Thursday, October 10, 2013

No Bells, No Order by Leon Ochs

No Bells, No Order



This year St. Ignatius High School is introducing a new system of bells, which happens to be no bells at all. After a consensus by teacher committee, a decision was reached to remove the bell, for a few reasons, and instead, rely on the clock alone to switch classes.
Some people would say that the bell was a headache, and it was loud enough for the rest of the community to hear. Although, in school, the only real reason for not having bells was to simply say, “We’re a no bell school.” That saying in particular was a campaign slogan from the superintendent, only re-worded as to say we’re a, “Nobel” school. Therefore, most of the student body wasn’t too sure as to why we even need to change from the former bell system.
This new implementation to our school does make us different from other schools, but does it really change anything? Well, it makes for a lot of the tardies and absences to be up to the teachers’ call, and, therefore, most people feel as if they’re being punished unfairly. Though at the same time, kids have the opportunity to show up late and not get caught if the teacher isn’t paying a fair amount of attention. It makes changing classes somewhat chaotic at times too, because some teachers will release kids from class earlier than others, and a lot of the time kids are stuck waiting outside the door for their next class. It also makes for less “actual class time,” because kids will argue what time the bell should ring and will float around the door waiting for the dismissal from their teacher.
The bells really aren’t too terribly loud, and by no means can anyone but the students hear the bell loudly. Most of the student body and the teachers are in favor of reverting back to the old system for lack of a good reason for the change. In the end it’s a small difference, but just one unfairly-called tardy can change a person’s grade.
            By Leon Ochs




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