Letter to the Editor: A response to the ridiculous video on the asinine door policy
January 14, 2019
Usually I see no need to throw my voice into the tumult of others criticizing the actions of the school; however, this recent video released by the student council in tandem with Mr. Beaton has me nothing short of incensed and I find I must speak my mind on a public forum. In the video, a student within the school opened door six to allow in a group of students who were trapped outside. The student was then called into what was presumably the office of Mr. Beaton, where he was questioned and reprimanded for his actions. This is where I begin to take issue. The student questioned said that he knew each of the students, having seen or interacted with them previously within the school, so he wasn’t letting in random strangers; rather, he was showing common courtesy to his fellow classmate. Such casual acts of kindness are greatly appreciated among the student body, especially when the weather grows frigid (as it does every winter). Despite this, the student was told in no uncertain terms that what he had done was nothing short of folly and that all students entering the school beyond 8:30 AM MUST use the main office door. His off campus pass was then revoked for this minor infraction against this ridiculous rule. Even in the presumably staged video, the student punished seems to express disbelief and argues the rule to an extent but is quickly cut off, being told that what he did was foolish and he would have been held responsible had any of these students caused trouble. This policy is, frankly, obtuse and vacuous. Security cannot be cited as a possible concern because any possibly dangerous individual could simply enter through the unlocked main doors, rendering the other locked entrances irrelevant. Beyond that, security couldn’t have been the concern in the video, seeing as how the student knew all the students he allowed in. This “door policy” is without logic or merit, doing nothing but encouraging distrust between students. This policy puts up a wall between students in need of common courtesy and students with the ability to provide said courtesy; it is for this reason that I must demand: ‘Mr. Beaton, tear down this wall.”
Andrew • Jan 19, 2019 at 10:07 pm
I agree with this article very much so. The whole ‘point’ of the video is completely subverted by the content.
Additionally, a note: this video was actually produced by the Student Senate, not the Council, and it is the very fact that so many assumed that this was StudCo content that is so problematic. For an organization supposed to bridge Administration and the student body, they have done a remarkably poor job representing the student body. How many students could name a single Senator? One not shown in this video?
This is not even discussing the problematic issues with the Senate’s feedback form (it currently does not allow anonymous submissions, which makes it unlikely any students will submit their true thoughts for fear of their name being attached to dissenting ideas) and their meeting minutes (incredibly well hidden for something supposed to be public information, and seemingly devoid of meaningful comment much of the time. It reads more like a half-filled agenda than an actual minutes log, with little to no record of discussion that occurred. The lack of any dissenting ideas whatsoever within the record is very concerning).
From my point of view, the Student Senate is really more of a figurehead and a scapegoat than anything else, a way for the EHS Administration to claim they consulted the student body without really truly asking us students what we want, and what is best for us.
In the end, it’s just another thing to pad one’s college resume, another leadership position devoid of any meaningfulness.
Andrew Hou • Jan 19, 2019 at 1:48 am
An opinion with actual reasoning behind it in this school, for once.
I agree very much, not to mention the whole vague and strangely shadowed nature of the Student Senate (it was them, not studco, that produced and released this video, and this misunderstanding itself speaks volumes to the issues of and within the organization)