For many years in Arroyo’s history, students that lacked a 6th period were given the opportunity to stay within school grounds and wait for the official end to the school day. In some instances, students caused disturbances and mischief throughout the school, but they were told to leave and the problems ceased for the moment.

Now, students who are not disturbing anyone or anything are ordered to leave by wandering administration and security staff. This stereotyping of students as trouble makers and mere disturbances is not only wrong, but it leaves students with no place to go.

Many students use the school grounds as a safe haven to hang out and wait for their friends to get out or for their parents to come and pick them up. Where are students expected to go in their spare time? Of course, the plethora of fast food restaurants is the next stop for students who have just been kicked out of the now peaceful Arroyo campus. With new healthy diet plans being implemented at the school, which limit our food booth contents to a mere 450 calories a serving, one would think that students should be kept away from McDonald’s or Flames X-Press instead of pushed towards them with threats of detentions.

Besides the danger of having obese high school students, students who participate in extracurricular activities must now leave campus for about an hour before returning to meetings, rehearsal, or practice. To these students, extracurricular activities are their key to success. It is their way of helping the community, enriching the school, and to help themselves get into college. The removal of students creates a major disturbance to these students who must leave campus for a mere 50 minutes before returning.

It takes at least 10 minutes to walk across the school and through King’s Row. It then takes another 5 minutes of choosing where to go and actually getting there. The return trip back to the school and back to the club meeting is at least another 10 – 15 minutes. When the time is calculated, this gives students a time frame of 20 – 30 minutes to spend wherever they decide to go. Sadly, this is barely enough time to breathe if students decide on ordering food and eating it.

Administrators may also claim that students who remain on campus are a safety issue. Honestly, how much safer are the streets of friendly El Monte? The obvious issue is liability. The school and administrators are aware of the fact that if anything were to happen to students while on campus, the school will be liable. The school loses liability of its students 45 minutes after they leave campus, if students stray from their path home, and when students have actually reached their place of residence. When students stay at the school, Arroyo remains liable for their actions.

If safety is truly the issue, shouldn’t students who don’t have a 6th period be allowed to remain within the safe boundaries of the high school? Without a 6th period and with no way to get home or a club meeting awaiting them, students are forced into the world surrounding Arroyo. They are forced from their safe world called Arroyo High School with security guards and high fences, and tossed aside into the world of people who disregard street lights and have the capability to hurt the precious Arroyo students.

We’re not asking administrators to give students the privilege to wander the halls and cause havoc while out of class. I’m merely asking for a place to stay. As students of this high school we deserve a place that is safe, a place that isn’t full of greasy, fattening food, and a place where students can wait for rides, friends, or club meeting without trouble.

In past years, Rally Square was open for students to wait out 6th period. Now, even this option has been stripped from students. Students don’t want to cause havoc or destruction. We don’t wish to destroy school grounds or cause disruption to the classes still in session. All we want is a safe and reliable place to stay, with no trouble from the outside world and people we trust.