Here at Hunter we have 5 minutes between each class. That’s 5 minutes to use the restroom, go to lockers, walk through crowded hallways, and get to class. In all reality 5 minutes just isn’t enough. Teachers complain about students being tardy to class saying “they miss out” or that they are “interrupting class time when they arrive late”. Students are rarely late on purpose, we understand that we have a class that we have to attend at a certain time and for the most part we’re fine with it. When students are arriving late to class it is usually because we needed to use the restroom, or get something from our lockers.

“You can go to the bathroom after class” is something almost all of us have heard from a teacher. Teachers don’t understand that bathrooms get crowded. With every teacher telling at least one student to wait until lunch, or just go after class, it can get really packed in the restrooms. I don’t think teachers truly understand that we have things to do between class. Yes, it is our fault that we’re late, but is it really our fault, and why? We do end up being the ones thinking, “Instead of holding it for another hour and a half, I might as well just go [to the restroom] and be tardy”, but can you blame us? I have had many incidences that teachers told me I couldn’t use the restroom and that was at the beginning of class, so then when I actually got the chance to leave the classroom, the bathroom was crowded and there was of course a line.

Most teachers are almost constantly complaining about tardies, whether it’s to an entire class or just with one particular student. But no matter what the reason is, the teacher should find out why they’re tardy rather then getting mad. To be fair there are some students who just don’t care/ don’t rush to class, but most the time that’s not the case. Teachers should at least try to listen to what to student has to say and figure out if there is any way they can help. Instead teachers get mad, email parents, and instead of helping they continue to mark the student tardy. Tardies do start to take a toll on your CPA, so all in all it really messes with the student.

I know many people who have tried to get stuff out of their lockers then rush to class and still end up being tardy. The teacher needs to understand that we are going to our lockers to get the supplies we need for their class. I personally don’t have a locker, but I have friends who do and say it’s hard to go from one class, to your locker, get all your stuff, then to another class in only 5 minutes. A tardy is a big problem at school, yet they could mostly be resolved by adding more time between each period.