The transition to high school is one that middle school students have mixed opinions about. Some fear the larger campus, higher workload, and lack of younger students, while others look forward to the abundance of club choices, new teachers and classmates, and increased freedom. A notable difference that comes with this freedom is the lack of hall passes that were mandatory in middle school.

In middle school, hall passes were necessary whenever a student left the classroom, whether it was to use the bathroom, visit the nurse, or fetch a sip of water. Most high schoolers are eager to leave hall passes behind in their middle school days, but this raises an essential question: why are hall passes only at the middle schools? Should they be implemented at the high school?

One reason that the high schoolers don’t use hall passes is because they tend to be more responsible. Josefina Melendez, a freshman at Lexington High School, said that “the difference in maturity” and the fact that “high school is taken more seriously” contribute to the lack of hall passes. 

Kalea Foo, a student at Diamond Middle School, added that “in high school, students have more of an incentive to not skip class because grades and class attendance are more important.”

When looking at this, it may seem easy to dismiss hall passes. However, they have proven their value in the middle schools by minimizing the amount of students skipping class. 

“If there weren’t hall passes… people might use the bathroom just to talk with their friends,” Foo said.

Although the lanyard-style system is no longer in place at LHS, it would be illogical to discard all forms of keeping track of students in the halls. As a result, most classrooms use a sign out sheet to monitor students actions.

“Part of the sign-out sheets is being able to track the [students’] whereabouts,” Michael Horesh, a dean, explained. “Let’s say I have a student that exits my classroom at 9:42 a.m. and doesn’t come back until 10:21 a.m. My first thought is [to ask] where have they been.” 

Horesh’s explanation shows that the safety component of hall passes is still in place, ensuring that all students are safe, especially in emergency situations .

Yet, the essential question is yet to be answered. Is it a good idea for high school students to be freely roaming the halls? Should hall passes be implemented at LHS? Based on the maturity levels that high school students are expected to have and the fact that sign-out sheets are still implemented, the current state of the hallway regulations at LHS should remain the same. 

Students seem to agree – when asked about the reimplementation of hall passes at LHS, freshman Josie Melendez said, “I would hate it. It would be annoying… and they’re just inefficient.” Most high schoolers are doing well with managing themselves well in the LHS hallways, demonstrating that the current system is working.