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Students standing in line at a food kiosk

Students waiting in line inside the cafeteria. Photo by Kat McDermott.

Line-cutting at lunch should have consequences

Foothill's lunch lines are getting too long and disorderly.

COMMENTARY
By TORI PECKHAM-SMITH
fhspress.com Staff
Posted September 30, 2016

Foothill High School has a huge cutting problem and PSOs/faculty members are doing nothing about it. They rarely enforce it, and when they do, these students have no consequences for disobeying rules over and over. I have noticed when I get to the cafeteria early, the line goes quickly and smoothly because it’s a single file line. Whereas when I get there two minutes later, the line is disorderly, clumped up and slower than molasses.

Sure, Mr. Bell does the whole, “AH AH AHHH,” thing but how effective is that? As soon as he turns his back, kids are right back at it. Then they say, “go to the wall, go to the wall!”, to try and make it a single line, but that’s punishing the kids who have been waiting in that line without cutting.

For example, when kids are sliding their way in front of me and they say to make a single file line, and someone stands in front of me, I get so angry and push past them. Then they get angry and I confront them and we start arguing. At that point it could turn into a fight. So how effective are their tactics really? They’ve tried using those black dividers but kids just move them and clump up again. We need more eyes on lunch lines to keep it in an orderly fashion and running smoothly.

I say give a ridiculous punishment for cutting. Something that’ll have kids thinking, “Wow, all this for cutting? Not worth it.” I’m guilty of cutting, and I know if I was faced with detention for cutting, I wouldn’t do it. I’m sure student athletes wouldn’t be doing it either. They don’t want detention; coaches will not be pleased. Or maybe make them clean up the cafeteria or the litter outside. 90% of kids will not cut because it just won’t be worth it.

I went to a middle school in Las Vegas where we had lunch A & B and we’d go into the cafeteria, get in a SINGLE line, and get food. If you were caught cutting you were sent to the back, and received after school detention. Kids were not cutting. I sure never cut, I had to take the bus home. I didn’t have time for after school detention. Just enforcing the rules in general and giving an actual punishment for something as juvenile as cutting, will practically eliminate the problem.

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