A hard punch in the arm, an unexpected piggy back ride from behind, a ‘friendly’ shove into a locker; we see this behavior all the time at school. It’s quite common to see roughhousing and horse play between good friends. However, these kinds of behaviors can be threatening to students’ safety, regardless if nobody gets hurt in the end. Where must students learn to draw the line?

Amy Schwartz, a Home Office Assistant Principal at NPHS, explains, “Being socially conscious about boundaries is a life skill, and if students can respect each other’s boundaries, roughhousing wouldn’t be a problem. My only fear is that roughhousing can turn into anger very quickly if one student accidentally hurts the other or it can turn into injury without anyone having any negative intentions.”

It seems like the horse playing at NPHS has already gone too far. A few weeks ago a sophomore was injured by a pencil at lunch. Thinking that it would be a funny joke, his friend held a pencil on his seat right before he sat down. That was one move to regret. The sophomore was brought to the hospital that very day.

This is just a one example of horse play at school that went beyond the limit. Normally, interactions can happen so quickly that people get away with what they do.

A NPHS security guard, Bernie Jones, shares the everyday situations he sees, “If it gets out of hand we try to stop it as quickly as possible. I understand that kids are kids, but they have to understand there’s a time and place for everything. Food get’s thrown around in the cafeteria. Ultimately, one kids throws it at another and [he or she] gets mad and it all causes a fight.”

Jones explains a situation that happened at NPHS five years ago.

“A student came up behind his friend and put him in a chokehold. It wasn’t too long before his friend passed out, fell to the ground, and broke his jaw. He thought [the friend] could breathe, when he couldn’t.”

These situations that have happened in our school can be looked upon as alarming. What may seem like a friendly physical interaction between friends can turn into a horrible mistake. With 3,500 students walking through the halls, it’s best not to take chances with what could happen. Although students may mean no harm, choosing to break the cycle of boisterous behavior can eliminate hazardous actions and primarily unwanted trouble.
Fortunately, North Penn’s majority of students and faculty follow those rules and regulations to ensure a safe learning environment.

“I think adults in our high school try to judge the different levels of roughhousing all the time. They don’t want to interfere with students having normal interactions, but they want to prevent a situation from escalating into a fight. It’s a delicate balance, but we are lucky to be surrounded with experienced individuals who help students to make good decisions all the time,” says Schwartz.