Enforcing rules is very important. Rules need to be enforced on a consistent basis throughout the school. Those who disagree will say that rules being enforced differently is just part of life and you need to a just to have to learn to follow them. Teachers at SHS have different viewpoints on how rules should be enforced and whether they should even be rules at all. “The rules, no matter what they are, need to be enforced equally or the students won’t care, and the teachers not following the rules are just undermining Mrs. Wheeler and the rules she has set,” said SHS Councilor Becky Leno. Being inconsistent with the discipline and the authority of the rules is just not working for the SHS staff and students.

The clear water bottle was put in place last spring by SHS Principal Dirlene Wheeler. The rule came about because there were students putting alcohol in their water bottles.The rule states that: It must be a clear liquid in a clear bottle. This rule applies to the students, and the staff. When staff does not enforce the rule, students aren’t going to follow it. Many students have been in classrooms where students have been drinking out of a multitude of colored cups. How does she expect students and staff to follow her rules when she doesn’t even enforce them? In order to get students to follow rules, they need to be consistent. Some teachers follow the rule book to the letter and others could care less. “I have coffee every day in a colored cup and I am never told I am not allowed to have it,” said Guy.

The dress code is printed in our student planner, which all of us read at the beginning of the year. The students are expected to have it memorized so that when they get dressed in the morning they know what is appropriate and what is not. “The dress code is one of those things that kids often try to work the system. Not everybody addresses it the same, nor gives the same consequences for the exact same issue,” said Leno.

With teachers not enforcing the same rules it is hard for students to know who to listen to, and what to do about the rules. The students need a solid set of rules to follow so they don’t get confused on what the rules are. The rules need to be set, consistent, and enforced efficiently or students won’t listen.