The Oakton High School administration has recently blocked off the commonly used stairway that leads to the neighborhood right next to the school. Most students used this path to take a quick route to get to their parked cars on Edgelea Drive. However, many students decides to use the area at the top of the stairs as an area to participate in illicit activities with their friends. The neighborhood began to complain, so administration took action and closed off the pathway. For the majority of students, this decision is a major inconvenience. The shortcut through the neighborhood made a ten to eleven minute walk into a short five or six. The path through the neighborhood made it easy for students to miss the treacherous bus traffic.  

Most students who were used to walking up the stairs and through the neighborhood are furious at this rule change. Jonathan Edwards, 11, said “the school is not letting us take an easy shortcut. I live in those neighborhoods, but I have to take the long way around just because the school doesn’t have an administrator walk up the stairs and make sure no one vapes.” It does seem strange that the administration had to punish every student who took the shortcut due to the actions of a few students. Ryan Sakhel, 9, said that “the shortcut let me stay out of the cold and it cut down the amount of time it took me to walk to school. I don’t get why they had to close off the whole path just because a few kids broke the rules.” Sakhel’s comments were reiterated by Matthew DeSouza, 12, when he said “I used to take that path every day and now it takes me an extra five to ten minutes to walk to my car.” Perhaps the administration will hear the complaints of their students and re-open the neighborhood shortcut.