Anyone who’s had a study hall knows that the rules are a bit ridiculous.  When I was a freshman we had the study halls in detention rooms and we weren’t allowed to talk, just listen to our iPods and go on the not-so great netbooks.  Now, I’ve graduated on to bigger and better things: the auditorium.  A place where studying is pretty much impossible; from the bad lighting to the the complete lack of desks to the constant buzzing noise.  The only equation that get’s solved in the auditorium is that study hall = bogus. (What do you think? Don’t forget to comment.)

Well, sometimes the auditorium; other times we get kicked out and all 200 something people in 5^th period study hall are forced into the Oakton Lobby.  There isn’t enough seating for everybody, but we aren’t allowed to sit on the stairs because it’s a fire hazard.  Of course, it’s probably a fire hazard for that enormous amount of people to be in the lobby, but that isn’t a huge concern for the administration apparently. The whole thing is a bit ridiculous.  I usually manage to reason with a security guard and sit with my friends on only one half of the stairs; so when the school burns down everybody can still rush out.

Except for the people who don’t actually show up for study hall.  The people who have realized that the whole swipe system is basically pointless.  The school tries to scare you (if you don’t swipe in you will receive a detention).  Lies.  I have spent many a study hall wandering the halls, pass-less and not swiped in, but here’s the thing: nobody cares.  Maybe it’s because the school year is almost over, or maybe it’s because everyone knows that we get about as much work done in study hall as we do when we’re on Facebook; but either way wandering the halls during study hall is a totally viable option.  On the flip side of that, if one is to do the honorable thing and swipe in at study hall before asking to go to the locker that isn’t allowed.

Then there’s the matter of eating.  It doesn’t matter when or where one has study hall; the auditorium seventh period, the Oakton Lobby fourth period, the cafeteria second period— there is no eating allowed.  Not even if that person has no lunch period and no other time to eat, all you get is a: You should have thought of that before you picked your schedule.  This mentality forces most people to resort to sneaky measures.  I watch as my friend looks around surreptitiously before stuffing a few animal crackers into her mouth.  It’s both hilarious and completely absurd.  It’s not like she’s breaking the law, but she’s scared to get a detention (although Rozy Kanjee tells me that detention is no big deal) that she won’t eat her lunch.  Sure enough, as soon as she breaks out her sandwich, even the covering of the table isn’t enough to ward off the security guards.  It’s like they have a super detector for food.

Meanwhile going on at the table closest to us is a game of cards that’s getting pretty intense.  The pot is in the middle, and for a school game it’s getting pretty high; around twenty bucks is out.  As the security guard reprimands my friend I stare at the game.  Although I don’t care if they play cards, it is illegal to gamble on school property, right?  It seems that the guards either don’t know about this law or don’t care.

I don’t care either, but if we aren’t going to care about actual law breaking do we have to worry about crumbs falling in the cafeteria?  I think not.

So what should the school do to make study hall better?  The first thing that needs to change is the location of study hall.  We can’t all fit into the Oakton Lobby and the auditorium is a horrible place to study anyways.  Once we get a place with deccent lighting and desks maybe some actual studying will get done.  Or maybe not, but at least we would be happier.  Then if someone could change the rules to something more consistent and then inform the security of what the rules are, then that would be cool too.  From there we can add more things to study halls, I don’t care if it’s beanbag chairs or massage tables, practically anything will make it better.

Do you agree or disagree? Do you actually study in Study Hall? What do you think the school could improve about study halls?