PRO: The policy is needed

Every year, the late policy is a topic in the talk of the school. It states that students must arrive by 11:00 am to be marked present for the day, and only five tardies are permitted per semester; however, there are many reasons why the late policy should be in effect.

Our school classifies itself as “college preparatory.” This means that the school’s goal should be to prepare its students for college, not only within the classroom, but in every aspect, and this includes being on-time. Students are required to be at a college class by a certain time; they are responsible for being sure that they arrive on time for that class. By being a “college prep” school, students should be held to the same or similar standards that they would be held to in college.

The policy also helps students prepare for situations within the real world, such as jobs, interviews, and internships. Being required to arrive on-time in high school will help students to practice punctuality for the future.

The late policy is also already lenient in that it allows students to arrive late unexcused up to five times without consequence and allows students to have notes from parents for permitted reasons for lateness, such as doctor and dentist appointments.
Some students have had complaints with the late policy due to sports and other extracurricular activities.

However, students participating in these activities should realize that school comes first, and if they are late to school to the point where it is an incomplete day, there should be consequences.

Late arrival is a disruption to classes and hinders productivity. When students arrive late, they disrupt the class by asking questions on information that has already been reviewed.

If students would be allowed to arrive late as much as they wanted with no consequences, there would be less routine in classes and more chaos.

Overall, the late policy allows the administration to have more control over the students’ safety.

The late policy is in place as a way to keep the students safe — not as a way to bother the students. Students should recognize the reasons behind the late policy, rather than mindlessly complaining about it.  – Julia Williams

CON: The policy is not needed

Last year, if you ever got to school late, you may have noticed that you were not the only one arriving after the bell had already rung.  Many students had chosen to get to get to school late.  Why?  Because there was no penalty.  Things are different now. John Carroll is now enforcing a late policy.  We don’t need it.

There are many problems this new late policy could cause. One problem that could arise is students being punished for a circumstance they cannot control. For example, this may happen if a student does not have a license and relies on other people; this person could be punished for someone else’s not being able to get to school on-time.

Another example of this is traffic. If students gets caught in traffic and are late as a result, they could be punished. Students cannot control traffic and should not be punished for it.
Students could be late for a number of good reasons out of their control, and this policy could be punishing students for that.

Another problem with this policy is that it does not truly prepare us for college. In college, students will not be punished by the school for not being on-time. Instead, they will have to deal with the consequences created by the latenesses, like lower grades. This new policy will only make students feel that they should be on-time only so that they don’t get in trouble, instead of worrying about the impact on grades and workload.

These small problems that make being late unavoidable could pile up as well. What happens when a student is late multiple times? Could it lead to a demerit? A student could end up being punished very harshly because of uncontrollable circumstances, which should not happen.
The new late policy should not be enforced. It is unreasonable. – Cameron Gibson