By Sofia Martinez
Should tardies be excused because of bells? During the first few weeks of the new 2025–26 school year at Dana Hills High School the bells have changed audio while also having some malfunctions in audio in certain parts of campus. I interviewed Mr. Sink on his opinion of the bells and the feedback he gave was understandable, “Why have bells if they don’t work?” The bells had some malfunctions in his room in particular making them not only hard for him to hear but hard for students to hear as well. He even had technicians come into his room trying to see why they weren’t working and couldn’t give him an answer. In response to his question, he said “If we tell students that bells tell them when there’s two minutes till class, then the bells don’t work, it’s expected to have tardies.” This reflects a sentiment many of our students share in regards to the bells being difficult. The hardship of not being able to hear the bells is understood by most teachers and Mr. Sink specifically was willing to have leniency to dismissing tardies and having understanding for students being a couple minutes late to class. However, this doesn’t mean every tardy will be excused because bells are hard to hear around his classroom or any other teachers either. By a certain time students should get familiar with the times of when their classes will be starting and are responsible for getting there on time on their own. Leniency for tardies in the few weeks of school is there to give grace to students who are just beginning to come back to school. If you abuse the leniency teachers are willing to offer you, they will be regretful of offering it to you to begin with and won’t have understanding anymore, and we shouldn’t abuse their kindness. The best thing to do for you and your schedule is to know and become familiar with the times in which you should be arriving to class. You should not expect that your teachers will understand every excuse you have as to why you are not on time, and you should not use the bells as an excuse to be late. I believe that students should try and be mindful of their schedules and time class starts and push through the hardship of not being able to hear the bells very well. It can be difficult to hear and if you make a mistake by not coming to class on time every now and then you should acknowledge your mistake and pay more attention next time moving forward. To expect your teachers to excuse every tardy students may have is a far reach and we can’t always blame it on the bells. By the time we have been school for a couple weeks we should have become familiar enough with our classes and be working to get our schedules aligned. It is nice some teachers are willing to excuse us and sympathize with our problems but we should repay that kindness with our mindfulness.
Photos by Anita Kartchner