Designated spots in the Fieldhouse parking lot a good idea? Yes!
Student parking issues in the Fieldhouse lot have abounded in recent years. Designated parking spots are the answer.
September 18, 2017
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Did you know six out of ten teen car crashes occur because of a simple distraction? A common distraction could be just looking for a parking spot in our school parking lot. Stories of students being distracted while trying to park are heard by everyone, whether it be texting, talking, or trying to find their favorite song. As students look distractedly for a spot, they do not realize they are headed right for another student’s car or worse yet, another person. Students would be much less distracted if they had their own spot and they would be much more safe.
The parking lot in the back of the school is full of askew parking jobs and last year there were over five crashes. Everyone agrees that the new student drivers are not prime at parking or looking both ways before they reverse. But there is a solution: if Saint Stephen’s offered buyable, permanent parking spots for a low fee in the back parking lot, everything could be solved.
With each student having a mandated parking spot for the year parents and faculty can take refuge in the thought that their child is more safe than ever before. Students will not have to be searching for a spot in the ever-packed Field House parking lot; they can simply pull into their spot with fewer distractions for an accident, a parent’s dream. This also solves another issue of people stealing each others “own” spots.
Is someone always parked in your spot? The sophomore-junior parking lot has a space for everyone, but somehow students always manage to steal your spot, as senior Ryan Thompson says “I park in the same spot every day and when someone parks there it is very annoying; I also only have one person parked next to me so I only have to worry about one person hitting me.”
With your new personal parking spot, you’ll never have to worry about someone taking your spot and you will always know who will be parking next to you, adding an unseen sense of security for students, teachers, and parents.
Are you tired of your car getting bashed by new drivers? Time and time again I hear stories of students reversing with a previously unseen inability to avoid other cars. They somehow manage to magnetize their vehicle to others and create an inevitable crash. These crashes not only terrifies students but teachers and parents as well.
Last year Mrs. Schumann, the upper school college counselor, was reversing out of her spot in the Field House parking lot just as another students was too. Both unaware of the situation that kept inching closer, they kept going, and crashed.
The student, now-junior Colin Varady, said, “ ; I was scared I would get in trouble with the teachers but it really wasn’t anyone’s fault. It’s an unfortunate situation but I agree that if the school implements this it would help to stop crashes.”
But little do they both know that this could have been avoided with a simple fix: personal parking spots, with your own designated parking spot teachers and students will know exactly who and what surrounds them. Giving the faculty and student body a chance to pick their own spots will create a sense of security for everyone who parks in the back of the lot.
Many other high schools, like Sarasota High, offer this opportunity. They make students buy spots so they can park at school. Another reason they do this is as a safeguard for their students, so why wouldn’t Saint Stephen’s? If this is rolled out students will be able to pick one specific spot in the field house parking lot and maybe even get to personalize their spot with chalk, which would be fun for the students.
So, do you want the kids of Saint Stephen’s to be safe and undistracted when navigating through a pool of new drivers? Parents and students would hope so, doing this will not only cut the amount of student accidents in half, but it will also keep the kids safe and save Saint Stephens the liability of a bad accident on campus that is yet to happen. If school policy is changed, not only will the students be happy, but so will Sr. Wolcott, the parking enforcer.
