The Things They Carry
Teachers Use Some Offbeat Objects
To Substitute for Hall Passes
By Emily Sanders
(October 16, 2005)
There is only one place where you could find
a foam finger,
an empty detergent bottle, a large wooden woodpecker, an old birdhouse,
and an
orange bucket scattered across a shelf. This place would be the
students’ bathroom
during class.
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These random rights of passage await
their owners in the bathroom
stalls not five feet from them. It’s the new generation of hall passes.
Back in
the day, students carried a simple yellow slip of paper as their hall
pass, but
now it’s a whole new ball game.
Lately, teachers have been sending
kids to the restroom with
some pretty creative passes. It definitely gives our school
personality. Ours
is one of the only schools where you can see someone with a plastic
chicken
walking down the hall. “It makes going to the bathroom a little bit
more fun, I
like seeing what each teacher will select. And it’s always funny
watching a kid
walk down the hall with a fake chicken or a fat detergent bottle,” says
junior
Alyssa Godwin.
Hall passes, whether traditional slips
of paper or the
current, more creative objects, are meant to give any adults (hall
monitors,
administrators, teachers) in the halls proof that the student has
permission to
be out of class. It’s also a physical reminder to the student that they
are in
a class and need to return quickly. Will a plastic bleach bottle insure
that
the student will safely and quickly return from the bathroom?
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Ms. Wiseman’s
hallway pass
is a large foam finger that seems to ensure that students will promptly
return
to her class. This is only one of many unusual “rights of passage” that
teachers have chosen to use in lieu of
traditional
hall passes. (Photo by Emily Sanders)
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Science teacher Ms. Wiseman says yes. “I
like my big (foam)
finger. I think it adds personality. And if someone sees one of my kids
walking
down the hall, they’ll know where my student is supposed to be. And who
wants
to be seen walking down the hall with a huge finger? It brings my kids
back
pretty quickly.”
Questions
arose among teachers and students about whether or not passes are
actually
needed. There’s only one man who could answer that question, Principal
Bob
Snee. “Well, if I see younger kids strolling the halls, they should
have a
reason and a pass to be in the halls. Seniors don’t necessarily need
one. But
if the teachers feel like it’s necessary, than that’s their call,” says
Snee.
Hopefully more
teachers will join this
wave of originality. The fear of “behind the back” snickering is
diminishing as
this creative and fun way to leave class is catching on.
