By Piper Simons

Trying to walk through the hallway during passing time is one of the most daunting tasks of the school day. Traffic flows in one direction and leaves only certain areas for opposing traffic to clear through.

Here at Loy Norrix High School, there are over 1400 students. That means for five minutes every seventy minutes, there are 1400 teenage bodies trying to navigate around the school. Recently, oncoming traffic takes the entire width of the hallway.

At Maple Street Middle School, they have an effective way to prevent hallway congestion like this. They have a thick piece of blue tape running down the middle of every hallway. No matter where you are going, you always walk on the right side of the hallway, much like driving a car.

“You can always tell who’s a Maple Street kid because they’re walking down the right side of the hallway,” said senior Alyssa Hartsig.

Although students here are much older and should be able to perform a simple task such as walking in the hallway properly, there should be more regulations as to how problems in the hallway are handled.

At the moment, students are forced to weave in and out of packs of other students in the hallway, or to turn around to avoid getting hit by students shoving into each other. This seems like something students shouldn’t have to worry about.

Doors can be kept open, as well. Doors to the C-Wing and K-Wing are always closed, and students coming from both directions try to go in and out one door. Students aren’t going to check to see if the other door is unlocked when it’s closed. Both doors should be kept open. This is a major factor in hallway congestion.

“Why are they not open? We’re not quite sure. They should be permanently open like the other doors. People act dumb, they don’t try to open the door,” Hartsig said.

Putting tape in the hallway is a drastic measure, but there should be more regulations in the hallway. There are plenty of rules for dressing and being late, but none to help in getting to class on time.