“Alliteration: The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words…” Students scribble definition after definition of literary terms on notebook paper as the Collierville sunlight just starts to enter the library windows as a result of the new, stricter protocols for referral as well as work hours.

Previously, students were required to meet in the dining hall for referral and do homework or anything school related that promoted a productive working environment. Complete silence and the copying of numerous literary definitions are the main factors of the new protocol that has recently been implemented.

Students who have received referral are now required to meet in the library at 7:30 a.m., and homework, laptops, ear buds, food and cell phones are prohibited. Literary terms and their lengthy definitions are distributed to each student along with a pen and paper. Some of these words include alliteration, allegory and allusion. For the next 25 minutes, students are required to copy these definitions in silence.

According to the Dean of Students Jill Reilly, this location change was due to the noise of the middle schoolers in the mornings. The change in protocol, however, was to teach students that referral is meant to teach a lesson and prevent students from making poor decisions repeatedly, not to create a quiet environment in which to do homework.

The Assistant Dean of Students responsible for overseeing referral, Kayla Irvin, said, “I often had people who said, ‘I get here this early anyways.’”

Nevertheless, students have differing opinions regarding the subject.

“I think the new referral makes people take it more seriously,” senior Bowers Cone said.

“I think it needs to be changed back to allow us to do school work and not copy down literary terms,” junior Spencer Scofield said.

For those who skip referral, changes have been made to work hours as well.  Before the reform, students would have to scrape gum off tables, clean boards or provide any other service for the school during work hours. With the change, students are now required to copy “Washington’s Rules of Civility” for an hour on an assigned day after school. The reason for this change was again to promote students to make better choices.

“It [work hours] wasn’t as effective of a teaching tool as it could have been,” said Mrs. Reilly.

Mrs. Reilly wanted to emphasize that these new rules are to promote discipline, a lesson to students, not to give unbearable punishments without any real reason behind them.