Countless tests, multiple teachers, and hundreds of hours of homework later, Southern Lehigh’s class of 2017 finds themselves entering senior year. After going through three full years of high school, seniors in good academic and behavioral standing deserve to have special privileges, otherwise known as “senior privilege.”

“We’ve been through so much that we might as well get some privileges,” senior Benjamin Becker said.

Despite the popularity of the topic, Southern Lehigh does not currently offer any senior privileges. Moreover, there are no recorded privileges for the seniors in Southern Lehigh history.

“There have never been any while I’ve been here, and that’s 17 years,” principal Mrs. Christine Siegfried said.

While Southern Lehigh lacks senior privilege, the topic has not been ignored. During this past summer, administration meetings focused on the possibility of adding senior privilege to the Southern Lehigh High School experience. Ultimately, the decision always came to a no.

“It comes back to doing what makes sense educational-wise.: Mrs. Siegfried said. “We didn’t find the right answer to that question.”

Seniors have not remained silent about the topic. Just last year, students from the class of 2016 presented at a school board meeting, asking for privilege, making sure to concentrate on the benefits such as leaving during study halls and off-campus lunches. Unfortunately for these students, their ideas were turned down.

“It was in the middle of the school year,” Mrs. Sigfried said, “and we weren’t going to change things halfway through the year, so it never happened.”

The LCTI students also asked for a specific senior-only privilege. Like the others who proposed ideas before them, their ideas were not approved.

“The LCTI students asked for a senior bus, but we can’t do that,” assistant principal Mrs. Beth Guarriello said. “There’s too many underclassmen for separate buses.”

Part of the reason senior privilege has not been instilled at Southern Lehigh lies in the fact that the administration cannot find the middle ground of appealing to students as well as maintaining safety.

“Traditionally, senior privileges involve [off-campus] lunch, and I think that our current location is somewhat precluding students from that because we have a short lunch period for students to get there and back,” assistant principal Mr. Thomas Ruhf said. “I think there’s always a fear with students injuring themselves in a 20-30 minute window to hustle back and forth.”

Even when safety is considered, senior privileges are hard to define. Of the administration in favor of privileges, most were unsure what students would want that would also pass safety standards.

“I want to leave during fourth or first block study halls,” senior Brian Smith said. “If that gets passed, then another senior privilege can be that fourth and first block study halls are reserved for seniors only.”

In terms of the rest of the school, other grades seem to agree to the notion of senior privilege.

“Seniors should have their own dance,” freshman Georgia Papageogiou said. “They deserve it.”

It is obvious that seniors would enjoy special privileges, and because they have worked hard, they deserve a reward. Senior privilege could even act as an incentive if it is only provided to students with good academic and behavior records, which in turn will make Southern Lehigh a better place. On top of this, having privileges such as senior-only dances, parking lots, and lunch lines will add to the high school experience, leaving graduates with positive memories of their final year at Southern Lehigh.

“This could be something students use as a grassroots thing to empower themselves to bring about change that is meaningful to them instead of having things dictated,” Mr. Ruhf said.  “It could be a lasting legacy to the senior class to create something other senior classes could enjoy and be a part of.”