Rant of the Week - Classroom etiquette needs a brush-up

By Jodi Hale

Is respect a thing of the past? As time goes by, generations change, and so do their ideas of proper conduct. At Santa Clara, I like to think teachers, as well as students, show respect to everyone in class. As I take more classes, and am exposed to more teachers, I am beginning to think manners have disappeared from the classroom. While freshmen are allowed a little lenience, I think students should be aware of what proper classroom etiquette is.

When entering college, we adapt to the notion that we have the option to miss class. Many of us learn very quickly, usually around midterm time, that this is not such an ingenious choice, but it does feel nice to have the freedom that we did not have in high school. If we wake up one morning and decide that it would be much more beneficial to lie in bed for that extra hour, rather than make it to that eight o'clock class, that is our decision. Or, if getting that cup of coffee on the way to class seems much more important than being in our seats for the first 10 minutes of a lecture, that too is our decision.

However, when making decisions, we should all think back to what we were taught at home and in school - politeness is a virtue! Disrupting a teacher's lecture is rude! Whether it be that you arrive late, depart early, feel the need to take a break in the middle of class to run to the vending machine or maybe call someone back who paged you - you are being rude. I am sure that we have all heard a cell phone ring in class, or a pager vibrating uncontrollably in someone's backpack, but let's be real, if something is that important, maybe one's freedom of choice should be exercised at that point. If you can't stand to be in class because you are waiting for some news of great importance, maybe you should stay home and wait for that phone call. It is understandable that there are occasional mishaps and exceptions, but overall it is not that difficult to go to class and not be disruptive.

Conversely, I believe that teachers need to respect students in the classroom as well. I say that students should be able to arrive on time, but what if we are let out of one class late, have to make our way across campus, and desperately need to use the restroom? Teachers must understand that we can only walk so fast, and my experience is that there are always lines in the girls' bathrooms. An extra two minutes may not seem like a lot to hold students after class, but for those of us who do not have a free hour between classes, we need those two minutes. Dear teachers, just as you do not appreciate students walking in late to your class, the teachers that your students go to following yours do not appreciate it either.

One particularly torturous quarter I remember having back-to-back classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My first class was in Bannan Hall, and my second was in Kenna Hall (each on the third floor). Since Tuesday/Thursday classes last for one hour and 45 minutes, by the time my first class was over, nature was calling. My first teacher did not like to give us breaks for fear that we would not be able to cover everything; although, I think we could have worked around the five minutes. As I rushed to my second class, and stopped to use the restrooms, I usually found myself walking into my next class a little late. During the next one hour and 45 minutes, I inevitably heard my stomach begin to growl. At first I wondered how I could already be hungry, since I had only been to one class, but then I remembered that I had not eaten since before I left for school that morning, at least a half-hour before my first class. Almost four hours had passed by this time, and my stomach knew that it was time for lunch. Unfortunately, that would not be a possibility for at least another 45 minutes. I realize that in some cases we are allowed to bring food to class, but in many buildings, food is no longer allowed; not to mention, the crumpling of potato chip bags gets annoying.

Overall, I guess I feel that we should be able to find a happy medium. Teachers are human, and I have found them to be pretty reasonable, so my suggestion is that we as students try to negotiate some sort of an agreement with them. Maybe we can say that we won't snore in class, or leave our phones on during a lecture, and in return they could let us out of class on time, or give us a short break during those Tuesday/Thursday classes. This does not seem like too much to ask, but I know the simple tasks in life are often times the hardest to achieve. So, to all the students and teachers at Santa Clara, I ask you to be considerate of others in your classrooms.

Jodi Hale is a senior French major.