Don’t Pass the Pass

By Dimitrios Moshovitis ‘16 

Ms. Roche's bathroom pass.

When students returned to school after winter break, a new pass policy was implemented. Students who want to leave the classroom, for reasons such as going to their locker or to the bathroom, have to take the red and yellow pass that includes the teacher's name and room number written on it.

The goal of the pass is to decrease the number of students in the hallway, so that more students remain in class. But is this new policy effective?

 Many students were immediately upset about the new policy, and even questioned its effectiveness. When asked what she thinks about the new system, Mariel Rojas ‘16 says, “I think it's less efficient than the past system we had before because it's unrealistic to only expect one student to leave the classroom at a given time. Also, some people are not treating it very well, and it's kind of gross at times.”

The pass system resembles the pass system that some students used back in elementary school, so it is natural for older students to get upset when they like they are treated like they are grade schoolers.

Also, when students bring the pass to the bathroom, a very unsanitary place, it can be exposed to different kinds of bacteria. Since the pass is shared among many students throughout the day, it's bound to become dirty and gross. Sharing it will only lead to the spread of bacteria.

When commenting about bringing the pass to the bathroom, Hodman Abshir ‘16 says “I think it’s very unsanitary. Some people don’t wash their hands. Also, teachers don’t wash the passes at the end of the day, so the passes are just collecting more and more germs.

Ashley Lewis ‘16 says “It's nasty. It harbors bacteria, and it’s an unnecessary way of monitoring hallway traffic. Sharing a pass that travels in and out of a bathroom grosses the majority of the students out.

Using the blue books as passes for all purposes seems to be the most favored option by students. Still, the idea of the pass system is justified. It is obvious and reasonable that the school would want students to remain in class and learn, instead of having multiple students out in the hallway. However, the actual implementation of the pass system has flaws. It is unsanitary and ineffective.

Perhaps the school should have created another way that limits the number of students in the hallway, without using a physical pass. If students use the bathroom pass, they really should use hand sanitizer afterwards.Or wash their hands.