It was a Thursday morning, the weather was beautiful, I was ready for the weekend. I took my time eating breakfast and showering which inevitably lead to me being two or three minutes late to first period. I’ve found that if I leave my house at exactly 8:03 a.m., I can usually, barely but usually, make it into my first period classroom before the bell rings at 8:20 a.m. However, turning left from Tomar Road onto Cliff Avenue is the turn that determines whether or not I’ll be late that day. The traffic is either backed up all the way to 57th Street, or completely nonexistent. It’s the turn that makes me or breaks me. That morning, it broke me.

Normally if I’m at the point where I’m pulling into Arcadia at around 8:17 a.m., I know I’m not going to make it on time so I call it a day and head home, hoping that I’ll be luckier for second period. As it seems, this is the same story for most kids that struggle to make it to first period in a timely manner. Being habitually late is probably near the top of the list of completely preventable problems, yet it’s still an issue that doesn’t have an effective resolution. As I sit in my car, knowing I’ve failed to be punctual once again, I weigh my options. I could walk into the building two minutes after the bell, sign in on the sweep sheet, then spend the entire class period being held hostage in the cafeteria. My second option involves being just as malproductive, yet somehow yields zero consequences. I’ve found that if I just fail to show up to a class I’m already running late to, I don’t get swept and I’m not held against my will with the same group of kids every morning.

Since when is skipping a better solution than missing a couple of minutes of class? Wasting  a minimal amount of class time should not be punished with wasting the rest of what time remains. This is called regression at its finest. Sweeping is a waste of time and encourages students to skip. However, if a five minute grace period was implemented, students that skip in order to avoid being swept, such as myself, would be more inclined to stay at school, instead of taking the “L” and going home.