Mowers Should Be Allowed In High School

Kansas State University is a gorgeous campus that is always up kept and pleasing to the eye. However, almost twice a week my fellow K-state students and I come in to very close range of a large gas lawnmower. During what I like to consider “rush hours” of students between the hours of 8am-5pm it is not uncommon to see the mowers out on the quad or another section of the campus. Personally, I suffer from severe seasonal allergies brought on by things such as pollen and grass. Weekly on my way to class as I pass the people mowing the lawns, I get the grass blowing around on me, irritating my allergies. Class becomes bothersome as my eyes become watery and itchy I can hardly maintain focus. Something as small as lawn mowing is developing into …show more content…
I propose that the mowers not be allowed to mow between the hours of 8am and 5pm. These are amongst the student body the most common class times. By changing the times, this will prevent any potential run in with students and the machines, while allowing for optimal performance in the class room. Another option I would also like to bring to your attention is the idea of mowing on the weekends. Areas such as the quad or in front of Hale library where majority of classes are held should be held off until the weekend. This ensures that there will not be heavy traffic of students and that lectures would not be in session. To maximize job performance, the mowing team can start by mowing areas where there isn’t a heavy student precence and then work their way to the quad and Hale library lawn before or after the times I listed above. This simple solution presents one drawback: time and money. Kansas state university might have to pay the mowers a little extra to mow early morning, late in the afternoon, or preferably strictly on the weekends. Although it will cost potentially more money to restrict the times they are permitted to mow, the overall education and health of students you cannot put a price on. Another issue is with the small majority of students who have classes before or after the time slot mentioned (8am-5pm). The reason the time slot is so specific is due to the fact I structured a time zone where …show more content…
“Lawn mower noise easily falls into that category of second hand noise pollution, a term used to describe noise that is experienced by people who did not produce it. There’s a growing school of thought that second-hand noise is as detrimental to our health as second-hand smoke, and even some who consider second-hand noise a civil rights issue” (Liz Ernest). People passing by are unknowing victims of hearing damage simply due to the amount of decibels the sound of a gas lawnmower gives off. Meaghan Reed an audiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary stated "Gas-powered lawn mowers can be anywhere from 90 decibels to 106 decibels. Those levels are where we start being concerned about damage to your ears from the noise.” Given it takes a prolonged exposure to the noise to do considerable damage, walking past a lawn mower every day, the effects on the students hearing start to add up. On multiple occasions, I have will pull out my headphones if I see they are mowing in the distance to prepare to drain out the noise. Putting those headphones in due to the noise of the lawn mower is a chain reaction of harmful decibels to a person’s hearing. It is unfair to students to mow during major class times in areas where there is heavy walking traffic such as the quad and in front of Hale library because they are direct routes we have to take for a majority of our