Crimson Chronicle Staff Editorial
Tardy sweeps are ineffective and useless. Though the intention of tardy sweeps is in the right place as it encourages students to get to class on time, the size of the school and scattered classes make it so some students can be penalized while trying to get to class. Additionally, only students who take the school bus are excused for tardies, an advantage only Magnet students have. Even on campuses that aren’t as large, crowded halls make it harder to get to class.
Furthermore, students miss out on more class time by being forced to get a tardy slip. Even after getting the slip, there’s still a good chance students who were purposefully ditching are going to continue ditching. These instances lead to bathrooms being closed off during class periods, not allowing students to take care of their business. For those who decide to go to class, they are often out of the loop with the lesson if it already started.
Ironically, tardy sweeps don’t actually teach punctuality because they’re announcing that they’re being done. For that reason, students are taught to follow orders or get punished if they don’t instead of learning that punctuality is important to their education and the flow of the class.
Though some might rebut by saying that some students need the pressure to get to class on time, being told to do something you were going to do makes you want to do it less. A simple solution is discontinuing tardy sweeps and allowing students to get to class on their own. Oftentimes, the people who ditch will be out of class during the middle of the period.
All in all, tardy sweeps make students more late and reluctant to go to class all while not teaching them to practice punctuality on their own.