Running out of Time

Upon returning to school after a COVID-19 altered school year, students may have noticed another debut of hallway traffic. While some students may experience minimal issues with clustering in the hallways, most do not have the same luxury. For instance, a student passing from a lower level class such as theater arts would struggle to reach a third or fourth-floor classroom, no matter what side of the library the classroom is on. This is a real problem that real students are experiencing daily, and maybe even yearly.

A solution to this issue is to create a ten-minute passing period that gives students time to reach their destinations in a timely manner.

While there are many pros to this solution, there are a few large cons to look at. This would result in longer school days, which many students would feel strongly against because of extracurriculars, work and not getting home as early. Plus, it does create more time for loitering, vandalism, and stealing.

However, a ten-minute passing period would allow for more time to reach classes far apart from one another, which is less stressful for the students that struggle with that issue. The current time of six minutes only takes into consideration the traveling time instead of other expectations set beyond time management, such as bathroom breaks and moving at a walking speed.

Students are currently expected to use the restroom and take care of needs along with getting to class within the allotted time. It might make the school day longer, but students may experience less recurring stress without unrealistic expectations.

While that is an issue with our current time, ten minutes could create a future problem. When comparing current student offenses to what it could be versus what it currently is, there is a definite issue. There would be more time for vandalism and for fights to break out, along with bullying.

However, this issue could be resolved with teachers and assistant principals placed on upper floors near the restrooms, rather than in hallways or on just the first floor. Currently, AP’s are more concerned with the enforcement of ID badges than vandalism or other troubling instances. It wouldn’t be overreaching to assume they can do both throughout the day while monitoring restrooms and hallways between classes.

Furthermore, any future issues with tardiness can be eliminated down to choice. If students are given ten minutes to use as they please, it becomes a choice to be tardy rather than an assumption. With our current six-minute passing period, tardiness is considered a choice even though some students literally do not have enough time between classes to reach their destinations.

A ten-minute passing period may not be what every student wants, but it can ensure that the students who are unfairly limited can reach the expectations set for them.