to freedom of speech.
The Supreme court case Morse v. Frederick marked a precedent for the limit of the right of freedom in school settings. In this case, the phrase “Bong hits 4 Jesus” was being questioned. Ultimately, the court held that threatening words that cause issues within a school environment are not be acceptable.
This, I think, is completely understandable. Even in my classes, I have heard people come off as very disrespectful towards their teachers by using offensive words.
As expected, these students have been sent to the adviser chair and were reprimanded based on the extent of disruption they caused.
Although some still try to fight this limit of rights, rude actions can affect everyone. They challenge the teachers’ power and they are distracting students from a focused environment.
The amount of rights that students have in school only contributes to better school setting. With too many rules, students may be put under an unhealthy amount of pressure and possibly feel obligated to rebel. On the other side, too many rights could cause pure chaos.
New Trier has found a healthy balance between letting students have freedom, but also restricting them from doing certain things.
To all who fight against the school system for their “unnecessary” regulations: it’s not worth it. They are set for a reason, and that is to keep our school running smoothly.