As a senior at Alisal, I can say that I have never felt more prepared for the real world. I’ve learned quite a lot these past four years, things like how, as a woman, the way I dress is responsible for how men act, how it’s okay inconsistently enforce rules, and how breaking rules or missing deadlines can have no real consequences.

Every middle schooler looks forward to high school for one major reason – after two years of wearing uniform they will enter a new world where they can wear whatever they want, unless it violates the dress code.

As a girl, it seems like females are targeted more. The specific clothing listed in the dress code – spaghetti straps, (I know our shoulders can be such a distraction) short dresses or skirts, halter tops, see-through or fishnet fabrics, and bare midriffs – specifically target girls. The only thing that could apply to boys as well, is the reference to “Clothes shall be sufficient to conceal undergarments at all times.”   Girls will be asked to change if the jeans they’re wearing are “too ripped,” but boys will not be told anything for sagging and showing their underwear. So it’s okay for them to sag their pants but if girls wear jeans that are too ripped which cause their knees to be visible, the world is ending. That makes perfect sense. Let’s send the message that girls are responsible for how boys act, and don’t hold the boys responsible for their actions and words.  

Speaking of being responsible, the drug free contract that student-athletes sign has the right idea, but lacks in accountability. The drug free contract is a packet of rules and expectations you must meet in order to play any sport; once you sign your name you’re on the honor system. The student athletes are promising to to stay drug free, which means no smoking, drinking, and other sort of drug consuming; yet, some athletes still go out drinking and smoking regardless.  And since there is no random drug testing, no one monitoring social media, and no one to check on the athletes, very few get caught.   But what happens when those individuals work someplace that does drug testing? They’ll sign the paper, thinking it’s meaningless and lose their job, and maybe more. So the message is, your signature on the paper is meaningless. There is no accountability, until you get in the real world.

One real world quality we’re told matters is punctuality, and yet we’re not held to that. There is a Tardy Policy, and  you can get detention when you’re late to any of your classes (except 1st period) which you serve during lunch.  If you are constantly late then you are given Saturday school and for every time you miss an extra day is added, eventually they’ll just tell you you’re not walking the line until you make up all the Saturdays you missed, this would not be big deal unless you are a senior. As one of my teachers likes to point out every single day, “You are not ready for college if you’re tardy to classes.” But if the school won’t crack down on tardies 1st period, how can students take the message seriously?

The Trojan Traits are respect, responsibility, and safety, they should be applied all around whether it has to do with academics or sports. In order to fix this problem of inconsistency, teachers need to say what they mean and mean what they say. How do they expect us to succeed after high school if all they teach us was it’s okay to be inconsistent? When they don’t enforce rules or deadlines, they make it seem like it’s okay to slack off as long as you turn in your work eventually. If the school is trying to teach you to be irresponsible, to be hypocritical, and to blame women for men’s behavior, mission accomplished. If it’s to turn out responsible young adults, then wish me luck as I embark on a new journey with no idea on what the real world is actually like.

I can’t wait to go out and apply everything high school has taught me.