Andrew Diversey

Crowded staircase after school as students rush to their cars.

The clock just struck 2:26 p.m. 

As people navigate the halls this Friday afternoon, they hear the trumpets of the HHS fight song echoing from the speakers. School is finally over for the week. This refreshing feeling is soon suppressed when students start to feel the tile floors rumbling from those who sprint to their cars. 

With any slight direction change to the middle of the hallway, you might be sprawled out as if you were hit by prime Ray Lewis. Your only task for the next three minutes is to survive.

The sheer insanity of the hallways minutes after school seems to get worse every year. 

“It’s a high-risk, low-reward situation where nobody gains anything,” senior Oscar Dziecina said. “I remember I saw someone get pushed down and it’s just insane to me that someone is willing to hurt someone to save a minute or two.”

As this becomes more of a problem, students and staff are at a loss for what to do. This issue seems to occur day in and day out regardless of staff members’ efforts and student complaints.

“I have seen, heard, and dealt with plenty of students running through the halls and running to see whether it be teachers or students,” dean of students Chris Klein said. “We do try to deal with [it] because we don’t want any physical contact between students that could cause an injury where the safety and people’s well-being comes into play.”

Every staff member at Huntley High School intends to keep the entire student body safe and make their days as enjoyable as possible.

The administrators in the building could talk until they are blue in the face, but this issue is not changing. This issue will not be fixed until students are willing to work to fix it, and unfortunately, this usually does not happen until after there is an incident. 

To make the halls safer, student leaders must guide the entire student body. 

“At the end of the day, everybody’s trying to get out at the same time and it definitely has caused some accidents,” Raider Nation leader and Link Crew commissioner Abby Rosa said. “I recommend that everybody just takes a deep breath and walk because running is not the best option for leaving quickly.”

Everyone should have respect for each other within this school community. In light of all these issues that inflict harm on others, everyone should work together to improve the hallway etiquette and make the end of the day safer for all.