The nearly tardy juniors and sophomores rushed to advisory because their parking spots were so far away. As they passed the parking lot, they watched seniors, teachers and administrators unfairly have spots waiting for them.
Although parking spots for seniors, teachers and administrators have been instituted since the founding of our school, we must reevaluate the purpose and effects of organized parking spaces. Designated parking spots for anyone should be abolished because doing so will reduce tardiness and diminish class tensions.
“We have created a system for seniors to have a spot no matter how late they come, so it incentivizes bad behavior [tardiness] because there is a parking spot waiting for them,” world history teacher William Milsten said.
By changing the parking system to a fluid, “first-come, first-served” basis, everyone, including teachers and administrators, would want to come to school earlier to get a closer spot.
As seniors are unsurprisingly the tardiest class, this system would dramatically reduce the number of late-comers.
Some teachers need closer parking spots because of physical ailments, and this can be accommodated. However, most teachers would be encouraged to come earlier with no designated parking areas for them.
Although some critics note that the purpose of separate teacher and administrator parking spots promote respect, high schoolers must learn to be respectful whenever they are on campus and not because a school envrionment forces them to be civil temporarily.
Furthermore, people will not have to waste time looking for spots nearby campus if they come later.
“Theoretically, everyone is going to park as close as they can get, so people who come later know that spots closer to Trinity will fill up,” history teacher Samuel Stewart said. “So, they’ll just think, ‘forget going over there’ and save time.”
Also, since the majority of senior parking spots go unused during April and May because seniors are permitted (or refuse) to show up to school, many underclassmen would benefit from a fluid parking system.
In addition, senior privilege with parking only inflames class tensions.
“Senior privileges are something special that seniors are supposed to enjoy, but I believe they also create a culture of entitlement among seniors, resentment and fights between seniors and underclassmen,” psychology teacher Donna Walker said.
Because seniors and juniors become extremely attached to their parking spots and view them as an undeniable privilege, intrusions are not taken lightly.
“Sometimes there are some underclassmen who get pressured into parking in senior parking, and it always ends up in fights,” Milsten said. “Also, two years ago, some juniors decided to block the road and make a ‘junior parking,’ harassing some sophomores who parked in the area blocked by the juniors.”
With no designated parking spots, certain classes will not feel more superior or special than another class.
Because fluid parking spots force underclassmen to interact and even cooperate with seniors, reforming parking could seriously tone down the negative rhetoric from seniors and juniors on fun occasions like Headmaster’s Day or Powderpuff.
Although many seniors might object that senior privilege justifies designated parking spots, senior privilege as a concept is extremely ambiguous.
If the number of years and hard work at Trinity warrant senior privilege, seniors who have been around for two or three years should arguably not enjoy it. That argument would also imply that all underclassmen deserve a certain portion of this privilege. Similarly, tradition and the idea of being a senior fail to be valid justifications for senior privilege.
Furthermore, seniors argue that senior parking privilege goes hand in hand with the privilege to go off campus.
However, the only problem is that many seniors abuse these privileges and view them as a right. By coming back late to school or skipping class periods, many seniors continually abuse the privilege to go off campus and should not be permitted to do so until they stop viewing certain privileges as entitlements.
But, seniors should still be able to maintain privileges that they do not abuse, such as leaving early after assembly, senior casual days and not having to take final exams. Senior privilege should be limited to benefits that seniors can actually learn to respect.
By challenging the old tradition of designated parking spots, we will promote an equal, collective community at Trinity.
