When the new policy on passes was introduced, there was a variety of reactions among students. Some were enraged, others weren’t bothered at all, some found it plain inconvenient. But what about those who must enforce that rule? What do teachers have to say about this new policy?
The policy in question is the new pass policy, meant to make sure that students are where they should be and to make sure that they are safe. What this means is that you can not use the restroom during the first and last ten minutes of class, you get one pass a week for each class, and unless it’s an emergency, you cannot leave to go anywhere during instructional time.
The new policy allows for less students roaming where they are not supposed to roam, and allows for fewer breaches of safety within the halls of PLHS, and Mr. Patrick Mahoney couldn’t agree more.
“As a teacher part of our job is to just be responsible for the safety of our students and anytime someone leaves the room, it’s just always in the back of mind mind like, ‘Hey this person is in the bathroom’, so signing a pass lets other people know that I am aware that my student is out of the room,” Mahoney said.
While some may believe that teachers just don’t understand why students need the freedom to go to and from places during clastime, this assumption isn’t true, as teachers were also once students, perhaps in the very same walls of PLHS that students now reside in during school hours.
Freshman Biology teacher Mrs. Anna Gorat points this out when asked about the new pass policy, “ I think that I understand the necessity of students using the restroom when the lines are too long so I understand why sometimes a student would want to grab a pass, go to the bathroom and then come back,”Gorat said. “But with the number of students that we have missing school, missing class time, and the lack of time during each class period it’s better for them to be in the classroom here and then use the restroom at the time when they need to”.
With the sudden change in attitude with this new policy, some students are worried about just how strict the new policy is, especially the one pass per class within the week rule, however, perhaps it isn’t as bad as it seems.
“I think that the trust and the relationship that teachers build with their students allows us as adults to use our discretion and decide if giving someone more than one pass a week is better or necessary for them, because I do have students who I know are not going to abuse the pass policy, and they do need a pass, more than one time in the week, and so I think that the strictness should be able to be flexible to accommodate the needs of those kids”, Gorat said.
Of all questions asked about the policy, the main one was, “why”? Why punish the majority for something only a few students have been abusing? Well, perhaps this isn’t punishment.
“The reason that we have these policies and procedures in place is because adults really care and we want the best thing, and we’ve been through the same experience before, and so we’re trying to help you avoid issues that maybe we’ve even encountered.” Gorat said.