During their time at Dublin High, there comes a time when every single student needs to finish homework during lunch. Maybe they need to get help from a tutor, or print necessary papers to turn in for a class. During this time of need, every student turns to the resources of our library, better known as the HUB. The HUB has all the available resources for a student to succeed. Textbooks, library books, laptops, desktops, high quality printers and tutors for students in need of help for understand concepts of certain subjects. But just like every other library, the HUB has basic rules: no eating and drinking except for water, no dilly-dallying or wasting time, and most of all, when in the HUB, you must occupy yourself with school-related work. But during the year of 2016-2017, there has been a new rule in place that has inconvenienced hundreds of students: the 4-to-a-table rule. In DHS, this is an infamous rule that is enforced with an iron-fist by all library personnel and assistants. But why is this rule necessary in the first place?

“The 4-to-a-table rule is necessary to ensure that all students are working and causing minimum noise level in the library. The library itself is quite loud, but if tables were to occupy 5 or 6 students, you can see that the noise level goes up instantaneously and work level and progress decreases,” Mrs. McDonald, a HUB staff member. And many of her points are correct. The bigger and conversational the crowd, the louder the volume and noise level of the room.

A sophomore that was against the 4-to-a-table rule said, “I work best when I’m with my friends, and I admit it; we talk a lot. But I still get my work done, maintain proper grades and stay happy in school. This rule is annoying and finishing homework has never been so dissatisfying.”

And some of the statements made are true. Often, if a table of students are too loud, they are strictly advised to move themselves to Student Union. And in a way, this is rather harsh. Kicking students out of HUB, while it can be necessary, is humiliating and hurtful for the students, and severely decreases the chance of their cooperation of improvement in behavior. FBI agent LaRae Quy made an article with advice on how to gain cooperation from people, and one of the things you must never do is prove a person wrong with force. No one likes being told what to do, especially teenagers exploring their independence. But, as we can see through proper logic and reasoning, some rules have to be enforced no matter the discomfort and annoyance it can cause.