Elimination of homeroom will hurt more than help

Seniors+Nick+Hills%2C+Christian+Fonceca%2C+George+Gu%2C+and+Daniel+Grist++in+homeroom+H211+work+on+homework%2C+relax%2C+and+use+their+phones+before+the+regular+school+day+begins.+

submitted Lindsay Coppens

Seniors Nick Hills, Christian Fonceca, George Gu, and Daniel Grist in homeroom H211 work on homework, relax, and use their phones before the regular school day begins.

Lily Scearbo, Staff Writer

Homeroom will be eliminated next year, and I think it is a tragedy.  Although five minutes does not seem like much, this time has a large impact on the day of many students who use it wisely.

The time that is given to us in homeroom is beneficial because there is an endless amount of things that you could do, like catch up on your sleep, finish up some last minute homework, eat breakfast, listen to music, or draw a picture. You have five minutes a day, for 180 days, for four years, which adds up to a total of 3,600 minutes!

The administration, when making the decision to get rid of homeroom, must have thought that this 3,600 minutes of homeroom would be better spent in classes, learning.  But many teenagers have short attention spans and adding time onto lectures will just increase the amount of unfocused students there are.

I use the time to catch up with a friend and send a few snapchats.  This is the perfect time to have real (or electronic) human interactions without having to worry about being scolded by a teacher for talking during a lesson or being late to class for socializing during passing time.

Not everyone has friends in their homeroom which can lead them to be critical of the necessity of this time.  However, the low likelihood of having one of your best friends in your homeroom is part of the beauty of this time because if you do have a desire to socialize and have no friends in your homeroom, there are so many people that you can introduce yourself to.  It is common for people to be in a homeroom with no one they know, so I think it is perfectly normal to try and make a friend.

Homeroom also gives students another teacher to form a connection with and to get to know.  Since you have the same teacher all four years, it is super easy to form a relationship with them.  Having a teacher in school that you can trust is really important for students.

Homeroom should never have been gotten rid of because of how great it is.  Instead, the extra few minutes of class time that we are gaining by taking away homeroom should be taken from lunch because it is obviously much less useful.