As we all probably know, turning in work can be a difficult and annoying task to complete. Sometimes life gets in the way, procrastination happens, things are misunderstood, and things aren’t properly explained. Everyone’s been there. And everybody has turned things in late. But should it be punished? Well, most students don’t think so.

Junior Kyle Booker thinks one week is acceptable, “because if you’re gone all week you should have a week to do [whatever you missed] and if it’s late by more than a week you’re just not trying.” Kyle brings up a very good point. Most people could just be taking advantage of the system.

“I think it kind of depends on how late it is. If you’re turning in stuff from the beginning of the year at the end of the semester, then probably not,” says sophomore Sierra Sanchez. 

Kids abusing the system has been a problem in the past here at Frederick. Lots of kids would wait until the very last week to do anything and it became too much for teachers to handle. English teacher Katy Kelly has tried many methods to help her students succeed in her class. “I have done both. I have accepted late work and not done a penalty, and accepted late work and then given a penalty. And what I have found with both methods is that the students who are going to turn in their work are going to turn in the work, and the students who aren’t, aren’t.”  She brings up another very good point as well. Most students that don’t do their work, aren’t going to do it at all. “I would rather be equitable and build a relationship with a student and have them come to me and say ‘hey, something’s going on, I can’t get this, can I get an extension?’ rather than not turning it in at all.” Ms. Kelly still does take her students’ late work and she doesn’t penalize them for turning it in late. But there are certain dates past the original due date that she doesn’t allow work to be submitted. 

Freshmen John Boeman and Cooper Boyce had quite a bit to say on this matter as well. John thinks that teachers should accept late work no matter what. “Maybe with a little repercussion, such as a 5% knock off or 10% knock off.” When asking him why, he said, “well, it’s a lot of work and I think you should have another chance at something.” Cooper said, “I feel that realistically we’re going to have deadlines for our careers and jobs, and not having them isn’t going to help us. But, sometimes it can be a lot of work and there should be some restrictions. Just not heavy.” John suggests a 10%  reduction penalty if the assignment is submitted one week late, and a 20% penalty after two weeks.

With all this in mind, the majority of students agree that late work should be accepted with no penalty. Mistakes are also something that happens on the daily. So we need leniency.