Morton has recently decided to extend LAC and detention times.

Before, detentions only lasted about 20 to 30 minutes and LAC ended at 3:10, the same time as regular school. Now, since they’ve been extended, LAC ends at 3:30, and detentions are now going on  for an hour. This has been extended districtwide to every Morton school after deans from each school got together and agreed to the extensions. They can be given out for different things like violating dress code or skipping class. In a random survey of 50 students about 70% said they had either served an hour detention or an extended LAC..  The hope of deans is that the students won’t want to get a detention so they will improve their behavior.

“Nobody seemed to care about 20 minute detentions, and they didn’t help lower any bad behavior,” said Morton East dean Megan Stachura.

Many students, though, think the hour detentions were “unfair.”

“Hour detentions are very unfair especially to the kids that have to work  after school,” senior at UIC Andrea Soto said.

That’s true.  No one wants to be late for work because of a high school detention. However, there’s a simple solution to these problematic detentions.

“Just follow the rules,” said English teacher Mr. Frankfother.  “I think it’s funny how students are all in an uproar about these detentions.  In life, there are consequences for not following the rules.  Just yesterday, I got a $100 fine for going over the speed limit from one of those flashing street cameras.  I can moan about it, but it’s not ‘unfair’.  I broke the rules.”

When asked whether or not they thought extending LAC and detention times was unfair, every  Morton East dean had a similar response.

“I wouldn’t do anything that I thought was unfair,” said one dean.