Tardies: How Late Is Too Late? Thursday, January 05, 2012 By Sophomore Joe Pratt Senior Juan Cabrera runs through the doors as he is running late for his class. - Joe Pratt Advertising The students at Cameron High School know after the bell rings they have five minutes to gather their supplies and make it to their next class. In a school with only two floors, this shouldn’t be difficult to do. Yet at Cameron High School there are around eight tardies a day. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but after a semester it figures up to 640 tardies. Why do students at Cameron High receive all these tardies? CHS Assistant Principal Mr. Scott Archibald said, “I think students have enough time to get to class. The biggest reason students obtain tardies is because they spend too much time visiting in between classes.  I went to a school of 2,000 students; we had three floors and only 5 minutes [to get to class]. Amazingly, I made it to class on time. It’s just a matter of understanding it’s not social time in between classes.” Mr. Archibald is not the only one who thinks students aren’t rushed to get to class. Many of the students agree they have plenty of time stop by their locker and make it to class on time. Sophomore Sabrina Parra said, “We usually have enough time to get to class. When I don’t, I just make sure I bring my books for the next class with me.” Sabrina can avoid tardies by planning ahead. Why does everyone want to avoid tardies? Sophomore Levi Hahn said, “According the Cameron High School Handbook, after a student is given their seventh tardy they have to serve a detention. If a student gets an eighth tardy they will have to attend ISS.” If they have an eleventh tardy that students would receive more days of I.S.S. Exceeding this amount will result to O.S.S. Mr. Archibald is in charge of discipline at the high school. He said, “The kids who receive tardies aren’t necessarily trouble makers; they just don’t have a big rush on anything.” After a student is given a tardy, often times they realize they need to stop socializing in the halls and make it to their destination. Students need to learn that after high school, when they have a real job, if they are late to work consistently they are going to be fired. Instead of a strongly worded lecture, they will lose their job. As a result they will be in financial trouble. Students may not have this problem now, but lack of punctuality will affect them in the future. Their job will be a lot farther away then just traveling class to class in a two story building. No more excuses, just be on time!

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