I object to your doctrine that you hold such authority over me and my life as to control my bodily functions. I object to the fact that despite being old enough to be drafted, you believe that I should need permission to use the restroom. I object to the assertion that you can stop me. You cannot. 

How about you focus on things that actually matter- like, gee, I dunno… Maybe people setting trash cans on fire? And if you recall, this same exact thing happened four years ago. So how well has this recent crackdown worked out? Does it seem to administration that that they have successfully stopped the bathroom shenanigans? 

“There are a lot of issues at South (homophobia, class segregation, sexual assault, not to mention recent issues with certain perv-y teachers) ” said senior Kate Rounds, “So why do you feel the need to police our bodies in this way over such a minute issue.  Administration should be less anal about this and [be] more so about things that actually matter.”

Why do I need a pass to go to the bathroom, when I can leave the building at any point that I want? The doors aren’t locked? In general, it would probably be more important to ensure that students remain in the actual building rather than focusing on where we go inside of it. 

Even if students are required to have a pass to leave, that doesn’t stop them from skipping class, because the issue with skipping isn’t with the leaving, it’s the coming back. What could a student do in the bathroom that couldn’t be done  anywhere else in the building? Especially when there always seems to be a security guard within 20 feet of the bathrooms, and there are only three open at a time because for some reason the others are always locked. 

Last year English teacher Mary Manor wrote a bathroom pass for a student, seemingly nothing out of the ordinary. Unbeknownst to them, that student actually went to the bathroom to fight someone. See the irony? The moral of the story is that requiring students to have a pass does absolutely nothing. 

“I think students need to be trusted a little more,” said senior Nora Logie. “Obviously, students skip class occasionally. Usually if you have a pass that means we’re going where we need to go. Also, I’m not really asked to show passes.”

By requiring us to need your permission, you belittle students. In a place where I’m supposed to mature into an adult, you give us such little responsibility that we can’t walk ourselves to the bathroom. So now, instead of quietly removing my from class for 5 minutes while I take care of my business, I have to interrupt the teacher and stop class so that they can fill out a pass no one will look at. I have been asked to show a pass only once. That was freshman year, and it was more of a ‘Hey! Thanks for having your pass out!’ than a disciplinary action. 

“I don’t think [passes] are necessary because I don’t think it’s enforced enough.” said senior Aidan Campbell. “If everyone had to have the same expectations of what they’re supposed to have and every teacher [said] ‘we have to give everyone a pass to go anywhere, even the bathroom,’ but it’s not, so [passes] are not necessary. I think Mr. Nohel and Mr. Berglund are the only teachers who give passes.”

In college, you’re expected to be responsible for your own well being. This means that if you want to leave class to go to the bathroom, or if you don’t even want to go at all, that’s your prerogative. You would never ask to leave the class, you’re a mature human being capable of deciding when you can go to the bathroom.

Passes are a waste of time, and quite frankly, they’re insulting. Administration oversteps its boundaries. Its an abuse of your by authority by thinking students  should require your permission to proceed with a natural bodily function. It makes me feel like a child, and it stems from the fact that you seek to control me and exert your dominance.