As of the start of the second quarter, Bothell High School has removed the one-day late policy for students. Though some teachers have decided to keep or create their own grading policy, many have stopped giving full credit for late work. This has cultivated the argument within students and teachers, about whether the removal of this policy is realistic. From teachers taking months to grade a single assignment to teachers not having any hard deadlines to grade work, it’s only fair that students have the same opportunity to be flexible when turning in assignments. On the other hand, many others think that students should be working their way up to perfection, and policies like these only provide them with a false image of the real world. They believe students are in high school to train for the real world and policies like these only numb that effect.
Sanika Kabbur (27’), a student affected by the removal of the policy states, “I don’t think it is beneficial to remove the late policy. I don’t see the point, especially because it doesn’t reflect the policies in real life.” Later, she provides a real-life example, stating “To cash in a check, they give you a grace period of 6 months.” She talks about how removing the late policy doesn’t necessarily prepare us for the real world, which is what high school should be about. After high school, adults are given ample grace time to complete their daily tasks. These tasks include student loan repayments, which often have six-month grace periods after graduation and another example is bill payments, which often have five-to-fifteen-day grace policies. Though these tasks are critical to living in today’s society, adults are still given more than 24 hours of grace time. If adults are given an abundance of time to complete their vital tasks, why shouldn’t students be given an extra 24 hours to finish a math assignment?
In contrast to Sanika’s opinion, Mrs. Brust, our marketing teacher, states, “I chose to remove the one-day late policy from my marketing classes because in the real world, being one day late isn’t acceptable.” She argues that punctuality is a skill that is needed in the real world. Maintaining punctuality is a way that adults sustain their professionalism. In the real world, jobs can be lost if people continue to be a day late in all their tasks. Some of the consequences of being late include late fees. These fees add up over time and at one point, are larger than the payment itself. Credit scores are a way adults are judged by their history and are assessed by their financial reliability. Each time your creditor reports a late fee, your credit score may decrease. This will not only affect your score but will also negatively affect your process of buying a house and getting a loan in the future because many landlords and property owners you may encounter, check your credit score to see if you are reliable enough to handle the home. Consistently paying your fees late can lead to extra fees, and eventually lead to lifelong problems.
When high school students are credited for turning in late work, even if by 24 hours, they unknowingly turn this into a habit. Sometimes unaccounted circumstances occur, which makes the one-day late policy beneficial. All in all, the policy was meant to be used conservatively and in tough situations. Since students started to overuse it, the school decided to remove the policy so students wouldn’t make procrastinating a habit.
