Let’s Talk About One Way Halls

Introduction

The one way hall policy at our school is a controversial one at best. This rule is so hated, that promising to abolish it has become very common among students running for ASB. Personally, I don’t mind this rule but I do have some critiques that I will get to later. Before we get into any of the opinion stuff though, I thought we should go over the history of this rule and why it is still in place despite so much criticism from students.

I’ve interviewed students and teachers to better understand why students hate this rule and why the school is still enforcing it.

Interviews:

What is your stance on the policy?

Lilia- “I don’t think the policy is a good idea.”

Anonymous student- “I don’t really like the policy, it is really inconvenient.

Ms. Lee- “I understand that it can be an inconvenience but I am pro one way halls because of the added safety and less crowding that one way halls provide.”

How much thought have you given the policy?

Lilia- “I’ve thought about it a lot actually because it has been really annoying ever since last year.

Anonymous student- “Not a ton of thought, but I do think of it sometimes.”

Ms.Lee- “We teachers as a whole staff have done a lot of discussion and weighing the pros and cons about it and I personally have talked to our humanities department about it and we definitely take into account that students don’t agree with the policy but again the benefits outweigh the inconveniences.”

What are some things you don’t like about the policy?

Lilia- “For example, if you have Mr. Treadway’s class and you went to the girls bathroom during passing period that is right across the hall, you would have to go all around the school to get to his class even though it is right there, and that can make people late especially on the first few days.”

Anonymous student- “It is really inconvenient and it makes it hard to get to classes on time,”

Ms. Lee- “I really don’t enjoy policing students and sometimes the negative interactions that come about because of it.”

What are some things you do like about the policy?

Lilia- “I like that it helps make it so you don’t get bumped into as much.”

Anonymous student- “It makes it so people aren’t always crushing into each other, one time a kid was walking the wrong way and bumped into me.”

Ms. Lee- “Really the students aren’t aware, but as crowded as the halls are now it was exponentially worse before, a lot of conflicts would arise when we had two way halls and I think it is helpful for students to have a little bit of extra space in the halls.”

Some ways you think the policy can be improved?

Lilia- “They could draw a line in the middle of the hall so that each side of the hall is for going different way so it would be easier to get to your class.”

Anonymous student- “Split the halls in half so that if you want to go one way you go on one side and and if you want to go another way, you go on the other side.”

Ms. Lee- “I think maybe if we provide a little more clarity to students, and maybe let students know about the before, and also reminding students that during class time when the halls are empty students are allowed to go the wrong way.”

My Thoughts

The interviews helped me to better understand both sides of the argument. Overall, I don’t think this rule is all that bad. The interviews (and also just what I’ve heard from people) showed that a major concern for students is that the policy can make you tardy, especially  if you need to go to the bathroom or something during passing period. I too have been made late because of the one way halls before, but it’s uncommon for someone to be late if they are walking to their class the whole passing period, and most teachers won’t mark you as tardy if you drop by their class and tell them you have to do something that might make you late (like going to the bathroom) beforehand. 

I do have my critiques about the policy, I think that the school puts too much effort into enforcing this rule. The school has several staff members camping out at various spots in the halls mostly just to make sure that people are going the right way. I understand that regardless of the rule the halls need to be monitored and I do think that there are certain spots in the halls that do need to be monitored because there aren’t any classes nearby, but I often see staff members like a few feet away from each other and it’s just unnecessary, I’m sure these staff members have more important jobs to be doing.

Also, about the whole cut the halls in half solution, originally I thought this would be a good alternative to the one way hall policy but after giving it more thought, I have a different opinion. First of all one of the main bonuses of the one way hall policy is that it gives you more room in the halls, and cutting the halls in half gives you half the room. I also think that this would make the halls harder to monitor and could also make the halls harder to navigate sometimes. For example, imagine you are going one way which is on one side of the hall, and your class is on the other side of the hall, how would you get to the other side? And if we do have a way to get to classes on the other side, what if the other way is busy, it would make it hard to get there even if you don’t follow the one side is one way rule.

In conclusion, I agree that the one way hall policy can be inconvenient, especially at the beginning of the year. Despite this, I think that it is impossible to make the halls convenient for everyone and that the one way hall policy is the best one that is both easy to monitor and understand. Thanks for reading my article! It’s okay if you disagree, but remember to be nice!