water guns (LONG)

[Marni Sherman <marnles@HOTMAIL.COM>]

After just graduating library school, and having worked in a high school
library for five years, I wanted to say a few things on this topic. The
seniors here go through the same high school water pranks. Each year, they
run through the halls with their "super soakers", water balloons, and small
pistols on one day, and once done soaking the school, they run outside in
the courtyard to drench each other some more.

The problem with this school, as I'm sure many others, is that this behavior
has become "tradition" it seems, and when you try to take away a "luxury"
that they have not only become accustomed to, but actually look forward to,
prepare yourself for some sort of rebellion to take place, which may
actually be worse than their original intention.

What I have learned here is that when you impose too many rules and too many
policies, the students work twice as hard to find a way to break them. One
year (as I have been employed as a Teaching Assistant), they pulled ALL
support staff and made us walk the halls the last week of school. We were
not only looking for water items, but these students have a tendency to let
animals loose in the school as well. I actually found a dead mouse in a
students' locker! Perhaps this many not have happened had the "security" not
been so obvious, which only tempted the students to break the rules more to
see what they could get away with. They affectionately referred to us as the
"Hall Police", and one student looked more guilty than the next during that
week.

They actually asked me to try to stop the students from running through the
halls soaking everything! Please try to imagine a young women, 110 lbs and
5'1 walking with one hand up and screaming stop to what can only be compared
to a running of the bulls! I have since learned and agreed, along with the
library staff, to keep the library locked and closed during the soaking
time, and this past year was the first time I did not feel guilty about it
and everything remained bone dry.

The bottom line is yes, the students do need rules, and YES, RULES ARE
RULES!! But if perhaps you can try to modify the students' behavior somewhat
instead of trying to completely change it, you may get slightly better
results. I've been saying for years that these students will continue to do
this, and we're talking ALL students, not just the "trouble" ones. Would it
be better to take away their graduation and the like just because they were
letting their "sillies" out, or instead try to just limit where they can
"let loose" instead? My advice to librarians - KEEP THE LIBRARY CLOSED
DURING THIS TIME! It really works. Perhaps it's only a band-aid, not a
solution to the problem, but sometimes whatever works is your best bet.

Marni Sherman, Library Teaching Asst.
Ardsley High School
Ardsley, New York 10502
Marnles@hotmail.com

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