0
0
NOWHERE TO WALK: Students fill the catwalk and the stairwell as they head to B lunch.
The do’s and don’ts for maneuvering through the hallways of DHS
WRITTEN BY MADISON WINTERS AND MYA WEISS
Have you ever been walking down the school hallway and found yourself stuck in that awkward moment where you and another person come face to face, being forced to do a little dance in order to get around each other?
This has become a common occurrence throughout the halls of DHS, causing an awkward and unpleasant interaction for all involved. And many are wondering, why is this such a common occurrence throughout our school’s hallways? Is it because of slow walking, students walking on the wrong side of the hall, people stopping in groups in the center of the hallway, or all of the above?
A staggering 53.6% of DHS students surveyed admit to walking down the wrong side of the hallway. According to survey responses, this is mainly due to people having to navigate through crowded hallways where no one is walking on the correct side.
Students are forced to perpetuate this major cause for excessive hallway traffic due to the very fact that it exists, forcing them to try and find their own way around the hoards of people. It is nearly impossible for someone to abide by (what should be) common knowledge of hallway traffic when there are people going in all different directions throughout the hallway.
DHS students are given only 5 minutes to get from one end of the school to the other during passing time. The excessive amount of hallway traffic, combined with the limited time between classes, makes getting to your class on time a struggle for many students. Junior Ally Brown and freshman Elody Winters both agree that they are “sometimes late to class due to hallway traffic.” It can become near impossible to get to class on time when dealing with slow walkers, groups of people filling up the hallways, and people walking the opposite way as they’re intended to down the hall.
What YOU Can Do!
- Try stopping on the side of the hall instead of in the middle.
- In order to keep traffic flow consistent, walk on the right side of the hall if you’re able to.
- Walk only two or three people across instead of in large groups that take up the entire hallway.
- Try taking different stairwells to make the middle one less congested.
- Spice up your day by changing up your normal walking route in order to spread out hallway traffic.
We must each make individual changes to allow students to get to their classes on time. We can move about the hallway without the added stress of running into people and being trapped in overly-crowded hallways.
These changes can be as simple as stopping to talk to your friends on the side of the hall instead of impeding traffic by stopping in the middle, or by making the decision to use different stairwells so that the middle stairwell doesn’t become as congested.
Many people would likely argue that just one person or even a group of people choosing to step to the side of the hall isn’t actually going to change anything. This is true. The only way for any one thing to have a larger impact on hallway traffic at DHS is if it is done consistently by the student body.
That is why we must all do our part in order to make our hallways less crowded and more manageable to get around. Small changes in your everyday school routine can make a big impact in the hallway traffic here at DHS. The only way to ensure that happens is if we are all making those same conscious decisions to make our school hallways easier to navigate.
