As much as it kills me to face the fact that summer is over, it is more excruciatingly painful to deal with the new attendance rules: the very rules that remind me the season is dead.

School always makes me grit my teeth; these six letters of agony bring thoughts of homework, lectures and the worst part, being trapped along with roughly 2,300 other students who mutually don’t want to be here.

The administration must not feel our pain; hence, the newer, stricter attendance rules this year. Maybe cracking down will work, but initially the changes bring anger and I feel even more ready to break free.

Keep in mind that we don’t have a choice to go to school; the government compels us, so I know school isn’t made to be fun. The three things a school cares about are education, safety and attendance.

This school, however, seems to have the biggest and best clever tricks to twist the minds of the young.
So, let’s take a look at the “crime” and punishments we could face this year.

Seniors can have their parking passes taken away if they are tardy to class three times or more. While the thoughts of unfair punishment might arise, the administration argues that this penalty is totally reasonable because kids will strive to get to class on time and they will thrive.

Yet we are forgetting the main points—if a parking spot is taken away, this will make it tough to get to school and therefore the student could have even more trouble. It’s potentially the start of a vicious cycle.

Another complaint I have is the blasted $200 each student must pay for, what, a 5×11-foot piece of cement? But I digress.

Another new portion of the attendance demands that students must bring a doctor’s note if they have an “appointment”; if they don’t bring one when they return to school, even with a parental phone call, the absence will remain unexcused.

OK—so some students have probably faked a doctor’s appointment in the past, but the fact of the matter is that this is another annoying ploy to keep us in school. So I suggest you make sure you ask your doc to write that note, and don’t forget it.

Lastly, if a student is more than 15 minutes late to class and it’s an unexcused tardy, the “UNT” will turn into an unexcused absence.

Now, realize the situation here: Once a student receives an unexcused absence, teachers will record a “zero” in their grade books. Three of those unexcused absences  means the student’s parking pass will be taken away permanently.

No one wants to be stuck on this merry-go-’round of problems and “corrections” that increased enforcement will surely bring.

Being on time, providing evidence of an appointment and considering possible loss of privileges are now all connected together.So, when you are tardy or absent, you risk losing a bundle of things rather than just an hour-and-a-half’s worth of knowledge.