Back in the day...

October 2006

If seniors at Novi High School had a time machine, it’s doubtful they’d go to where I’m about to take you. The 2003 school year was our freshman year, and there’s no doubt that it was a much different time at NHS.

Due to a number of factors, including complaints from both parents and teachers, NHS has undergone a great disciplinarian revolution over the past few years. In 2003, it was not uncommon for a senior to walk in late to first block, to be holding a Panera Bread glass filled with iced tea and to be listening to an iPod simultaneously.

If that occurred today, these actions would violate three different policies. First, the senior would be using one of the 10 absences/tardies allowed by the school. His electronic device would be confiscated and he’d have to pitch his drink.

If you’ve read this column over the past two years, I’ve highlighted some of the new policies at NHS, including a new athletic policy I haven’t yet mentioned, and the attendance policy that made our unnamed senior live on borrowed time.

The effect has been a cleaner school (due to the lack of food wrappers everywhere), a more populous school (since more students attend class today), and a louder school (since hundreds of students aren’t silently tuned into their iPods while roaming the halls).

The reforms, have been met with much grumbling from the student body. The more lax atmosphere of 2003 was certainly more enjoyable. But that doesn’t mean that students are being oppressed today, or that they show outward frustration at these changes.

Instead the vast majority of those who’ve seen the two extremes, the seniors, agree that while they’d like the new rules to stop being enforced, the changes are probably for the better. The only policy students really have a grudge with is the electronics policy.

Why, students ask, should we be not allowed to listen to mp3 players and iPods when doing work in class? The answer from the administration has been two-fold.

First, the administration has dealt with a rising tide of theft in recent years. Since the administration can’t be in more than a few places at once, they believe the best way to prevent theft is to limit the value of items being brought to school by students. Security cameras have been installed outside of locker rooms, and additional security precautions have been taken, but those did not significantly cut into the theft rate. The last resort, they say, was to ban the most valuable items, electronics.

The second reason is not nearly as logical from the eyes of a student. Teachers have complained that electronics, listening devices in particular, have disrupted the learning environment in class. To the average student, the banning of electronic devices seems to be a somewhat draconian measure to combat this problem. Why can’t teachers just take away the device if it’s causing a problem? That question, unfortunately, remains to be answered.