Digital passes have started a new era at Lakewood High School. No longer do students carry a little slip of paper to the bathroom, but now just take their phones.
On Monday, Jan. 8 students were told to request to use the restroom or leave the classroom via a clever app called “Securely Pass.”
On the app a student selects their current destination, and then where they will be going. Once the student puts in their request the teacher must approve it from their computer. When the request is approved the student’s screen turns green and the timer starts.
When a student leaves their destination, their teacher and administrators can see how long they have been out for. Their timer is automatically flagged after 8 minutes.
The main reason for these new digital passes is to make sure students are where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there. Many teachers and admin feel that students take too long of bathroom breaks and lose valuable learning time by doing so.
However, there have been some contradictory opinions throughout the campus over these new passes.
On the one hand, teachers seem to appreciate them, they are efficient and cut down on the number of students asking for a pass. This helps teachers get the most out of their class, instead of constantly writing passes.
For example, Art Teacher Sandra Bourne adores the new passes. The amount of foot traffic and students asking to leave has decreased dramatically.
“I love them (the passes), they have decreased the number of students in my class going to the bathroom by, I would say, 75%,” Bourne said.
When asked how difficult the passes were to use Bourne said, “I have never had trouble with them. It did take me a day or two to get the hang of it, but it is quite simple to use. If students truly need a pass, they figure out how to request one.”
While they do run more efficiently for teachers, some students would appreciate more privacy when going to the restroom.
“I hate them (the passes). I do not see why they have to be timing us, like just let me use the bathroom. I like my privacy.” Sophomore Paola Dessous stated.
Dessous also had complaints about how the Securely website does not work very well. She said that it always seems to be broken or does not stop its timer when it is supposed to.
Also, students feel it is invasive to time them using the restroom, as though they have no trust from teachers and admin. They do not like the feeling of other people constantly not respecting their privacy.
Although there is a handful of students who do simply not care about the new passes, they only use the restroom a couple of times, and the digital passes do not affect them.
“I honestly don’t care. I can see where they’re a nice tool to monitor students rooming in the halls, but I think they (administrators) need to understand that going somewhere takes longer than a couple of minutes. I don’t go to the bathroom, so I don’t care,” Junior Carlson Gooding said.
When being a principal or administrator, it is impossible to make everyone happy. You can listen to the criticism and take note of it, but at the end of the day, all they want is to make sure that the students they watch over are protected and safe.
The main reason these digital passes were introduced was because so many students were missing valuable class time, and since these passes have been instated, it has declined.
