Great Neck South is filled with students who do not know simple hallway etiquette. Following hallway etiquette is the only way to travel from your seventh period English class to your eighth period Math class on time. The students of Great Neck South need a touch up on proper hallway etiquette. Listed below are the key problems and simple solutions. 

The Left Walk

Walking up the social studies/health/language/English hallway staircase as that annoying walker decides to “scam,” walking on the wrong side of the stairs, is truly irritating. The irritation is so strong, it is almost fist-clenching and violence-inducing. The traffic jam on that staircase, and the hallways around it, are extreme enough to be confused for a school wide evacuation. In the United States, we drive our cars on the right side of the road. This rule stays true in the hallways and on the stairs, as well. Stay in the right-hand “lane” at all times: in the hallway AND on the staircases. When walking on the wrong side, you are a salmon swimming upstream, slowing the movement. The simple solution is being polite and caring about others enough to walk on the right. 

The Group Walk

Our hallways are not extremely wide. Groups of 3+ students walking in a line are simply unfeasible. It is understandable that everyone wants to walk with their friends, but your friends will not disappear if you do not walk together in a line (most times holding hands)—that is a promise. These walking groups make it impossible for everyone in the vicinity to get where they need to go. Because they take up the entire hallway, no one can pass them. Additionally, these people are always walking extra slowly because they are talking (and sometimes also texting). The bottom line is that these walking groups are causing unnecessary traffic. Do not be a group walker. A compromise to this issue is walking (maybe with one friend maximum) with the intent to get to class on time, not to spend four minutes chatting.  

The Distracted Walk

The walkers that have an attachment to their phones, ipads, etc. may top the list as being the biggest “don’t” in the hallway. Almost nothing is more frustrating than trying to pass a walker that is swerving in the hallway because they are not looking up. Walking while looking down is an accident waiting to happen, as well. For instance, the probability of crashing into another walker is pretty high when you are walking while focusing on your phone. Like a pile-up on the freeway, the collision causes even more damage. The unpredictability of this distracted walker is quite dangerous. Looking up as you walk throughout the hallways is very important, for safety. If there is something so compelling on your phone, then save it for when you are not walking and trying to multitask.  

The Swinging Walk

Walking in the vicinity of someone who is swinging their bags is as annoying as it is dangerous. No one likes being pelted with an object as they walk. In a few cases, the swinging object can knock the wind out to the victim and cause them to stop, leading to more traffic and/or lateness. No one should have to be on guard at all times ready to fruit ninja swipe any flinging object that comes towards them. The only fix to this is to think before you decide to carry around something that flings out when you are walking. Another etiquette tip in this situation is if you do happen to (not nicely) carry a swinging object, say a simple “sorry” to the victim. This does not mean that you cannot bring lunch boxes or bags, but if you are going to, then you should be more mindful. This mindfulness should take into account your surroundings and your body movements (i.e. swinging). 

The Pushing Walk

Great Neck South may have academically excelled students, but they also have students who have mastered the “push and shove.” Trying to get to class in a traffic-filled hallway is very frustrating, but no excuse to almost injure someone. No one likes being pelted out of the way for another walker to get ahead, especially when a “sorry” is not said after. Pushing only angers your peers, and truly makes the situation worse. For instance, if you push someone into someone else, you cause more traffic. Please do not “push and shove” your way to class. There is no other solution than to just not get violent. 

These were five simple “don’t”’s for the hallway. There are more, but this is the baseline to help clean up the hallways. I advise all students to listen in order to ensure safety and timeliness. We are a community here at Great Neck South High School. We all have one common goal— to get to class without a problem. This can only happen if we work as a we; together is the only way. Never forget these “don’t”’s.