Torrington High School introduced the digital pass system at the beginning of April for safety reasons. This caused many students to dislike the pass system, while on the other hand, teachers tended to appreciate the change.
Student Concerns
The new pass system introduced a non-interruptive way for students to go where they need to. However, there are multiple reasons why students are not big fans of the new system. Junior Cameron Coone believes the timer is too short, saying, “Six minutes is way too short if somebody has to use the bathroom.” Sophomore Lily Bouchard also expressed concern that certain rooms are too far from each other for the given time limit. Cameron shared another issue with making up tests, saying, “It requires good communication with both the teacher and the student.”
Things Students Like
Although there are things students dislike, it’s not all negative. Students collectively agree that the system is better for safety, and many believe students can’t abuse it. Cameron said he likes that he can “place the pass and go where I need to without the teacher needing to sign a pass.” This is controversial among students, as some argue class is still interrupted when someone asks to leave. Students have also thought about the environmental impact of the change. Lily stated, “Imagine how many trees will be saved.” This shows that even with some negative factors, there are still positive results from the new system.
Teacher Experience
Out of six staff members interviewed, not one had anything negative to say about the digital passes. Staff member Ms. Norige said, “It is a lot easier in class because when a student would ask to go somewhere, I would have to stop what I was doing and write out a pass—it was highly interruptive to teaching and learning.” She added, “During class, if a student just turns their computer on and writes a pass, it doesn’t hurt the learning experience.” This shows that even though students still have to get permission, the process is much more passive, allowing other students to continue learning. She also believes it’s safer because it creates a log of where students are, so their location is known. One issue is that some teachers have accidentally marked students late by not checking the SmartPass system.
Better Than Paper Passes?
Even with the issues that some students—and even teachers—have with the new system, I think it should stay as the replacement for paper passes. The bathrooms are less crowded, it’s much safer, and it’s better for the environment. Things can always be adjusted to better suit student needs. For example, the time limit could be changed, and if students feel that four passes aren’t enough, that could be revised too.
