Everyday, the hallways feel like a chaotic highway during rush hour. Students speed between classes on a tight schedule and a five minute passing period. With limited time, surprise tardy sweeps, and the occasional “Move it!” from Dr. Thompsons megaphone, students are desperate to get to class on time. But the majority of students face a common problem: slow walkers. Many students feel frustrated with those who move slowly throughout the halls, slowing others down. The hallway rush makes many of us wonder, are slow walkers the cause of most tardies?

“Whenever I get stuck behind a slow walker I get mad because I am always late to class. It makes me want to push them,” sophomore Rhianna Hodge said.

Hodge’s frustration is shared by many other students who feel pressured to get to class on time. While some students see slow walkers as a disruption to the flow, others argue that slow walkers are inconsiderate.

“I feel like it’s rude for people to walk slowly in the hallways because it is very inconsiderate of other people’s time. I agree that slow walkers are making more people late to class,” senior Kandace Williams said.

The hallway rush makes many of us wonder, Are slow walkers the cause of most tardies? What can the admin do to help students out?

“I feel like they delay the process of getting to class and they make a lot of people late. I’ve been caught in tardy sweeps due to people walking slowly in the hallways and staircases. One day it was crowded in the stairwell and my class was on the other side of school, so I was late. A lot of kids were just walking and talking. I don’t know if they knew that I was behind them but it made me upset,” senior Yahia Omar said.

These are all common experiences students face everyday at Hayfield, turning the passing periods into a test of patience. However, not everyone sees slow walking as an issue.

“Most of the time, I feel like some people aren’t aware of the people around them trying to get to class, I think everyone is just trying to get to class on their own time,” Williams said.

Some students argue that passing periods should be longer. Or that the school should introduce an additional staircase or wider hallways to allow a better flow throughout the hallways. With longer passing periods, students will have more time to get to class without the stress of being stuck behind a slow walker or a chatty group of friends.

“I believe the admin should allow us to have longer passing periods to allow everyone to get to class without having to speed through the hallways,” Hodge said.

In both scenarios, the chaos stems from a lack of awareness. Just as traffic would flow better if drivers were more aware of their surroundings, the hallways would be less combusted if students were more mindful of the flow of their classmates. If everyone could be slightly more aware of their surroundings things could be a lot more clear, in the hallways and on the roads.