At CCHS, occasionally during the passing periods, Dr. Jackson or someone working at the office, will call out that there is a “tardy sweep” period.  This means that those who will not be in their class by the time of the second bell would be swept up by campus security, and will receive detention, which can be served after school as well as being put on the “No Go” list that restricts students from extracurricular activities.  Though this method is effective in cracking down on those students who refuse to go to class on time, there are some very underlooked flaws that some people overlook.  The flaws will be shown in the limelight as you read the article.

The first main problem is the surprise element.  You never know when a sweep is happening until it happens, meaning you would have to switch your mindset from “Let’s just walk and enjoy the cool breeze in the morning.” to, “I need to get there as quick as I can.”  Whilst this may not sound too much of a flaw,  It raises the stress level of most students, now giving them something else to worry about instead of just their classes. 

I would be sick to my stomach if I had a stressful 2nd or 4th period, and I would be swept up in a tardy sweep I had no idea was happening. I’d then have to turn around and go to the main quad outside of the multi-purpose room, and THEN have to walk all the way back to my class if I was far away.  This not only puts stress on my body but stress on my mind, knowing that I was late for a few milliseconds has now cost me 30 minutes of my life at the end of the day, but also has made me miss class time.

Another flaw that the tardy sweep has under its belt is the fact that most students, including myself, have a class that is on one side of the school, and their next class is on the complete opposite side of this massive campus.  I have a class that is on the 2nd floor of the D Building, and my class after that is Journalism, in M18. This is literally on the other side of the campus, and I admittedly am always late by a minute or so.  I feel the same pain as a few of my classmates, and every time I see them during the second period, they are either late by a few minutes or they’re so out of breath from running all the way from their first-period classroom.

Lastly, with the recent cracking down on the coronavirus pandemic, there isn’t much to work forward to, as most extracurricular activities have either been canceled or have happened already!  Most of the upcoming events that were planned were sadly canceled such as our blood drive and Winterfest festivities.  With them out of the way, the No Go list is virtually useless.

It isn’t like it is just me who feels this way. In Mr. Pepic’s class in M16, 23 of them responded “Yes” to the question, “Are tardy sweeps of any problem to you?” When asked for further input, most of them responded with either one of the reasons mentioned above. 

So, are tardy sweeps effective? No.  They put too much pressure on already stressed-out students who are just trying to make it through the day.  If I could make suggestions, give the students more time, or possibly limit the number of tardy sweeps per a specific frame of time.  In the last term, tardy sweeps happened seemingly every day, and it never seemed to accomplish much except make the new freshmen fear the wrath of the sweep.  Instead of rounding students up like convict prisoners on roll call, one could instead reward the students with something niche for timely arrival, this should greatly motivate students for being early to class instead dreading along their path.