An invasion of privacy, an abuse of power, an unrealistic idea. These are all things that descirbe the new Smartpasses. These passes were introduced as a requirement in all of our classes and they are enforced by administration. But what is a Smartpass?
The Smartpass is an admin monitored way to control the number of students who are in the hallways during school. This pass times you to see how long it takes you to go to the restroom and if the sound on the kiosk device is on, it sets off an alarm after you have been gone for 5 minutes. You can imagine how humiliating it would be to walk back into class after going to the bathroom to have everyone staring at you because you accidentally took five minutes and 30 seconds to go to the restroom and wash your hands.
I agree with the pass to the extent that it is a way to keep track of where your students are in case of an emergency, but when you are in high school and in some cases almost an adult that it is excessive to keep tabs on students all of the time. If there was a fire drill or lockdown I think a high school student would be smart enough to figure out whether to leave the building or go to a nearby classroom.
I think timing someone is a complete overstepping of privacy. You are displaying to the whole class and all of the administration how long it takes a specific student to use the restroom. This seems excessive especially for girls. If you need supplies from your locker or a friend it is impractical to expect it to take you five minutes to go get the supplies, go to the bathroom, take care of yourself, wash your hands and get back to class on time. And if you don’t make it in five minutes the whole class will look at you when you walk in because of your timer, or the admin will come looking for you because ‘it is absolutely disgraceful that you are taking care of yourself’.
The worst thing about these Smartpasses isn’t seen at the high school level, but at the middle school. It isn’t the timing or the tracking of students, it is the fact that they are limiting the amount of time a child needs to use the restroom in a day (Fruita mIddle School only lets their students use the restroom two times a week). I don’t agree with California on a lot of policies, but I do agree with them that it is illegal to refrain a child from using the restroom, a Google AI overview states,“In California, it is illegal for public schools and certain businesses to deny individuals access to restrooms.”
It is not their fault their peers wander the halls, their peers decisions don’t dictate how their bladders work. They say ‘use your passing periods’. Don’t lie to the kids, they don’t have enough time to get to their locker (because you won’t let them bring their personal belongings… backpacks to class), go to the restroom and come back before class starts. You give them three minutes, that’s an unrealistic expectation for children especially for girls who need to do more than just pee. What’s next FMS…ankle monitors?
And what about the fact that you can disable someone’s pass if their friend is in the hallway? Who are you to tell them who they can talk to? Freedom of speech, I can talk to whoever I want especially in a public place. I’ll pass on social isolation.
These passes go against what is moral and right. If a student is wandering the halls for 15 minutes that is their choice, and their future that they are throwing away. Theirs, not administrations. It is not right to take away all students’ bathroom privileges because a couple of kids still have undeveloped brains and messed up a few times. Give us a break, no wonder kids don’t enjoy coming to school; it’s not the learning aspect, it’s the controlling, invasive, unrealistic, overbearing policies.