By Christina Saad || ARTS EDITOR
We have all experienced it by now. Students stuck in the overcrowded cafeteria in the mornings. Struggling to memorize which caddy number their phone is in for each class. Fidgeting with the Minga system in an attempt to create a hall pass. Never in my life did I imagine I would have to submit an application to use the bathroom during class and then get waitlisted.
With each new school year comes a plethora of policies in an attempt to solve age-old problems like cheating, skipping, and distractions in class. The school administration has added new policies this year and reinforced old ones like the phone and bell policy. Some policies have proven effective, while others have caused inconvenience and frustration from students.
The phone policy requires students to put their phones in a case, usually located near the door, before each class. While this policy has existed for several years, the administration is reinforcing it in wake of an anticipated state-wide cell phone ban in schools.
The phone policy is just one initiative the school has taken to limit distractions during the school day. However, one new and entirely unrelated policy has unintentionally become the biggest distraction for students and teachers: the e-passes.
According to Assistant Principal Joanna Ganci, the e-pass system was added this year to prevent issues such as crowding in the hallways, abuse of the paper passes, and excessive paper usage. However, it has also caused new problems.
The e-pass requires a significant amount of time to fill out. There is also no universal way to fill out the passes: some teachers write passes for students themselves, some ask their students to fill them out on their own computer, and others keep a computer at the front of the classroom that is dedicated to filling out passes. While allowing students to fill out their passes limits the amount of time teachers waste writing passes, it does not prevent distractions completely. Every time a student needs to create a hall pass, they or their teacher must use a computer to do so. This is particularly detrimental to classes that do not use laptops frequently.
“If the students are going to sign themselves out and we’re not using laptops, the distraction of a student taking out a laptop and having to sign themselves out is a lot more than [what] it was with the older system,” said social studies teacher Michelle Chachus.
“It’s just more electronics,” Jacqueline Salvesen, a health teacher, said, expressing a similar sentiment.
More importantly, however, the e-pass system has left students, including me, feeling less inclined to use it. According to junior Sahithya Srinath, the complexity of the system makes it feel like a hassle to do something as simple as going to the bathroom.
In an environment meant to foster learning and self-development, the least desirable thing is for students to feel unwelcome. However, a certain number of policies and regulations can do just that.
The bell policy keeps students from leaving the cafeteria before 8:00 AM. According to assistant principal Holly Breen, this is meant to prevent unsupervised roaming around the school. This policy existed in the past, but was not strictly enforced. In previous years, students including Srinath would use this time to reach out to teachers, since it was often the easiest way to quickly communicate with them outside of class. Now, that is not a possibility. Srinath expressed a sense of disconnection from teachers as a result.
Additionally, several clubs and activities meet in the mornings, which conflicts with the purpose of the bell policy. There have been instances where I needed to attend a morning meeting and was essentially interrogated about my intentions. Regardless of the bell policy’s purpose, something is deeply wrong if I prefer to use a side entrance to attend a mandatory meeting in order to avoid hall monitors.
But, as much as we like to complain about them, school policies exist for a reason. They are meant to promote a safe, constructive environment for students to focus on their studies. However, sometimes there is no perfect solution to problems that these policies aim to prevent.
“If people don’t want to go to class or pay attention to class, they won’t, and [a new policy is] not going to stop them,” said junior Agrima Biswas.
Students will still roam the hallways, despite the complexities of the e-pass system. Students will be distracted during class, regardless of whether or not they have access to their phone.
Policies are essential in any academic environment, but there is a fine line between regulation and overregulation.
