Can you believe how many people are late due to the crowds throughout Dobie? Overcrowding is a serious issue that can affect both teachers’ and students’ routines. Whether it’s in the hallways, classroom, or in the cafeteria, overcrowding is clearly visible on Dobie’s campus.

At Dobie, the most crowded part of the day is during the mornings, according to Anaya Bryant, 8th grader, and Kacie Aldrich, 7th grader. Bryant said it’s because students are getting off the buses, out of cars, and they’re all going to meet their friends when they walk into school. Aldrich feels the mornings are the worst because, “The whole school goes separate ways and you have to push past people.” Aldrich said she just goes with the crowd and tries not to bump into people as she navigates the halls.

The mass amounts of crowds that are at Dobie tend to affect lots of students’ days. Aldrich said, “It affects my day, because I have to get to class and I don’t want to be late.”

Students tend to be late because of the overflow, and it can sometimes cause a lot of stress. “People standing in the middle of the hallways makes me really upset, because I’m late to class and get D-halls (detentions),” Bryant said. Brianna Brooks, 8th grader, even has to ask her teachers to excuse her for being late.

Aldrich, Brooks, and Bryant have all been late around five times because of the crowds they have to deal with on the daily.

One way overcrowding affects students, is when they are rushing from classroom to classroom.

Aldrich said, “I think this is going to be a challenge,” when she walks into the halls and sees an overflow of people. Bryant charges through the crowds because, “If I get one more D-hall, I’m in ISS (In-School-Suspension).”

Teachers and administrators recommend that you speak up if you’re in a tight bind in the hallways, but the people causing the problem aren’t always nice about it. “It’s kind of hard to get around and even when you ask nicely, they respond rudely,” Danielle Vicencio, 8th grader, said regarding her experience of trying to get around the mass of students.

Even though it may be a bother to overcome the crowdedness, many students all contribute to it in some way. Aldrich said she contributes to the problem because she’ll walk in front of someone and she won’t even realize it. Brooks said, “I think we all do [contribute to the crowdedness] because we all go to this school and we can’t shrink ourselves.”

Every year that the school has been open, there have been several collisions because of the mass of students during the passing periods. There are several recommendations that are given to prevent these accidents, and most of the time students listen. Mrs. Preyor-Johnson, the journalism teacher at Dobie, recommends, “Students should always walk to the right and go where they need to go. I would also recommend that they pay attention to their surroundings, and be patient.”when walking in the hallways.”

The overflow at Dobie is unfortunately a burden that students and staff must bear in order to get around the school. Although there aren’t very many solutions to the issue; teachers, administrators, and students, all have recommendations on how to get past the excess of students. Aldrich recommends students adjust to the overcrowdedness by finding shortcuts, avoiding crowds, leaving class as soon as the bell rings, and definitely walking fast!