I despise inconsiderate people. I always find myself pondering the question of why can’t the world just be one large happy family full of love and care. But when roaming down the hallways of Lincoln, I find myself pondering another question. I wonder why can’t all Lincoln students just be polite and well mannered.

Maybe that’s too much to ask since we’re all still teenagers. Being in the adolescence stage is a confusing one, so there are expectations for some juvenile behavior. We are trying to leave our childhood behind so we can move on to adulthood. Doesn’t that mean we should be acting a bit more mature? Matue. That is the one word I want to emphasize.

High school is when we all grow out of our childish ways. We’re expected to grow personally and physically through out these four years. How an individual resolves their problems, their understandings, and little meaningless things can reflect a student’s maturity level. That’s why it bothers me when I see Lincoln students treating our school as if it were some playground.

We have more than 2,400 students in this school and only six minutes to get to our classes. Students dodge left and right, trying to avoid being bumped or slammed into the lockers by other students playing hallway tag. It doesn’t help that our hallways become packed like a Los Angeles traffic jam. But when immature students push and shove each other, it does not help the problem. We are all trying to go to class. And besides that, others could end up injured. You may be having fun, but why put others at risk of being trampled over or of falling down those hard, cold cement steps?

There are expectations for everything in life. A large part of a student’s life is school, so we’re expected to behavior differently off and on campus grounds. Be courteous to each other. Don’t block a whole section of the hallways just to talk your friends. You can always converse with them on the side while allowing other students to pass by.

This is our school. Our behavior and attitude towards others reflect the environment that we are in six hours a day. Be courteous to your fellow student. Next time you bump into someone, say “excuse me.” It doesn’t take more than 30 seconds and though it may seem like a big deal to you, those small acts of courtesy and kindness mean a lot to others. Leaving off with a typical, yet a very wise and intelligent saying, treat others how you would like to be treated.