by Ashley Adams and Rebekah Lizotte
Some students became nervous when they saw us sitting at our desk set up in the hallway. They tried to avoid eye contact, take out their phones and pretend to text a friend, and even turn around to take an alternative route. Hudson High School students take any measure to avoid the dreaded question they have been asked so many times while roaming the hallway: “What are you doing?”
What are students actually doing in Hudson High School hallways?
Some students text their friends to meet up during classes, go to their cars, go outside to smoke, and buy food from the cafeteria and vending machines. But, many students are just simply walking. They have no destination or fellow walker; they are out of their class to be out of their class, with no motive.
“I don’t know but I just want to walk,” murmured one student in the hall as their teacher asked them what they were doing.
Many walkers cannot sit in class for an hour and a half, what Hudson High School’s block scheduling demands. Others cannot focus because of the content in the class and find it boring.
Despite the reason to be walking, all students will admit they have strategies to make their hallway time longer. Students admit to being “slow walker[s]” or taking a “long route” which involves both up and downstairs hallways to circle back to their classes. Another strategy involves writing down two destinations on a pass, requiring more time.
But students, beware, teachers are not blind to the system.
Teachers notice frequent flyers – those who leave class routinely – and try to counteract long amounts of time spent in the hallway.
Some teachers have an extra credit system where students receive hall passes in the beginning of a semester and can turn them in at the end of one to receive extra credit points. Other teachers have a sign out system that requires students to write down their name and each time they leave and record how long they were out. After exceeding a certain amount of time, the excess time they use out of class will be made up after school.
Although teachers have good intentions trying to limit the time students spend outside of the classroom, there are a few students who break the mold of typical hallway walkers. Hudson High School nurses report that many students need a break from class. Problems such as anxiety, grief, depression, and hyperactivity disorders limit students’ ability to learn.
One student with ADHD describes his hallway time as a time to move around. Sitting still for too long causes him to be distracted and distract his classmates. By using his hallway time, this student is able to clear his head and return to class more focused.
Another student, grief ridded after her sister’s death, found it impossible to pay attention in class. “How could I care about getting a math equation right when my sister had just died?’ The student found that visiting the nurses’ office was helpful in relaxing and refocusing.
A Hudson High nurse recognizes the troubled reality of many teens. “Everything you see on T.V. you can guarantee will be happening to at least one kid here.”
How does the faculty tell between frequent flyers in the hallway and students who need to take a break from class due to emotional stress? The problem is, not many teachers can.
Teachers respect a distraught student’s need for a break, but most students are not comfortable sharing emotional hardships. Some students can not even recognize when they do need a break, or why they are disruptive in class. According to an HHS nurse, 90% of mental health issues among high school students are undiagnosed.
For students who do recognize that an emotional problem is affecting their ability to learn, it is important to be open with the faculty. Tell your teacher you may be having a difficult time, and together you can develop a system that will benefit your learning. If you do need to leave class, utilize the nurses’ office. Our nurses provide support and share stress-relieving techniques.
For our other friends in the hallway, STAY IN CLASS.
