Students respond to greater enforcement of campus policies

As a new school year at Samo unfolds, students have noticed new policies and a stricter enforcement of pre-existing rules. Whether it’s at football games, pep rallies or other school events, the school security and policies seems to have tightened for the ’25-’26 school year.

Pep rallies, run by the Associated Student Body (ASB), happen twice per semester. Key aspects of these pep rallies are the student games, which are played between representatives from each graduating class. Staff members such as Coach Ramsey Lambert see these activities as a way to foster school spirit. 

“When students see their peers on stage as an athlete or performer, students will cheer for their peers in support,” Lambert said. “They also build a sense of community when you bring everyone together and show them they are a part of something bigger.” 

Starting this year, ASB took initiative to better control student booing at pep rallies, breaking the rather unconventional tradition for Samo students. With the intention of creating a positive and welcoming environment for the incoming freshmen, ASB has repeatedly stated that students will lose privileges if booing and taunting take place–even going so far as to revoke popsicle prizes and remove students from the rally. Samo student and ASB member Annabelle Thorpe (’26) views the shift as a positive development due to the diminishing nature of booing at the rallies.

“I think pep rallies are for everyone, so it makes sense that seniors aren’t supposed to boo at the underclassmen. They’re supposed to uplift everybody as a community,” Thorpe said. “I think the students in the senior class aren’t really seeing it as that negative, because they got booed when they were freshmen. But incoming freshmen, they don’t really know what’s going on, so now they’re going to take it personally.” 

However, this new policy has also received negative feedback and pushback from students such as Diego Guerra (’26), with many saying that the policy is unnecessary and kills the fun from the rallies. Driven by class rivalries, most students see the booing as a way to have fun and show class spirit.

“I think [booing] shows class spirit. I mean obviously booing inherently is negative, but, you know, the school participated when I was a freshman,” Guerra said. “They played wheels on the bus for us and treated us like babies and we got booed. But there wasn’t any malice behind it.”

Additionally, school security measures have intensified. While morning student ID checks have been routine, the orderliness has noticeably increased when compared to previous years. Security guards who carry out this procedure, such as Chris Smith, agree that the ID checks are necessary to maintain a safe campus and student accountability.

“With ID checks, we want to make sure that all students have IDs so we know that you belong on campus, [and] to avoid problems where students from other schools might try to come on campus,” Smith said. 

These policies are not just limited to school hours. At after school events like the annual Homecoming dance and recurring football games, entry requirements and various security measures have been added. Students face the possibility of being denied entry if they come with a backpack or bag and have to empty their water bottle if they bring one. 

“One thing I do know [that] we’ve started doing was the clear bag policy [at football games]. I believe they’re saying either clear bags or your bags will be checked,” Smith said. “Small bags will be checked upon entry for safety reasons.”

To many students, the clear bag policy is unnecessary and makes the process of entering a football game overly complicated. 

“I don’t think that it’s completely necessary, because we’ve never had issues with students bringing in anything they shouldn’t,” Thorpe said. “It would make sense if our school had a clear bag policy and therefore our football games did, but as a public school, that doesn’t make sense.”

The policy enforcement around Samo of existing rules including changes made to pep rallies and additional security measures draws attention to community safety and security around campus. The effect of these policies have been noted by students and their effects will be continuously relevant to Samo at large.