School schedule

When I was going to school, you were supposed to be in the school yard before the final bell rang. If you were late, you had to go to the office and explain why you were late getting to school. I don't remember having to go to the office because I was always in the school yard ahead of that bell.

What I have noticed around where I live is when the final bell rings I still see a lot of children still walking in the neighbourhood, not even near the school yard. Has society changed that much that we don't respect the start times anymore. Maybe that is why so many people today arrive at work whenever they want, because that is what they have been doing all their life.

The other thing I have noticed is that on days that there is school I see quite a few children in the neighbourhood mall with their parents during the school day. If the child is sick, they should be at home and not shopping with their parents. If the child isn't sick, they should be in school learning instead of shopping. I know if we were caught out of school, there were prices to pay because the parent was reported, especially if you were just avoiding school. Maybe part of this lack of caring is because nowadays, schools can't fail a student until they are in high school. So nowadays it looks like you don't have to really learn, and you will advance to the next grade no matter what. So many students have the entitled attitude, and the automatic passing could be part of that. There is no real cost of not doing the schoolwork, I know that when I was at school if you didn't complete all your work you failed and had to repeat the same grade again.

I guess what I am really saying is there really isn't any discipline nowadays for children going to school. They seem to get there when they want (this could be the parent's fault or the child's fault) and miss school for what seems to be no reason. Years ago, you learned early on that school had a schedule, and you worked within that schedule unless you were really sick.

So if someone can explain the new school schedule to me, it would be great because I really don't understand it. This school schedule may not apply to all schools, but I know it applies to the school near me, and that is what I can use as a reference.