Every teacher has different rules when it comes to leaving the room during class. However, there are some hall pass regulations that are a bit unrealistic. In my opinion, handing out hall passes at all is kind of like treating us as if we are children. At this age, if we need to exit during class it should be for a real reason. Teachers should trust high school students more unless they prove that they cannot be trusted.

However, if teachers do decide that handing out a hall pass is what they wish to do, they should at least put more availability on there. Almost every time I have received one of these hall passes, teachers always seem to have the same number of limits on passes; two passes per six weeks. That seems to be pushing it a bit. If a student really does need to leave the classroom, that is really out of their control. Knowing in the back of their minds that they may only leave twice every six weeks could actually cause stress on them and could prevent them from focusing on their work with all of their ability.

There are even times when a teacher will allow you to turn in your blank hall passes at the end of a marking period for some sort of reward. From candy to extra points on your lowest grade, they applaud students for not leaving the room during class. Are we really at a point in our life that we need to bribed to stay in class? It’s not our faults if we need to momentarily exit.

Let’s say there is a student who really needs to leave class. Let’s also say this student is struggling a bit in class. If he/she decides to stay, they could get those extra points that they really need, but it could come at the cost of damaging their health. That is a lot of pressure to deal with.

As high school students, most of us are living at a fairly mature level. Therefore, unless an individual proves themselves untrustworthy, hall passes should either be more lenient or just not be used at all.