Last week, the gym and seventh floor were used as testing sites for both the SAT and CAPT tests. Thus, the seventh floor was closed off and students were permitted to walk outside in order to avoid the seventh floor hallway. Those fleeting moments of freedom brought me back to freshman year, when we were allowed to walk outside during passing time. Those two days went by issue free, just as passing times did during my freshman year. While I understand that the edict of banning students from walking outside during passing time is to protect them, the past two days proves that allowing students outside can actually be a positive and liberating experience.

Students and staff alike know exactly where someone is at SHS when they reference the dreaded “ramp.” The “ramp” is a tiny hallway, barely wide enough to accommodate two people walking side by side, that connects the middle building to the new building. This ramp receives foot traffic from hundreds of students during each passing time, and it takes several minutes to get from one end to the other. In fact, I, along with many other students, am often late to classes because it takes so long to get through the ramp. The solution to this daily traffic jam is quite simple. What is it, you ask? Students should be allowed to walk outside to get from class to class. In addition to the mere annoyance that the crowds cause, this area is actually a fire hazard. This ramp is way over capacity during passing time and if a fire were to actually happen, people would definitely get hurt. Allowing students to walk outside will decrease foot traffic and thus, decrease the fire hazard that the large crowds cause.

I understand that there was deserving reason behind the decision to disallow students to walking outside in 2012. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, schools wanted to take any and all precautions to protect students. Thus, SHS was allocated more security guards and banned students from walking outside in an attempt to keep us safe. What is being forgotten, though, is that if a sick person wants to commit a heinous act, they will find a way to do so. Thus, forcing us to walk through the crowded ramp in an attempt to protect us is nothing more than an inconvenience.

There are benefits to allowing us to walk outside, too. Spending those six minutes during each passing time outside is actually beneficial in that sunlight delivers Vitamin D. Especially during the winter, I, along with many other students, get to school when it is dark outside and don’t leave school until it is dark again because of various extra-curricular activities. These few minutes would give us the fresh air that we so desperately need. Fresh air is also vital to clear the mind. During long and drawn out school days, walking through crowded hallways is the last thing I need. Allowing students to walk outside would give us a few minutes to regroup and prepare for the next period.

Administrators, I am asking you to reconsider your decision to ban students from walking outside during passing time. Allowing students to walk outside will drastically decrease the amount of people that use the “ramp” and will allow students to enjoy the fresh air that we, as kids, desperately need. Hopefully, I will no longer have to stare outside of the windows wishing that I could be outside while stalled in traffic on the ramp for the next few months.