A Final Interview With the Head Honcho

Over the past couple of weeks I've been attempting to schedule a time to meet with Mr. Mason, the assistant headmaster, to discuss the change in locker policy at the high school. As the assistant headmaster, Mr. Mason is directly responsible for supervising the assignment and regulation of lockers at the high school and the change in policy. today, during the first lunch block, I finally caught him in the cafeteria and was able to have a short discussion with him about the issue. So during lunch I approached him and we had a brief walk and talk discussion on the subject. the main question I asked him was why there was the change from being able to officially switch lockers to not between this year and last year. His response made sense. He said that the reason for the change was that last year you had kids who were not registering, and didn't even bother to take the time, and also kids who were registered for the same locker. He even sighted that at one point six kids were registered for the same locker. He followed up by saying that the new policy was mostly an attempt to control this issue, and that it was simply to see if it would work, and if not maybe something else would be tried. He also mentioned that soon all of the lockers across the three schools that are not registered and taken will be zip tied to prevent multiple usage by students. While I think that all of his points make complete sense both from an organizational and administrative standpoint, I don't think that it takes into account the student's needs. I think in organizing a locker system, teachers need to consider what works best for the students, and what works most efficiently. I also think, that based on the conclusions I've come to, that actually adherence to this policy is almost non-existent and that students generally just don't carer about the rule, that the best thing to do might be to assign specific lockers, but 1. make it more clear where the lockers are instead of just giving out a  number, and 2. To assign them based on a student's schedule or personal activities, and not just at random because, as has been shown by all of the information I have gathered, that system simply does not work, and we need one that does.

And the Results Are (Finally) In

After a hectic week of data collection and analysis, I finally have the results for Freshmen and locker usage. Of 17 freshmen surveyed, fourteen are shown to use a locker regularly, but only three o them used the one they were assigned at the start of the year. The reasons varied for this group, with everything from the usual, "it was inconvenient for my classes and friends," to, "mine was already taken so I just grabbed another one. When I asked the freshmen who responded with the "already taken" response why they had not reported it to a counselor or other official, they simply responded by saying they hadn't thought it was worth the trouble if they could just take another one. These results primarily go against the prediction I made last week when I said I thought that the freshmen might be more inclined to use the locker they were given. It seems that no mater the age there are almost no members of the school who actually regularly use the locker they were assigned. the conclusion I came to, after observing all of this, is that the primary drive for people to take different lockers and break the rule is that it's inconvenient for them, and from there still others take lockers when they find theirs already taken, because they don't feel its worth the trouble to request a removal of another's lock. While the actual effects of this are seemingly mild, it does create a security issue in that the school has absolutely no idea where students have their lockers, unlike in previous years where they actually could have some idea. The point to take away from this I believe is that the more restrictions that are put on a student and how they can use their locker, the more rebellion against those restrictions you will see, and the less effective the system will become.

Three Out of Four Accounted For

Kristen made me realize a very important fact about the survey I've been conducting in the past week. As I said, I had been interviewing both my friends and people I found in the library during D block, which I have free. The realization I came to is that that means that no freshmen have been included in my study. Since freshmen have study hall for all of first semester, none of them would have been around when I was giving out the survey. Now while it might seem like this wouldn't pose too big an issue, I think it really does. Freshmen, as we all know, are usually a bit intimidated by BHS, and a lot of the time will follow its rules a bit more strictly than some of the upperclassmen. What this makes me wonder is if freshmen are more likely to use the locker they are assigned, rather than just take a locker for themselves, in the fear that someone will try to take off their lock if they don't just go with their usual locker. In addition, I think its probably more likely for a freshman to make an issue out of not being able to get into his or her assigned locker, and the person occupying it will be evicted. I think I'll pose the survey once more but only to a group of freshman sometime during this coming week, just to see the difference, if their is one, in responses. I think that data will actually really help to balance out the response I see, though of course, I really have no idea as of yet, and it's not exactly an outcome I'm hoping for.

And the People Cry: "Inconvenient!"

As I mentioned in a post last week, I started a poll that came in with results showing a trend toward using lockers that they were not assigned to or simply just not using one at all. the primary reason most people stated for this went along the lines of "It just wasn't convenient for my schedule." Now last week this was based off of only around ten people, so the sample size a was obviously not large enough to warrant such a conclusion. However, in the past week I handed out an extra twenty surveys to random people, both of my friend's group and just random folks you find in the library, and the results were anything but depressing. All twenty of the survey's came back with a defiant statement telling me that they either didn't use a locker, or were not currently using the one that they were assigned. And again, the same reason came back, with everyone stating that using the school assigned one was inconvenient for them. This poses the simple question to my mind, why does it seem like there is never any semblance of convenience for the locker's students are assigned. Now I might think that the ideal scenario would be for students to have lockers that they choose and then register, but I also think that another way it could work is that the locker assignments could be enforced, but at least the administration could put some effort into giving student's lockers that somehow accommodate part of their schedule so it's not so horribly inconvenient. I haven't yet met with Mr. Mason to discuss this (as he was behind the policy change), but this will defiantly be one of the questions I pose to him, when I see him in the next week.

From the People

I think it's important, when attempting to understand a problem, to take into account, all of the people affected by it. This means that in trying to understand the problem with lockers at BHS, I have to actually look at the students whom it affects. In that spirit, I made a survey this past week to assess how many students actually follow the set guidelines that the school defines for lockers. the survey also takes account for why students don't use the locker's they're assigned. It is as follows:

1. Do you regularly use a locker at the high school?
1. Yes
2. No

2. Is this the locker you were assigned in homeroom in the beginning of the year?
1. Yes
2. No

3. If no, why?

4. If yes, do you find yourself wishing you could switch to a locker that was more convenient?
1. Yes
2. No

5. Do you think the school’s policy of permanent locker assignments is ridiculous? Should students be able to pick a locker that works better for them, and then register with their homeroom teacher that they’ve made the switch?
1. Yes, yes
2. No, No
3. Yes, No
4. No, yes

Although I've only given this survey out to a few students, early results are showing that most students either don't use a locker, or don't use the one they were given because, as three students said, "It wasn't convenient." Though these results are only preliminary and represent about seven students, they do speak for the beginning of a trend that moves in exactly the direction I had thought it would. It'll be interesting to see in the next week if the results continue in this fashion, or if it was simply an anomaly. Still, I think I'll see perfectly predictable results come of it 

First Look

On Friday, I had the opportunity to meet with my guidance counselor, Mrs. Sergeant-Jordan, to discuss my school life this year, college, and various other topics. In addition, we spent a good amount of time talking about the situation with the lockers at the high school. Though she didn't know very much, she did seem to think that the lockers had been changed due to a safety issue, and a need to protect students both from harm and from social harassment (at one point she mentioned the possibility of how it would feel to be a freshman and have your locker taken from you). However, I responded by asking the one lingering question, why the change? Why can't students switch and then register the lockers after enough time has passed for students to find and decide whether they like their locker or not? Although she was just speculating, she said she thought that the issue was probably with organization of student's lockers and the organizational problems while trying to keep track of everyone who was switching them. I understand her thinking on the subject, but it still occurs to me that this couldn't be so big of an issue as to ignore it all. I mean what's so difficult about keeping a spreadsheet or an equally simple to use application that records the locations of students lockers? Though she couldn't really help me to understand it, she did suggest that I go talk to Mr. Mason, the assistant headmaster, who she thought might have a bit more insight on the subject. So as far as interviewing has gone that's where I'm headed next. And who knows, maybe there will be an explanation that hasn't occurred to me yet and that even my guidance counselor couldn't come up with. but for now, I suppose I'm gonna have to wait and see, and set up a meeting with Mr. Mason in the near future.