Judith Stolarz

As Grade 12 students start  to think about what lies ahead after graduation, one crucial question comes to mind: Are they ready?  

The transition to adulthood is not going to be smooth when you consider the childish rules senior students are expected to obey at school.

Take St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School for example.

The school enforces a closed campus policy. This means that students who will next year roam university campuses freely aren’t allowed off school property at lunchtime now.

Going out for lunch is not something that should be decided upon by a small council of parents. Rather, the majority of the school population should have a say, and that means students.  

Students should be allowed to take responsibility for their actions. That is the way they will learn responsibility.

But not all see it that way.

Maria DeBarardinis, a longtime teacher at the school, says the closed campus policy “models how discipline and structure are used in order to provide success for the future.”

Mrs. DeBarardinis suggests that high school students need to be taught that there are consequences to irresponsibility.

“There are problems managing schools for there is a wide range in age groups,” she says.

Students in their first year at a secondary school need more guidance than those  who have been there for several years, Mrs. DeBarardinis  explained, and it would be hard to put in place a different set of rules for the different age groups.

As someone in their final year of high school and who is looking forward to going to university next fall, I think the school should have more faith in us.

The school has done its job teaching students proper behaviour. Now, let us practise that in the real world.

Judith Stolarz is a high school student who lives in Vaughan.

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