Bring Back the Respect: Seniority is an important rite of passage in high school, however it’s a power that shouldn’t be abused

Two years ago, if you were walking in the gym hallway, you’d see the rush of students part as they tip-toe around the sides of the East legacy tile — only seniors or varsity athletes walking straight across. Walking on the tile was a privilege one had to earn.

Nowadays, when you walk down that hall at 2:40 p.m., you can barely see the tile as unqualified students trample over the tradition on their way out.

Rituals like this might seem silly, but they’re something to look forward to as underclassmen and relish in as seniors. The slight adjustment in your route to avoid the tile may feel like an inconvenience, but just imagine how good it’ll feel as a senior to stride right over it knowing your turn has come. Seniority is an important rite of passage in high school, and it’s a power that shouldn’t be abused.

With the current freshmen and sophomores, there’s a lack of awareness with seniority. To be fair, they haven’t had a normal high school experience with the pandemic, so their understanding of these traditions and unspoken rules is diluted.

Many upperclassmen were shocked to find freshmen — who typically sit at the back of the student section — sit themselves in front, right next to the seniors at the Lancer Day football game. Confusion spread across freshmen faces as upperclassmen chanted “FRESH-MEN, MOVE-BACK!” punctuated with a series of claps. To avoid scaring the freshmen, upperclassmen should explain the seating arrangements of games rather than yell at the underclassmen — seniority is important, but sometimes underclassmen genuinely don’t know they’re violating its rules.

High school would go on without seniority, but it rewards seniors for getting through all four years and makes their last moments here at East more exciting and enjoyable. If all students sat wherever they want in the bleachers, some students may never get their chance at the front row. With seniority, everyone gets that opportunity at some point and it’s something to look forward to over their years.

And seniority doesn’t just apply to seniors. Anyone in an older grade has some authority as they’re more experienced, especially with one of East’s hottest topics — the parking lots. 

With The Prairie Village Pool Lot being dubbed “the sophomore lot,” it’s an unofficial rule that only sophomores are allowed to park there and freshmen that drive to school park on Delmar St. or side streets.

Yes, as a freshman it’d be nice to park in the sophomore lot and take advantage of your newly legalized freedom, but since the sophomores have been at East longer and went through their time of not parking there, you should let them have first dibs on the spots.

Similar conflicts surround the unassigned back row of the senior lot, and the same rule applies: older students get dibs.

Even though freshmen eventually picked up on the student section organization at football games, 84% of students believe that this year’s underclassmen lack a sense of seniority compared to previous years, according to an Instagram poll of 287 students.

These little accommodations for the seniors may seem annoying in the moment, but every student will get their turn at the top, so people should show their respect on the way up.

Outside these specific traditions, seniority should occur on a daily basis as underclassmen should show general respect for all upperclassmen since they’re the more experienced high schoolers.

Showing the upperclassmen respect and looking up to them also allows the newer grades to better transition to East and observe the high school dynamics. 

While seniority should be encouraged, it shouldn’t be taken too seriously. It can come off negatively since it adds a hierarchy to high school, which can lead to resentment between grades and mentalities that seniors are automatically superior.

When sophomores threaten freshmen for parking in the Harmon lot or upperclassmen curse out underclassmen for not cheering loud enough, it takes the fun out of honoring seniority and discourages students to follow it. But, as long as it’s doesn’t go too far, following seniority can be a fun, light-hearted preservation of decade-long traditions.

Being the oldest in the school comes with responsibilities and privileges, but they shouldn’t be misused. Upperclassmen show the underclassmen how high schoolers are supposed to act. Those perks of being a senior are givens with seniority, but the respect and compliance from the underclassmen has to be earned through mutual respect.