There is only one time in the classroom where doing nothing, and being on your phone is allowed, that is BARK. The 30 minute class has many different functions such as various study halls, enrichment classes, and an opportunity for multiple different clubs to meet together. However, for some students the 30 minute opportunity is used towards nothing academically beneficial. Instead of having BARK as a requirement for all students, they should apply that time towards a longer lunch, or for enrichment or study hall classes, it  can be optional for the first 30 minutes of lunch.

One of Buena’s neighboring high schools, Foothill Technology, includes a 30 minute FIRE period where it is only required for freshman, and for upperclassmen, the 30 minute period is applied towards their lunch, letting them have an hour-long lunch.

B.A.R.K was designed as a study hall period, where students can work on homework. The intent is a good one, however some students use this time to catch up on recent social media posts, instead of their schoolwork. 

Most homework that students are given is too lengthy to be able to finish in a 30 minute study hall. 

“It’s too short to finish anything significant,” Senior Eric Sonnenschein said, “but it’s too long to just sit there.”

For many, it’s just a social period that takes time out of our day, when our real social period is the lunch break, which is currently only 35 minutes long.

“You can also use the lunch time for anything else,” Sonnenschein said. “It doesn’t have to just be for food.” 

Seniors and juniors are finally allowed to leave campus and get food from wherever they choose. However, many find that lunch is too short to be able to do this. You leave to get food and by the time you get back and  eat, there’s barely any time of lunch remaining, 

 Also, trying to finish the food you spent your money on in class, is simply not a possibility due to COVID regulations and classroom policies. 

Students and staff may be concerned about grades dropping without the study hall period, since they wouldn’t have the time to finish their homework. Nevertheless, the extended lunch could provide students with the opportunity to receive the help they need by checking in with their teachers. 

“If you are a consistent student you will use any time given,” freshman Hudson Machado said.

Lower classmen are more likely to utilize this time to finish work, since their classes are heavily homework based, which is the whole reason for this study hall period, however as students get older and rise through the grades, bark becomes useless.

“Since there’s no more intense classes, I don’t have work like the years before,” Sonnenschein said, “I don’t use bark for anything productive, or as much as I did last year.”

Taking away bark is just the thing students need, a longer lunch for catching the break you’ve needed before finishing the second half of your day. 

“It would make it a better place,” Machado said, “A lot of people complain about bark, and it really isn’t helpful.”