Let’s face it, there’s been a time for all of us when we’ve been in the hallways without a pass. Did anyone do anything about it? No. Whether you were late to class, you didn’t have time to fill out a pass, or your teacher just sent you into the hallways without one, almost none of us have been asked to take our pass out, show it to an adult, and then continue wherever we were going. It just doesn’t happen.

The rule is that anytime we’re in the hallway, we must have a hall pass with us, but the truth is, no one actually checks. I’ve walked through the hallways multiple times this year without a pass in my hand, backpack, or pocket, yet I was never stopped by any of the deans, security guards, or other staff that are constantly patrolling. 

So, are the green hall passes more of a requirement or just a way to keep students out of trouble? Given that almost no one who is just walking through the hallways gets asked if they have a pass, the answer is leaning towards the latter. The passes are more of a threat to keep students where they’re supposed to be as opposed to the strict rule they’re cut out to be at every town hall. 

What would even happen when you don’t have one? Are the staff going to send you back to the class you came from, where you’ll then disrupt the lesson to ask your teacher for a pass to get water? It sounds like something a second grader would be required to abide by, not high school students.

Filling out the little pieces of paper with where you’re going, the time, and a teacher’s signature takes time away from class, as well. Teachers have to stop their lessons just to let one of their students get written permission to go to the bathroom or drink water. If there are no physical passes on hand in the classroom, then an effort must be made to find a piece of paper to use as a makeshift pass. The whole process takes way too long. Half the time, teachers just send their students into the halls with no pass because chances are that the staff in the halls simply won’t ask to see proof that students are allowed to be in the hallway.

I’m not saying we as students should forgo the hall passes and refuse to take one. Obviously, we should follow school rules and still ask for one every time we need to go out in the hallways, but it’s not the biggest deal if you don’t have one. The fact of the matter is that if you forget, or don’t have time to grab a pass, you won’t be locked up in Jackson-Reed-no-hall-pass jail, which is what it seems like every time the passes are talked about. As a whole, hall passes are unnecessary, a waste of time, and overemphasized for no reason. •