Look at this nonsense!

[Michael Fisher]

A relative of mine is living through this right now.

Weber High to maintain hall-pass restrictions
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650218210,00.html

By Jennifer Toomer-Cook
Deseret Morning News
      Weber High School's limits on hall passes, put in place to keep students safe during a recent gang scare, are expected to stay in place ? with a compromise.
      Starting in January, the school will add to the time students have to walk to classes by one minute, principal Alan Stokes said. So they'll have six minutes to get where they're going ? and stop off at the rest room if need be.
      The move comes after teens started a petition to lift hall pass restrictions ? at least, have teachers loosen up when nature calls.
      "I think the biggest issue is just being able to go to the bathroom," student body vice president Kristy Dabb said.
      About a month ago, the school was plagued with rumors and threats that gang members planned to converge on or near the school for a fight, Stokes said. School bosses took the threats seriously, and secured law enforcement officers to patrol the campus and maintain a presence inside the school.
       Students had to wear their school ID badges and were stopped by administrators or police if IDs weren't visible. The school also implemented hall-pass restrictions to keep students in class.
      "We did it for safety reasons. We needed to know at a glance if it was our student in the building or someone else," Stokes said.
      The days passed without incident, and the ID edict was no longer enforced.
      But the hall-pass restriction was, mainly because of its byproducts.
      Thefts of student property, either from lockers or locker rooms, plummeted from an average 15 a month to virtually zero, Stokes said. Vandalism incidents also went from an average three a week to nothing. A survey showed that up to 98 percent of people surveyed said they feel safe at Weber High.
      Business teacher Alan Rawlins says the policy reduces interruptions and keeps students focused.
      "Several good things have come of it," Stokes said. "I think we'll keep the ? I guess you could call it a restriction. ... We don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water, especially if it's causing those kinds of good things."
      But some students are less enthused about the policy.
      "At first it was hard, because we're so used to being able to get up and leave," Dabb said. "You can't go anywhere."
      Great for academics ? unless, well, you've got to go.
      Stokes says teachers are asked to use sense in allowing students to have a bathroom hall pass in the event of emergencies. But for the most part, students basically need to use the bathroom before or after class.
      "We're trying to keep a little bit of a lid on things to keep some order," Stokes said. "But we're asking (teachers) ... don't hold students in if they have that kind of emergency, or get sick or whatever."
      There have been times a teacher has escorted a student to the bathroom or observed the hallway to make sure the student actually went where he said he was going to go, Stokes said.
      Students haven't liked that. "A lot of people I've talked to say it's awkward and weird," Dabb said.
      At other times, Dabb said, teachers have had a class potty break.
      Dabb says she sees both sides of the issue. She'll be glad to have an extra minute in between classes.
      "Sometimes, classes are out in the boonies," she said. "We need to be able to go to the bathroom."
      Rawlins says students should better manage class change time but would support an additional minute between classes. "If it will keep kids in class, yes, and if I wouldn't have to worry about hall passes ... yes, I would (support the change)."
      Dabb, however, is uncertain whether petitioners will agree with her. Last she heard, 600 to 700 students had signed the petition calling for loosened hall-pass restrictions.
      The petition had not been turned into Stokes' office as of last week, and he said he had only heard of it.
      Weber isn't the only school looking at new ways to keep students safe.
      For example, Granite School District Police Chief Randy Johnson wants the Granite Board of Education to lock all doors in elementary schools except the front doors and give teachers key cards to get in and out of the building. Secondary schools already have security cameras, and the district has 34,400 listening devices in its schools for night monitoring.
      Three elementary schools already are piloting the electronic keys program. Crestview Elementary says it's working well. Students are escorted from relocatables to the main building if need be, keeping them safer. Bathrooms are accessible during recess, and doors are monitored by teachers.
      "Its' wonderful. It takes that load off our shoulders," Crestview principal Verneita Hunt said. "Is it perfect? No. Oh, but it sure does help us."

[KBCraig]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650218210,00.html
      "We did it for safety reasons. We needed to know at a glance if it was our student in the building or someone else," Stokes said.

The ultimate "security" failure: the idea that someone can pass because they present a token.

I challenge Ms. Stokes to watch a hall full of "students" wearing "authorized badges", and accurately detect the fakes.

Heck, just pick out those where the ID photo doesn't match the wearer. Betcha can't!

Kevin

[Kat Kanning]

Geeez...get them started on the police state while they're young.

[Russell Kanning]

Kids from these kinds of schools must feel right at home at an airport or prison.

[Rosie the Riveter]

That is a total nightmare.... Where are the parents of these oppressed brainwashed children?

[error]

That is a total nightmare.... Where are the parents of these oppressed brainwashed children?

They went through the same government schools.

[aries]

Amazingly I never had to carry a hall pass or have a student ID.. I even got to wear a backpack.. in 2006!

[David]

And when a crazed gunman slips in one of these locked elemetary schools when a teacher goes on a smoke break...

It would be great if we could find a way to target all the kids dropping out of high school prisons. 

[Michael Fisher]

That is a total nightmare.... Where are the parents of these oppressed brainwashed children?

Here's a hint: They don't care. 

[Michael Fisher]

That is a total nightmare.... Where are the parents of these oppressed brainwashed children?

Here's a hint: They don't care. 

What's worse? They KNOW well about this and they don't care.

[David]

your're right.  Our fight isn't against some faceless bureocrat, or politician, but to the millions who support their coersion.  The schools are just an extension of that coersion. 

[error]

The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around. What do you see? Business people, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. Were you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?

[RichW]

...600 to 700 students had signed the petition calling for loosened hall-pass restrictions.

If just 6 whipped it out and peed in the corner of the classroom, the BS rule would end right quick.

[Braddogg]

...600 to 700 students had signed the petition calling for loosened hall-pass restrictions.

If just 6 whipped it out and peed in the corner of the classroom, the BS rule would end right quick.

Or, you'd still have the rule, and you'd have 6 suspended kids.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Six 'Famous' suspended kids!