Last year, conference period was one of the good things Sahuaro students liked about Sahuaro High School. Students could go to a class they were struggling in and go to get help from their teachers or make up work, but you could also hang out with your friends for an extra 40 minutes if you and your friends were all caught up in your classes. This year, however, is a whole other story. Mostly likely to all the school shootings that have been going on this year across the U.S. and how many students would always use the conference period time to leave the campus, conference is spent with everyone having to stay in a classroom for the entire conference period and you are not allowed to leave to go talk to your friends or leave the campus in general. The staff locks all the gates and the office doors by conference period and the only way in is to be buzzed in by the front office.

The majority of the students are against the new conference period, but there are some students that are for this change. One student from Sahuaro said that he “loves conference period.” However some teachers are in between about the changes to conference period. One teacher from Sahuaro, Mr. Robinson, likes administration buckling down on how conference time is used because, “there are more children in the class,” but also feels its under utilized because students still refuse to go to the classes they need to make up work in and “still aren’t turning in their work.”

Even though there are some downsides to conference period, it was made to keep our school and students safer. Maybe with that information in your mind,  you’ll look at how you see how conference period is not as bad as students think it is.