A Helpful Tool or Invasion of Privacy: Benefits vs. Concerns of a Digital Hall Pass

Students and even some educators feel that digital hall passes should not be in schools. Parents have concerns as well. What is behind these concerns, and how can they be addressed?

Digital hall passes, sometimes referred to as electronic hall passes or ‘e hall passes’ are becoming increasingly popular. They allow teachers to issue student passes digitally, and a timer is used to set a limit of how long a student should be out. Some of these tools use scanning technology, and a student can simply scan their badge to be issued a pass. This sounds pretty simple, and it can be, depending on the tool that is used, and if expectations are clearly set.

But at times, digital hall passes take a lot of heat. Some students and teachers feel that they are a waste of time and invasion of privacy – even that e hall passes should not be allowed in schools. Why?

Below, we’ll break down some common concerns, and why they arise. But we’ll also look at how these concerns can be addressed, how good implementation and expectations can help, and what the benefits of using a digital hall pass system are.

Tracking students precise location, for example with GPS or RFID, would understandably cause concerns about privacy, and security. This type of tracking would be unnecessary for something like a simple hall pass.

For example, Student Pass does not utilize GPS or other location tracking. A digital hall pass does not need to use exact student locations to be effective. So what kind of tracking is employed?

When a student is issued an electronic hall pass, the only things being tracked are their destination, and the amount of time they have been out of class.

This helps teachers and hall monitors know where students are supposed to be, and helps them know when they need to intervene if a student is in the halls or a part of the building they shouldn’t be in.

It’s also a useful tool for accountability for students who are frequently missing from class. At times, a student’s grades may be slipping because they frequently leave class. Having a record of missed class time can hold them accountable during parent-teacher conferences.

Who wants to feel like their trips to the restroom are being scrutinized? This is major concern of some students and parents. They feel that digital hall passes are being used to track and police time spent in the bathroom.

This is not at all the purpose – but is ultimately up to schools to enforce.

When it comes to issuing a pass, reasonable time limits should be set to restroom locations. With Student Pass, schools can set default limits for specific locations, such as bathrooms, and individual teachers can increase or decrease that time allotment by student, as needed. In addition, it utilizes a queue option, so if there are currently too many students at one bathroom, a student’s pass is automatically approved once the location frees up.

It is usually only a few – ‘frequent flyers’ – that abuse the time they are given for a pass. These specific students can have more strict limits set. However, a teacher can override these limits when necessary, and should not deny passes to those who need it or shame a student who needs it. These principles are the same that would apply to the old paper hall pass method.

The bottom line? A digital hall pass is not a tool to police bathroom time.

A more efficient system to help students get where they need to go, and hold the few who cause disruptions accountable.

Similar to the first two concerns, some negative comments made about digital hall pass systems are that they needlessly restrict student movement, and punish students for every second of time spent out of class.

As addressed above, it’s usually only a few students who cause problems. So, limits should be set for those students. But realistically, students can’t spend every minute of their day in class. There will be needed trips to the restroom, to fetch something from the office, get a book from the library. All of these things take time, and tracking every minute for these necessary actions doesn’t help anyone. What matters is noting patterns of excessive time out of class.

So instead of taking a laser-focused punitive approach school-wide, schools could use the data from a digital hall pass for good, and reward responsible use. How?

The truth is, a digital hall pass system can actually be a tool to increase fairness.

Justified or not, some teachers or hall monitors may have a negative viewpoint of certain students. As a result, they may be more inclined to demand seeing a hall pass from certain students, while others may have been allowed out of class without a pass, or not asked to see the pass. But when all students need to have a digital pass issued, it creates an equalizing effect, with data that backs up a student’s movement outside of class, and that they’re where they need to be.

This can also help when more serious behavioral issues arise. While some students may be accused of something like vandalism for example, having data that backs up who was or wasn’t out of class at the time is invaluable.

A common concern for schools is that a digital hall pass requires students to use cellphones, and many schools and states are beginning to ban them. But are cellphones, or even 1:1 devices, actually necessary?

So how does this work if a student doesn’t have a device to request a pass from a teacher?

Student Pass solves this by giving schools a few different options.
1. The school could do teacher-issued passes only,
2. Or, they could use Kiosk mode. Kiosk mode utilizes one school device that scans student IDs, or requires a few fields to input to issue a pass.

Student Pass does not require a school to purchase scanning technology in order for this to work. The device in kiosk mode would simply enable its camera, and scan a QR code or barcode with that student’s ID.

This one is pretty simple: flexible options that work with the technology available at your school.

One r/teachers Reddit post described this as “creating a solution for a problem that didn’t exist.” But that’s no quite reality. There IS a problem. Many schools struggle to manage who is in the halls, and lack a system of accountability for students who frequently use a pass for extended periods of time.

Learning one more tech tool, however, is a valid concern. And, it can’t be said that implementing a digital hall pass will be zero work for teachers and admin. Some learning will be required, and the system will need participation from teachers and potentially students, in order to work well.

The question it comes down to is, how much work, and do the benefits outweigh it?

So, how much work? That likely depends on the system you choose.

Creating a pass shouldn’t take more than a minute.Student Pass requires minimal clicks, whether it is a student requesting the pass or a teacher creating the pass. If your school opts to use Kiosk Mode and the device camera to scan a student’s ID, the process is very fast. To issue a pass manually, a student would select the hall pass tab in Enriching Students, then select the location they want to go to and the teacher they’re requesting it from. For a teacher, they would go to the student passes tab in Enriching Students, select Create a Pass, begin typing the student’s name to select them, then choose a location and duration. Some fields are filled by default to save you time and clicks.

Added to this, if your school has a flex period and/or wants to manage school events, this can all be done within Enriching Students. One app and one login for everything.

The bottom line is, that while there are concerns some have about using a digital hall pass, a good system will add value to your school, helping you create a more secure and equitable campus. Ease of use, control and overrides for staff members, a live dashboard, conflict prevention, a pass queue, kiosk mode, and data to provide student accountability are all benefits that Student Pass can help you accomplish. With the right digital hall pass tool, the benefits will more than outweigh the workload.