At Aliso Niguel highschool football games, students are required to obtain a special wristband if they’d like to enter the student section. This has only manifested an outburst of anger and frustration from the students. The students who are busy during the handout of the wristbands and who are unable to get one are frustrated with the new system as they will now be unable to join their friends in The Den.
Students want to be able to walk into the student section without any verification that they are in fact a student. This poses an interesting conflict between event coordinators and students. Students want free reign when it comes to entrance and event coordinators want to verify identity and keep order with the wristbands.
One of the assistant principals, Mr. Mocnik, states, “The student section is awesome! The students are out supporting our athletic teams, band and pep squad and are showing tremendous school spirit!”
Mr. Mocnik wants everyone to have a chance at supporting our schools teams and continuously show school spirit. A student who failed to gain a wristband, Jay Keys, says, “I don’t like how we need wristbands to enter the student section. I feel like only students of the school should be able to go into the student section. I would get rid of the wristbands and I would just allow people to buy a ticket and show up to the game.” This would inevitably cause random ‘students’ to show up to the game, which brings potential threats.
The assistant principal also says, “The student section is beneficial for our students because they get an opportunity to support our teams, participate in a school activity, and to have fun with their friends. Everyone participating creates a very positive school environment.” Mr Mocnik hopes for everyone to get involved in high school spirit and enjoy their time at the games they choose to go to.
Again, from Mr. Mocnik, “Overall, students are doing great and ASB has done a great job of leading and running the section. Students need to remember to behave and make good decisions as they are not just supporting our teams but representing our school as well. Inappropriate behavior reflects poorly on everyone in the school. We were able to streamline student entry at the last game by changing the way we lined up and scanned students into the game and I am hopeful that we will continue to have success in this area.”
Decisions are a part of our everyday lives and the student wristband system was only implemented to ensure safety with our students and to provide a safe school environment for our students to cheer on our teams. From Mr. Mocnik’s perspective, the wristbands have ensured safety for our students and continues to provide order to the sports game. Students should be sure to follow the rules and maintain civility when attempting to enter upcoming games.
