My daughters are adults now but when they attended junior high during the late 2000s, we would often drop them off at a local high school football game and pick them up once the game was over.  It was a regular social event for young people that age in Fishers.

I know there were police officers and other adults keeping a watch on the one corner of the football complex where the junior high students would congregate, and remember well the traffic jams when parents came to pick up their junior high students at the same time the entire crowd was leaving the game.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools shared a message sent to parents Tuesday that changes school policy.  Now, if you have a student in grades K-8, there is a requirement that the student must be “accompanied and supervised by an adult.”

“We have seen a large number of unsupervised junior high students gathering at high school sporting events which has resulted in uptick of incidents,” says HSE Schools Spokesperson Emily Abbotts  “While the school district has increased the number of SROs at the game and administration, we do not have enough personnel to oversee large numbers of unsupervised students. Our top priority remains student and staff safety.”  ”

Abbotts also says the policy of requiring K-8 students to be accompanied by an adult “is not new and is standard for many of our surrounding school neighbors.”

Below is the entire message to parents sent by the HSE School District:

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Football season is upon us, and we love having the support of our school community cheering from the sidelines underneath the #FridayNightLights.  

To increase safety at our high school sporting events this year, students in grades K-8 must now be accompanied and supervised by an adult (aged 18+) to enter the event. This change in practice is due in part to an uptick in incidences involving unsupervised K-8 students. 

Although we want student participation at our home games, students without an adult will not be admitted.  

These changes are effective immediately and will be enforced at the upcoming Royals vs. Avon football game on Friday, September 1, 2023.  

We appreciate in advance the support of our students, parents, and community. We understand this change in practice may interrupt normal plans for event attendance, but we want to ensure that all attendees have an enjoyable and safe experience.  

We wish our FHS Tigers and HSE Royals the best of luck in this year’s sporting events.