Opinion: Student parking remains an issue at L.A. River High

Many teenagers want to drive. You feel more independent and you don’t have to wait for your parents to pick you up or to drive you somewhere. Therefore, many students want to drive themselves to school. I mean who wouldn’t want to have their own car by their senior year of high school? You would look cool being able to drive yourself to school in my opinion.

This benefits the parents a lot because it would be a huge weight lifted off their shoulders. This also teaches the teenage to be more responsible at such a young age.  The problem at my school is that they don’t let students park at the school parking lot.

I think it’s a dumb rule and there is no need for it. I feel like there is plenty of parking for students and teachers and any occasionally visitor.

What they do is they have a staff member outside in the school parking lot standing and looking to make sure that no students park. If you get caught parked in school they make you go get your car and move it, which might make you late to class because you have to go look for parking somewhere else.

Your car’s safety might be at risk outside of school too. You could leave it one time and then when you come back there’s probably a cracked window or they took your stereo. Some students decide to go park at the local park which is right next to the school. While others go and park at the market right up the street named Super A . I would like to be able to go to school and go to my classes  thinking that my car is safe.

Probably all staff members think differently about the student parking issue. Some might be against it and want students to go park somewhere else while others might not have any problem. I interviewed a Sotomayor staff member named Mr. Mayorga about students parking on campus. “Under no circumstances. LAUSD does not allow it,” he told me. “It would be permitted if each section were to be divided by students, staff, and teachers. Another reason is that the staff members don’t have a guarantee that the student could be driving in the first place or that the car has insurance.”