The Junior Lock-In has been discontinued and rebranded this year, according to an email the Director of Student Life Royce Wallace sent to Grade 11 students and families Oct. 20. Since 2015, Grade 11 students spend the night on school campus during the annual “Junior Lock-In” and participate in various community-building activities.
Although some of the activities scheduled for Nov. 17 will still take place, Wallace said students must now leave campus by 11 p.m. to ensure the school is complying with U.K. guidelines.
“It’s really about safeguarding and safety and duty of care,” Wallace said. “When it ends at 11, it gives an opportunity for students to get home safely.”
In past years, students have been given the option to leave campus at various times throughout the night, which according to Wallace, meant chaperones had to keep track of “140 teenagers and then try to manage who’s leaving when.”
“If students are leaving at one and two and three…you’re thinking about, ‘Okay, how are they getting home? Where are they going? Who’s picking them up?’” Wallace said.
In addition, with the flexibility of leaving at different times, Wallace said only around 10 to 15 students have chosen to stay for the entire night during the past few lock-ins.
Student Council representative Gus Bhatia (’25) said he worries the council will receive backlash for the cancellation, even though the change was made by the administration.
“We were very angry to say the least, and we weren’t gonna show it in that office, but we were disappointed for numerous reasons,” Bhatia said. “No matter how obvious the administration makes it that it was their decision… people will be coming at us for this, and so how do we bounce back?”
Evan Dana (’25) said she is saddened by the administration’s decision to cancel the lock-in.
“I was looking forward to spending time with friends and enjoying time on campus that isn’t for academic purposes,” Dana said. “The idea of staying late is kind of exciting and it’s just kind of unfortunate that we have to leave so early now.”
In place of the lock-in, Bhatia said StuCo created an activity dubbed “The Junior Games.” After watching the High School musical, the grade will participate in a game similar to capture the flag from 9-11 p.m.
Dana said although she is excited for the game, she still would have preferred to stay on campus longer.
“I’m looking forward to the game because it actually sounds fun, but I would rather stay late,” Dana said. “It brings a class closer together if you spend like a night together because it gives you more time to talk, and you spend less time participating in mandatory activities.”
Wallace said being able to establish a new format for the lock-in is a great opportunity for the junior class.
“While [the lock-in] is a tradition, they get to rebrand that tradition and make it something of their own that hopefully other classes will follow,” Wallace said. “I take that as a leadership opportunity.”
Similarly, Bhatia said he believes this new game can successfully replace the lock-in.
“I do believe that the Junior Games have potential to really kind of start a new tradition,” Bhatia said. “The idea in theory and the way that we’re putting it together sounds incredibly, incredibly fun, and for me, it will strongly depend on the willingness of the kids in our grade to want to follow our rules for the greater good of everybody.”
Rahil Punshi contributed to reporting.
