By Aiden Forusz, Year 12
If you arrive late for your first period, your teacher would normally mark you as late on the attendance register, which is standard protocol in the school. LGB Students from Year 5 all the way to Year 13 are expected to be in class by 8:15 every morning. However, some students find being held to this standard unfair!
First of all, this article is not denying that being on time is important. Arriving late is a distraction to the class, disrupts the lesson and is disrespectful to the teacher, which of course everyone should aim to avoid. Arriving late means that you will not only miss out on some of the class, but the teacher will have to re-explain everything that you have missed. Hence it is clear that being on time is important and that we as students should all aim to be as punctual as possible.
However, there are various reasons why someone might be late. For instance, there may have been an unusual amount of traffic, the trams could have broken down, or the bus might have been delayed. Unfortunately, these are not uncommon occurrences in Geneva and such events happen randomly and without notice, so us students have no time to prepare and leave the house earlier.
Lates should certainly not be excused, but when they are caused by extraordinary circumstances (such as exceptional amounts of snow or flooded bridges) that are outside of the student’s control, perhaps just making it to school before lunch time ought to be commended!
No student wants to receive a late, since they can contribute to a detention and even show up on their record, which hopefully acts as a deterrent to all those considering hitting the snooze button in the mornings!
