Paws
Imagine your alarm doesn’t go off in the morning so now you have to rush to school. You get to school and can’t find a parking spot close to the front. You step out of your car into the rain and cold as you realize you forgot your jacket. You have a miserable walk from the back of the parking lot into school.
While yes, not everyone will experience this, it’s a rough way to start your day. Having a reserved parking spot that you know is waiting for you gives people a safety net.
It’s important to be prepared for school. There can’t always be sympathy for someone who is constantly running late. Yet, there will always be unexpected occurrences in everyone’s life. Paying more to save yourself stress in the future is perfectly reasonable and may prove to be beneficial in the long run.
Not only can reserved parking be a safety net, but it can be a spot students could make their own.
There are multiple ways to paint a parking spot to your liking. Having a personal parking spot can give students a chance to express themselves. Even if it’s as small as a parking spot, it’s the little things that can make a difference in a student’s day.
Reserved parking may also benefit students when it comes to safety. There’d be a decrease in reckless driving where cars rush to get the closest spot.
Parkalot.io notes how majority of accidents in parking lots are caused by people not paying attention or being distracted while looking for a parking spot. They may be so focused on getting to the open parking spot that they don’t notice another car coming from the opposite direction.
Reserved parking spots can be more than just where a student pulls into the parking lot. They can be what improves a student day.
Claws
Reserved parking spots at school would be more trouble than they would be worth to the student body and the school’s administration.
One of the major aspects to consider is who would get them. Seniors would possibly get them due to it being their final year of high school, as well as having seniority over the underclassmen.
But then what would happen to those who are not seniors who have already purchased the parking passes South offers?
Plainfield Central currently has a raffle in which seniors are placed based on their ACT scores to determine whether they will get a reserved spot. But this system only works for Central due to the separation of their regular student lot and their senior-only lot. Because South only has one student parking lot for all levels of students who have a parking pass, this system or one like it would not work for our student body.
One reason for wanting reserved parking spots at school is so that seniors can paint them. It is a trend for some American high schools to allow their senior students to paint their purchased parking spots. But with TikTok trends such as senior memory boxes, senior jeans, and senior backpacks, seniors have enough things to paint and keep with them during their senior year that don’t require paint that could be harmful to the ground it covers.
Overall, assigned parking spots only raise too many questions and concerns that overrule any positive aspects they would bring, with costs, already purchased parking spots, and other senior crafts and traditions being taken into account.
