The average excuse of needing to use the bathroom because you’re late or you want to leave class for a bit does not work as well as it used to. Usually, students ask if they can use the bathroom because it’s an easy way to miss class. Last year, Berkley started using bathroom passes to try and stop students from leaving their respective hall. Little did they know that students would use other obscure excuses to get out of class and then get past the hall monitors. With this in mind, staff and students all have different perspectives on the excuses used. I’m going to learn about these crazy excuses from Berkley’s very own hall roamers, teachers, and hall monitors.
Walking the halls of Berkley almost guarantees a spotting of the same students every hour of every day. These are the “hall roamers”, a unique subset of the Berkley population that uses a curated blend of excuses to spend most of the day outside of the classroom. Clearly, these students can’t just get out of class every day (for an extended amount of time) by just asking to head to the restroom. The question gets old, and the teacher catches on to the cycle. Sophomore Keaton Akers is always out and about in the hallway, so he shares how he gets out of class. Akers explains, “I ask to go to the bathroom, but that won’t explain why I am gone for a long period of time.” Akers talks not only for himself but also for the whole student body. This roadblock occurs with many students but Akers shares his solution, “I usually say I was having stomach problems, and the teacher understands.” However, the teachers aren’t the only ones stopping students from roaming the halls, Berkley also has hall monitors. Akers explains, “Usually the hall monitors don’t say anything, but when they do, the same excuse works.” What Akers and his classmates didn’t know is that the teachers and hall monitors know exactly what students are doing.
The other perspective behind this excuse happens to be Ms. Nicole, one of Berkley’s campus monitors. Ms. Nicole is well aware of what the students are doing. She emphasizes, “If I see the same student out of class for a while, I ask if all is okay.” Ms. Nicole is very caring, and she wants to make sure that everything is good while also doing her job. Ms. Nicole explains, “Students use many excuses to get out of class.” When asked what these excuses were she continued, “A common one is that they need to go get a computer from the LMC.” This excuse is used often, but so far she hasn’t caught on to Akers tactic. Without hesitation she adds, “When someone has been in the halls for a while, I kindly suggest they go back to class, they quickly say that they are experiencing stomach issues.” There you have it, the hall monitor catches on to the ‘sneaky’ excuses.
Now you may be thinking “So what? The real issue is the teacher back in your classroom.” The teachers are right on the bandwagon with the hall monitors; they know student tactics just as well. Math teacher Mr. Weingraden knows what the students are up to, he shared some of the excuses students used on him. Mr. Weingarden explains, “A student once didn’t show up to class, so he didn’t have to take a test.” Now you may be thinking that an excuse is needed for this. Mr. Weingarden continues, “I then saw him later in the day, and he said that he didn’t want to walk in late, so he just spent the hour in the LMC.” The LMC seems to be a popular setting where students go when they are tardy or skipping class, but there is no getting past Mr. Weingarden.
Junior Madi Bonsal has other plans. Bonsal ecstatically explains, “Just say that your dog got out and you needed to get him back in his cage.” Bonsal’s excuse is unique, teachers may not have heard this one before. Bonsal advises, “Try using unique excuses, rather than basic ones.”
Students continue to use excuses, whether they know teachers are suspicious or not. Now you are aware that they know, leaving or skipping class may not be the best solution to getting out of schoolwork!
