Baron Play Day is supposed to be an hour where all your stress is taken away by the lawn games scattered around the bowl. It is dumb. Will the comically large bubbles make my upcoming assignments float away with them? No. Students essentially need freedom. Yes, play is important. But this day takes away the freedom that comes with it.

School tells us what to do, when to do it, and why you need to do it. Students have been controlled by this procedure for years. They made it clear that our future is our responsibility and if we mess up we are screwed. Fear is what drives us so the hours of staying up, the hours of staring at white screens and blank sheets does not stop us. Then some people started realizing we don’t get enough play and now are forcing it upon us. That rages me. Who are you to set this system up, where we get no play and not even a thought of play allowed, and are now forcing us to play. Can you imagine how awful it felt to see teachers get mad at students for wanting to stay inside the class to finish up their assignments instead of coloring with chalk outside at 8 am. 

Recess in elementary school used to be from 10:10 am to 10:30. Then it was nutrition in middle school from 10:30 to 10:44. Then for a single freshman year break was from 10:30 to 10:40. Now there is no break. Only two days out of the school year. Baron play day. They gather board games, rent animals, take out their portable food machines, and expect us to have fun. Expect us to forget about upcoming finals, final projects, & tests. Forbid us to bring anything outside during this blessed hour. How dare they break our agenda because they feel pity. Students can only have fun when they have enough energy. Rising with the sun just to throw sacks of sand into the other person’s wooden hole does not seem ideal to someone who stayed up until the late hours to keep their number high. 

In the end, students need to play but at their own freedom. Telling students when to have fun takes away the privilege. Instead of having mandatory play time, have mandatory free time. Have mental-health days, where students take time for themselves. Lift the stress on due dates. And lastly let us have fun on our terms, not yours.