Now, US schools use app to track kids' bathroom breaks
What's the story
Teachers often hate giving bathroom breaks to kids who end up using that time to roam around, create nuisance with their friends. It's a pretty common problem, and now some schools in the US are using an app to track the kids stepping out of the class for bathroom, the nurse's office, or any other place on the campus. Here's all about it.
App
Hall pass upgraded to e-Hallpass
As many of you may already know, US schools follow the process of hall passes - slips that class teachers give to students stepping out for, say, a bathroom break. The pass signifies that the student left the class with the teacher's permission, but now, it's being changed. Schools have introduced digital e-Hallpass, which is requested digitally and used for tracking students.
Working
So, how this e-Hallpass works?
The e-Hallpass, as the name suggests, is a digital hall pass - approval to be outside of the class - that a teacher gives to students. So, in essence, in order to leave the class, a kid has to place a special request using their school-assigned Chromebook. Then, the teacher takes a look at the request and decides whether or not to approve it.
Logging
Then, the logging, tracking process begins
Once the teacher permits, the system logs when the kid steps out and tracks the total time they spend outside, The Washington Post reported. As soon as they return, the return time is logged in by the teacher. But, if the kid spends more than a predefined amount of time outside the class, the app automatically pings an administrator to check where they are.
Concerns
Still, many people are not happy
While the app only tracks incoming/outgoing times, parents aren't happy with the system of tracking kids leaving for the bathroom. "I will not allow this app to be utilized in my kids' schools, period," privacy attorney Brad Shear told The Post. "If the app ends up getting rolled out I will make sure that I get the PTA involved. This is bathroom big brother."
Benefit
This can prevent classes from being disrupted, developer argues
The company that developed e-Hall pass, Eduspire Solutions, argues that their tracking solution can help teachers keep a better eye on students. They say it could build a database and analyze patterns to flag students leaving often and can, therefore, prevent the classes from being disrupted as well as abuse of the hall pass. It can even keep students from creating a nuisance.