E-hall Passes: You Either Love ‘em or You Hate ‘em

E-hall passes are electronic passes that students must use in order to leave class to go to a certain destination. Students put in the request for the pass and the teacher will go on their E-hall pass in LCPS GO and have the option to decline or accept the pass. Although in certain classes students will have the option to start and end the pass themselves. 

While E-hall passes may sound like an efficient system, teachers and students have many different mixed opinions about them. It appears that teachers like this system much better than students do. Many students say how due to the internet problems Freedom High School has that the electronic passes make everything much more difficult. 

“I don’t find E-hall passes more useful than paper passes since Freedom tends to have internet issues and if I try to make one myself, the teacher ends up having to do it themselves,” said sophomore Lucy Livingston.

Many times due to technology issues teachers will have to make the pass for students or sometimes the passes can’t be made at all. Although many of the times, hall monitors will require students to see passes and when the system is not working, the pass can’t be seen. A similar problem is that students believe E-hall passes are geared towards students with phones, while not every student has one. 

“If you don’t have a phone or don’t bring a phone you’re likely to be accused of not having a pass or get in trouble,” said sophomore Mahima Atmavilas. 

There are many scenarios where students have been told to return back to class without being allowed to go to their destination because they do not have a phone or have it with them at the moment. Students don’t believe this is fair or should be allowed because they have places to be and can’t get to these places. In addition to not having a phone, some teachers require students to put their phones up and don’t allow students to access them during class. 

“When I’m in my Intro to Business class we put our phones in phone jail. Once, I went to use the restroom, the hall monitor asked to see my pass, and since I didn’t have a pass they sent me back to class,” Livingston said. 

In these situations there is nothing students can do about what their teachers make them do with their phones. Many students have expressed their negative opinions on the electronic passes. But how do teachers really feel about them?

“While it can be tedious, especially when technology does not cooperate, I remind myself that it is a safety issue and that using e-hallpass ensures accountability if there is ever an emergency,” said Matthew Kaberline English teacher. 

While students seem to believe E-hall passes are “not useful” or “unnecessary,” teachers are supportive of the idea because it allows them to know where their students went and how long they’ve been gone. 

Although E-hall passes are not favorable to everyone, for now they are the system that Freedom High school has and we will have to learn to adapt and overcome the problems that come with all technology.