A routine day of Edgemont Code of Conduct rule-breaking typically starts before school. As you get dressed, you find your favorite shirt and put on your favorite hat. As you are enjoying your breakfast, your mom, being super kind and clearly already having had coffee, comments on how nice your outfit is today. Her compliment boosts your confidence levels, and you are ready to head to school.
You arrive a little early, so you find someone to talk to prior to A-Block. As you are about to walk down the steps of the Admin building, you hear an adult voice call to you. Are you in trouble? After all, you did just break the Edgemont Code of Conduct. “A student's dress, grooming and appearance, including hair style/color, and jewelry shall not include the wearing of hats in any school building except for a medical or religious purpose or for designated special events or at the prerogative of the classroom teacher” (Section V, subsection A5).
But don’t worry—the administrator has also had coffee, and you’re simply told to put your hat in your bag before class. As an aside, if you had gotten in trouble for this, just blame it on your mom, since she broke a different rule in the Edgemont Code of Conduct: “All parents are expected to ensure their children are dressed and groomed in a manner consistent with the student dress code, even if attending school remotely” (Section IV, subsection A5).
You leave the room a little frazzled, not wanting to get in any form of trouble again. Scanning the halls, you see a good friend. “You would not believe what just happened,” you confide. “I just got in trouble because I was wearing a hat!” Uh-oh. You didn’t just break one more rule in the Edgemont Code of Conduct…you broke two! “Students cannot engage in conduct that is disorderly. Examples of disorderly conduct include running in hallways and making unreasonable noise” (Section VI, subsections A1 and A2). The running was Strike 2.
In your first period class, your math teacher tells you to take out your homework. Realizing you forgot to do one of the problems, you ask the person next to you if you can see how they solved it. You quickly copy the answer. When your teacher compliments your work, you think, “No harm, no foul.” And maybe there is no harm, except the fact that you just violated two more rules of the Code of Conduct. “Students cannot engage in academic misconduct.
Examples of academic misconduct include plagiarism, cheating, including using unauthorized oral or written assistance for a quiz, test or other assignment” (Section VI, subsection G1 and G2).
Thankfully, the rest of the morning goes smoothly, and it’s time for lunch. You decide to go with a couple friends to Chipotle. You get your usual bowl, enjoy it, and before you know it, it’s time to head back to campus. As you approach the light at Central, which is red, you get worried about the time. It’s 12:08. Four minutes to make it back to your seat. When the light turns green, you urge the driver to speed up the tiniest bit, just so you aren’t late. But like you, your friend became an Edgemont Code of Conduct rule-breaker. “Students cannot engage in reckless driving or driving at an unsafe speed on school property” (Section VI, subsection E). At least this time it wasn’t you who broke a rule, right? Wrong! You just violated a different rule: “No person will willfully incite others to commit any of the acts prohibited by this Code, while on school property” (Section XIII, subsection A14).
You check the time again, and it is 12:10, so you have to rush to class. You inadvertently make another car stop as you race through the parking lot, and that driver honks at you. Guess what? Section VI, subsection A4, says, “Students cannot engage in conduct that is disorderly. Examples of disorderly conduct include obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic.” This still doesn’t change the fact that you are going to be late to class.
Now, it’s 12:11, and you definitely have to pick up the pace! When you finally get into the A-building, you start sprinting. Your shoe falls off, slowing you down even more. Not only did you just re-violate section VI, subsection A1, but you just broke the worst rule of them all. Section V, subsection A4 clearly states, “A student's dress, grooming and appearance, including hair style/color, and jewelry shall include footwear at all times.”
Luckily, you get away with all your minor transgressions, at least for today. And chances are, you’ll be a repeat-offender before the week is out.