As many underclassmen snuck off campus during lunch last year, the now-juniors have gotten this privilege taken away. This rule has been in place for the past 25 years, but with more technology being implemented into student life, the rate of sneaking out amongst underclassmen has become more common.
Only juniors and seniors are allowed to go off campus, which often tempts the underclassmen to sneak out with their friends. Even though several different punishments have been implemented to prevent this, freshmen and sophomores continue to come up with ways to sneak out.
“Students make fake [passes], whether that’s a screenshot or a video where it looks like it’s [a pass] but it’s not,” Campus Supervisor Jared Miller said. “Sometimes they just get bold and try to bolt out a gate and run, we’ve seen that before too.”
This school year, the administration has changed the students’ uses of the app 5-Star. Previously used for bathroom passes, the app became an issue when students began to skip class to use their phones. Now, 5-Star is only used for getting into dances, leaving class early and going off campus during school hours. However, students figured out a way to use the app to sneak out of school during lunch.
“We had to step our game up in being able to notice [this] or the differences,” Miller said. “It’s very easy for us to notice if something is off like when students are holding their phone and their hand is shaking.”
Students who are caught attempting to sneak off campus may face a variety of consequences. These have been in place for the past several years, but have gotten more severe due to the increase in students choosing to sneak out. The app 5-Star especially allowed students to do this by tricking supervisors with fake IDs.
“If you attempt it, we’ll give you that first warning,” Miller said. “If there’s a fake pass, we’ll watch you delete it and let [you] go back on campus. But if it’s a continued pattern, then there’s obviously more severe consequences for that, whether that’s a detention or going to talk to the admin team.”
However, students are not always caught sneaking off campus. Despite the punishments that have been established, many have figured out other methods to leave under the supervisor’s radar.
“We try to do our best to prevent [it] from happening,” Miller said. “We can’t stop everybody but it definitely happens, it’s been an issue for a while.”
As an upperclassman, junior Amber Larson tends to go off campus with her friends during lunch time. Most underclassmen can’t drive yet, but those who do are often tempted by either their own ability to drive or older peers.
“Maybe somebody else drives [underclassmen] who does have those privileges and is sneaking them out,” Larson said.
Miller believes that students sneak off campus because they want to get food or to simply go off the campus for the experience, Larson has other reasoning. For underclassmen that don’t have the ability to drive, there are likely other social factors that contribute to their decision.
“They do it because they think it makes them look cool,” Larson said. “They most likely have some friends that leave want to go with [them].”
Although these rules might seem limiting to underclassmen’s campus freedoms, the restrictions may just come with age and maturity. Along with this, the supervisors extensive monitoring is mostly meant to ensure all student’s safety.
“The biggest thing is making sure [students are] able to go off campus for free periods and online classes [while] making sure that nobody that’s not supposed to be [at school] comes in,” Miller said.
