“Dude, give me some personal space.”

Overpopulation within the school has caused overcrowding in the lobby during the morning hours.

Overcrowding at Bullitt East was foreseen by previous school years. More and more kids piled in year after year and, currently, we have gotten too big. This is best represented when someone first enters the school at the very beginning of the day, before the bell even rings. Every student is crammed into the lobby and throughout main hall.

The rule for students is that they are not allowed in the halls for ’teacher time’ in the mornings. This is, by far, one of the most useless rules that the school has enforced. “I think it’s a really arrogant rule of ‘I can tell you what to do’,” said sophomore, Blake Nalley.

Principal Chris Mason feels just as cramped as the students, but there isn’t much he can do. “We don’t have enough teacher supervision in the morning,” said Mason.

It is just simply unsafe for all of the students to be packed into one small area, forced to be within inches of each other. What would happen if a fight broke out or, God forbid, a school shooter came inside the school? Being trapped so close would make an easy target for many fatalities if the situations ever occurred. “Honestly, it would be really bad if a fight broke out. That would cause a lot more fighting,” said Nalley. Nalley normally stands in the crowded lobby with his friends before school starts.

Mason doesn’t seemed too concerned about the idea of a fight breaking out. “With the supervision we have, I expect that the fight wouldn’t go on too long before it was broken up. Students would get bumped around, but it wouldn’t be any different if the lobby wasn’t crowded,” said Mason.

Having students so close together so early in the morning is bound to cause irritability and arguments among them. “It sucks being so cramped because I have bad anxiety,” said Nalley. Mason has not noticed a change in behavior, but offers a solution to the overcrowding. “The cafeteria is always air-conditioned and almost always empty. As a student, I would much prefer to be in there to sit down, study, maybe finish up some homework I didn’t finish the night before,” said Mason.