High School Senior Rights Turn To Senior Privileges

This is the LobbyGuard device that the seniors use to sign out on "privs" during their free blocks

Experience, age, privileges, and respect come with seniority, right? Not always. In many schools, high schools in particular, advancement in age and grade level comes with certain privileges that are denied, and envied, by underclassmen, but in some schools these privileges are getting cut back and even eliminated.
Although these privileges vary depending on the school, some of the most common are closer parking spots, private quads, being able to leave campus during a free block or lunch block, enrollment priorities on classes, and the ability to skip finals for classes that you have higher than a B+ final average in. Having the freedom of these seniority advantages can be taken for granted or abused, and have started to become a receding trend in more than one case. Kelsey Kruzel, a senior at Woodstock Academy states, "I think the privileges at WA are fair and pretty decent, the only thing I would change is having the ability to leave during assemblies, but I know that probably won't happen." Privileges are not given away, and are only earned by those who deserve them; so severe restrictions or abuse of these privileges can force them to be eliminated for one person, a bigger range of people, or even having one or more of the privileges abolished completely.
In some schools, Woodstock Academy being one of them, to earn privileges for your senior year you must have no final averages lower than a D- in your second semester of junior year and achieve a “satisfactory record of student conduct and attendance”.(Woodstock Academy's Student Handboook) These requirements also differ and vary among schools. At Killingly High School you must have a discipline report approved by their assistant principal or principal, all grades above a D+, a “satisfactory attendance record”, and have completed certain pre-graduation requirements completed .
Over the years senior privileges have evolved and grown into a great accomplishment. At Rockport High School in 1983 Nathan Ives remarks, “the only senior privileges we had was being allowed to go to the john [bathroom] after asking politely.” As these privileges have been established, abused, and taken advantage of, requirements to use them have come into play as well. As a product of this process, requirements and restrictions to obtain and maintain senior privileges have been established as well.