It is no secret that students do not enjoy waking up early in the morning– in fact, teenagers are often notorious for missing alarms and getting to school late. To try to combat this problem, many schools (including our own Plymouth South High School) have implemented a system of punishments in an attempt to deter the students from being late to school. Plymouth South has a rule that for every six “tardies” you get, you then have to attend an after school detention. In addition to that, being more than 10 minutes late to a class results in an absence for that class and will count as one of the student’s absences that could lead to them losing credit for that class.

While teachers may think these punishments are incentives for the students to be on time to school, they only add unnecessary stress and pressure onto the students, many of which already have ample stressors in their daily lives. Mornings themselves have been proven to be anxiety-inducing through the many studies that show the elevated levels of cortisol in the blood during the morning hours. Cortisol, although essential to the brain and body, can be overproduced by the body when someone is stressed or anxious. This overproduction of cortisol causes chronic stress/anxiety, headaches, brain fog and more– all of which can be detrimental to the physical and mental health of students. Aside from a student’s personal reasons for being tardy to school, there are often situations that affect students en route to school that are outside of their control. Traffic, accidents, and weather all play a role in when the student will arrive at school, and I don’t believe someone should be punished for something they cannot control.

Instead of punishing students for being a few minutes (or sometimes mere seconds) is completely irrational. It is understandable that students who are substantially late to class should face some sort of consequence, but there should be a longer grace period before first period starts in the morning. That way, students will be able to take their time in the morning instead of rushing to class. High school students are under enough stress as it is, and the last thing we need is to be punished for not being exactly on time for school– after all, we’re only human.