Imagine that your friend tells you that they don’t wanna go home today due to their parents fighting. You want to help, so you invite them over to your house after school. You decide to bring them on the bus with you. However, once you’ve boarded, the driver tells your friend that they need to get off due to “school policy.” You both exit the bus, and in the time that you both spent trying to find another way home, the buses have already left.

There are plenty of reasons why a student might want to board a bus other than their own. To hangout with friends, get a ride to an extracurricular, or even to save gas money. However the second they step onto said bus, they are often told no by the bus driver. This can cause real problems for students. Such a rule is unnecessary and not fit for a high school setting,

McHenry High School does not own the buses that they use. Rather, they are owned by District 15. According to the D15 website, students are not allowed to ride a bus that isn’t theirs. This makes sense when talking about elementary school students. Of course small children shouldn’t be allowed to go on one another’s bus. They can’t be trusted to communicate with parents, act responsible, etc. However, when we apply the same rules to elementary students as we do high school students, we have problems.

Students are restricted from bringing a friend with them on the bus. Yet half of high school students are above the licensing age. According to the Illinois Graduated Drivers License program, new drivers are permitted to bring one friend inside their vehicle. So if students can legally drive, and bring another person into their car, why are these same students permitted from bringing another person onto the bus?

The most surprising part about the entire situation, is the fact that MCHS does not discipline students for riding a bus that’s not theirs. According to Dean Jeffrey Schroeder, not once have they punished a student for doing this. And this is surprising considering the amount of students who have been given threats by a bus driver. Threats to report their behavior to the principal. The same principal who doesn’t even have this rule.

Why are elementary school rules being applied to high schoolers? Some of whom are legal drivers or even, legal adults? When students break said rule, they are threatened with their behavior being reported to the dean or principal. Yet these threats are in vain. MCHS doesn’t punish on such grounds, and they most likely never will. High School Students should be allowed to ride their friends buses. This shouldn’t be controversial since not all rules are universal.