As the newest Majors on the scene, many people think freshmen don't have a care in the world. In reality, as soon as we walk through those double doors, we are bombarded with many pressures and concerns: new environment, new people, new policies and rules.
The latest policy introduced to Mount Vernon is the debt policy. This rule was enforced because our school is $30,000 in debt due to unreturned books, uniforms, calculator, unpaid fines, etc. If you fall under this category, then you're (unfortunately) excluded from all extra-curricular activities including sports and dances. Mrs. King stated in an interview with the journalism students last week that, "Extra-curricular activities are a privilege, not a right." Our principal also said that since the school year has started, the new rule has, in fact, resulted in positive feedback: kids are returning items!
As of now, the policy mainly affects returning students because freshmen are just beginning to receive issued school items. Still, I wanted to know how freshmen weighed in on the issue since they will now be responsible for whatever they sign for. During interviews with freshmen, most of them told me that they didn't feel any pressure towards maintaining their books and other materials this year; even if they had late books in the past. When I asked about alternative punishments, my peers said that they would rather have detentions or no locker compared to taking away activities. Out of the several interviews that were conducted, there was one student who stood out from the crowd based on her response to the questions. She is the ONLY freshman who stated that she felt pressure towards keeping up with her school items and wanted to continue to participate in her activities. (Personally, I agree with her!)
In my opinion, the debt policy is both good and bad for our school and I understand both sides of the rule. First of all, the debt goes against the school budget and money from other departments has to supply our school's main necessities. Funding for supplies might possibly include taking money from extra activities such as dances. To me, the biggest negative effect of this rule is that it limits the amount of supplies we receive towards each class. Another downfall is that restricted students unable to attend school functions may possibly reduce school spirit. The positive side of this is that items are being returned and all the money is funded back to its appropriate department. Another good point is that it teaches students responsibility on how to handle situations like this when they owe fines and other things.
Earlier I said that this new rule could or could not benefit our high school but so far the results have been positive. Whether it stays the same or changes is all up to you!
