Bells are repetitive, annoying and distracting

Recently, more and more schools have been eliminating or temporarily eliminating their bells during the school day. This is something Valley schools should invest in as well.

Houston High School has about 26 bells per day. There is a bell to signify school is about to start, a one-minute warning to get to class, a bell when class starts, when class ends, when lunch ends and when school gets out. These bells are repetitive and annoying, not to mention distracting.

At Houston, lunches are released halfway through fourth hour, with three bells in five minutes ringing loudly in all the classrooms. This can be incredibly distracting for students and teachers. Surely there could be a better transition system.

Take Missouri’s Kirkwood High School for example. That school lost power to its bell system last year, but instead of frantic students running to and fro, transitions were peaceful. Tardies were reduced, and in an editorial in the Kirkwood Call online newspaper, students and staff were reportedly relieved from the constant ringing of the bells. According to the editorial, even after the bell system was fixed, principals requested it be shut off.

Eliminating bells prepares students for their adult lives. Neither colleges nor jobs have bells to let people know when to go to class or work or when to leave. It is each person’s responsibility to know when to head out to a class or job, when lunch is and when to leave.

During high school, students are supposed to be getting prepared for college and the job environment. The education and teacher assistance is right on track, but we do not need bells.

Many of the worries regarding loosing the bells can be easily fixed. During a one-month period, Presentation High School in California had its bell system shut off. An editorial on the Presentation news website, The Voice, states students and teachers alike were hurried and frantic without the bells, concerned if they would have enough time to get to class or not.

To me, that is irrational and somewhat ridiculous. Even though we are living in an era where wearing a watch is almost unheard of, students can check a clock in a classroom or while in the hallway. Valley schools are all indoors, so students are not walking from building to building where no clocks are present.

Another simple solution would be to place clocks in the hallways so students can check the time. Students can even check their cellphones or iPods for the time if the campus allows electronics. If students are still late, then it is no one’s fault but their own.

There are multiple solutions to improving the transitions in the school day. Even eliminating bells to just a bell to start the day, a bell for lunch and a bell to end the day would be a better improvement than multiple bells ringing for seven periods a day.

It’s time students become a bit more responsible and for schools to better prepare students for the transition to college and the work force.

Holly Brett is a third-year journalism student at Houston High School. This is her first year writing for the School’s page.