The beginning of the school year is a time when students return to a scheduled lifestyle and follow CHS rules. Theses regulations exist for very important reasons, but what if, for one single day, all CHS rules were thrown out the window?
A similar situation is the focus of the film The Purge, released in June, which documents a dystopian America where crime and unemployment rates are at an all-time low. The reason: there is one special day each year, “The Purge,” dedicated to the cleansing of every human’s animalistic aggression. Though the plot quickly diverges to a man-defends-his-family story line instead of exploring the more interesting notion of what a day free of law could mean to the world, the intriguing premise of the film invokes many questions, like what would happen if such a day actually existed? Could a ‘CHS Purge Day’ be beneficial to the lives of the students?
“If we had a day to purge, people would break many rules including cell phone use and dress code,” junior Jordyn Kline said. “Some students may not come to school because they’d feel guilty over rule breaking, and some may come to take advantage of this big event.”
Whether students would spend the rule-free day with friends or avoiding school altogether, it is extremely likely that attendance levels would decrease on Purge Day.
“I highly doubt anyone would come,” senior Savion Gibson said.
The idea of catharsis is to release inner anxiety and cleanse oneself of aggression. While having a school day to wear tube tops and text to our heart’s content could be fun, could it be healthy too?
“I think one of those days would probably work because it would release our stress in a way,” freshman Ayako Sekiya said.
However, according to AP Psychology teacher Jamie Frank, cathartic activity, like purging, could actually worsen one’s angst. Studies have shown that the “release” one achieves from catharsis is only short term.
“Because you never resolve the reason you have the anxiety, your anxiety could become worse over time,” Frank said.
Not only would students get the chance to unleash their inner wild child, but perhaps taking away the rules would establish their importance.
“I think it would be valuable because people would see what school is about and what the rules really mean,” Konduri said.
According to Gibson, the entire student body would draw some excitement from a day void of rules. It would be like a planned school event, “one of the best days of the year.”
A day to purge could unfold in many ways, depending on the student body as a whole. It’s fairly possible that if all the rules were taken away, not much would change at all.
“You can never really judge what people will do,’” Frank said.
But maybe the CHS doors would collapse with mayhem. An important question to ask is: what does it mean if CHS students react extremely well without rules or cannot function at all? Could we be too conformed to act out differently despite such freedom? Or are we so full of angst and rebellious that taking away the rules would unleash anarchy?
“If we function well without rules, that shows that students have the right mind set deep inside to do the right thing,” Kline said. “I think we could function well without rules, but if we didn’t have rules we’d have to make our own decisions and face the consequences. We’d have to learn why the rules are there in the first place.”
