by Karly Monson – OPINION

It has recently been announced to teachers that being lenient with students using planners as their ticket into the hallway for going to lockers, getting drinks, using the restroom, and any other time needed to go outside a classroom is being put to an end.  Teachers are now supposed to ensure that the students to use their planner anytime leaving the classroom.  Not only is this a burden for students, but it also is for teachers.

As a student, when you have to stop by your locker to return an extra book in your bookbag or need to use the facilities, grabbing out your planner to fill out the date, time, and the place of destination is the last thing on your mind.  The main concern is asking the teacher if you can leave to complete the task, and hoping they will let you.  The last thing you want to hear is “only if you fill out your planner.”  It is a burden for students because for some, carrying around a planner is not ideal.  While using the restroom and having to bring a planner with you, not only is it a pain to have to find a place to put it while using the facilities, it is also completely unsanitary to bring it into the restroom with you.  Leaving a classroom to get a drink from the drinking fountain that is down the hall from the class you are in and having to sign out using a planner seems ridiculous to me.  Most students are not going to decide at that given moment they should leave school for the day.  Teachers are the overall deciding factor of if you are allowed to leave the room to complete a task, and if they feel you are a student who may not be responsible in the hallway, they most likely aren’t going to let you leave until the bell rings.

Having to sign out with a planner is also a burden and inconvenience for teachers.  Instead of having the student raise their hand to ask permission to leave the classroom, the teacher will have to ask them to fill out their planner, bring it up to them so it can be signed, and then release the student.  This takes time out of the class period, especially if the teacher is in the middle of a lecture.  Comments made from teachers about the planner policy have already been made on how it is an inconvenience, and it has only been strictly enforced for about two weeks.

When walking through the hallways during 8th period and looking around at other students, four students were using their planners and four were not.  It is not known if these students were going straight to their destinations or were messing around in between, but already half are not using their planners anymore, and no problems were caused that day.

I realize having students sign out with planners is so teachers know where you are and that you have permission to be there, but some trust is needed with students.  If you haven’t given the teacher a reason to not trust you to be in the hallway, you should be allowed to walk in the hallway to wherever you need to go without a planner.  Enforcements of making students use their planners have been given before, and they never seem to stick, which is why I believe this is just a temporary rule.  I feel some teachers have trust in us students, and do not find it necessary to make us sign a planner to leave their classroom.  Leaving it up to the teacher on whether they are going to make a student use their planner or not should be used instead.

Keeping track of where students are at all times is important, but we also should be given a little freedom while in school.  We are not in a prison, and do not need to be accounted for every second.  Walking down the hall without a planner is not going to make a difference.  Yes, for safety they need to be used, but every student is suppose to know the tornado and fire drill plans so if in case an event like this would occur, they can seek safety.  Using a planner creates displeasure with students and some teachers, especially if you are asked to sign out with a planner to sit at another persons table in study hall.

I believe that planners do not make much of a difference and are a burden, and as long as teachers have trust in the student to go where they have said they are, it should not be enforced for us to use them every second of the school day.