Oct. 2, Statesman staff member Amelia Litz wrote an editorial slamming LHS. After five days at Joe Foss, Litz now appreciates school on a whole new level

Before

Hallways are an unavoidable place in high school, and the halls at LHS have become a dreaded place.

One of the most exciting things about the hallway is seeing friends. Students get the chance to talk to them while walking, and wave as they pass by. Some students have taken hallway time to a new level, they think it is a time to hang out, jump on friends and throw things. These things create big problems for students trying to get to class on time.   

When students create huddles before the bell rings it causes other students to take detours, and creates unnecessary collisions.

People have come to think a wave isn’t good enough anymore and they find it humorous to surprise attack friends, make the most inconvenient high fives, or just plain stop in the middle of the hall to tell a friend some apparently urgent information. This is extremely annoying for anyone caught in the middle of one of these exchanges.

Other students like to spice up hallway time by throwing things or yelling obnoxious remarks in desperate attempts for attention.

These actions make students resent the fact that they have to come to school in the first place. The immaturity level of these actions are not that of high school students. It makes it difficult for students to get to class on time, especially with the new 6 minute time limit. Students need to treat hallway time as what it is, a time to walk to your next class, and keep the interactions to an appropriate level. 

After

Out of School Suspension (OSS) was always a mystery to me.  I never knew exactly what it was; now I do.  After 32.5 hours of suffering I learned exactly what goes on when one is suspended from school.

Joe Foss is almost like any other school, and looks normal from the outside. Tall trees and bushes frame the front of the brick building. Groups of students wait outside for school to start.  The hallways, bathrooms, and drinking fountains look like any other school. Though upon arrival at the gym students can see there is something different.

The gym at Joe Foss is separated into two sections.  One side serves as a lunch room; the other side is where OSS takes place.

Once students walk in, they are in a prison.  Picture detention, with double the strictness of the rules and teachers, then make it last for 6 ½ hours.

The supervisors assign seats for everyone, and that is where the student sits for the remainder of their sentence.  From the minute students walk in, they are subject to all of the rules, and an infraction results in a strike.  Three strikes and the student is kicked out, receiving zeros for all the days suspended, even if it is their last day.

There are two different types of infractions, major and minor.  If a student receives one major, they are kicked out.  Things that would get a student a major infraction include: sleeping, swearing, fighting, and refusing to work.  I didn’t really worry about those; it was the minor infractions that scared me.

Minor infractions are: being off-task, talking, leaving desk without permission, eating food, drinking beverages, laying down your head, drawing, putting work away early, and taking longer then 4 minutes in the bathroom.  On top of breaks only being 4 minutes long, there is a 3-a-day limit.  No drinks means no water. I was dying of thirst and would drink water out of the sink on my bathroom breaks.

Lunch was the only time of day students could be off-task, a half-hour to eat and refresh the brain.  The no talking rule still applied.

The rules alone don’t sound bad, but other factors make OSS miserable.  The atmosphere was really something that got to me.  Even though my day consisted of sitting in a chair, I felt as if all my energy and happiness was sucked away.

The OSS room was too quiet.  The only thing to listen to was the air vents that blew out Antarctic winds.  I dressed in layers everyday and still shivered.

Picture the feeling when a boring class is dismissed.  The excitement and relief fills you up and you feel happy.  I thought it would be like that after OSS, times ten.  To my surprise I felt nothing at all.  When OSS is dismissed, it is dismissed. That is all. 

Serving out of school suspension at Joe Foss for 5 days really made me miss LHS.  Everyone is so free and, for the most part, happy.  No more will I roll my eyes over class discussions.  Never again will I complain about the loud halls.  The liveliness and happiness of LHS is the greatest thing ever compared to Joe Foss.