The blaring words ‘There will be a hall sweep’ on the loudspeakers not only reminds teachers to lock their doors, but also warns students who planned on spending a few extra minutes socializing in the hallways to get to class.
The goal of the hall sweeps is to discourage tardiness by apprehending lingering students after the bell rings. But, the procedure could be much more effective if the reminder before the hall sweeps did not exist.
While the functionality of the hall sweeps relies on teachers’ prior knowledge of when they are, there are other ways to convey this information without announcing it to everyone in the building.
Consider the other drills Marshall conducts. Students may know the approximate timing or the period in which a drill will take place, but they may only confirm their gusses when they hear the piercing sounds of the bell.
Student suspense is vital when organizing a school-wide safety procedure because it demonstrates how the majority of the building’s readiness to respond to possible threats.
If the entire school knew exactly when a fire or lockdown drill was taking place, the results would inevitably be better than how the school would have reacted without knowing all of the details.
One can only determine the efficiency of these drills through how well the school performed under conditions of unawareness.
The administration clearly understands this as well, because they do not announce fire and lockdown drills 10 minutes before they are set to occur.
They allow the ringing of the alarms to trigger an authentic response from students and faculty. Yet they do not perform a similar process for hall sweeps, making the procedure completely counterproductive.
Though the tardy sweeps are not a safety measure, the concept should still apply.
Students who are routinely on time to their classes will still be on time to their classes without the announcement. It does not affect those who are consistently punctual.
Whom the announcement does impact are the students who were going to stay at the intersection of B and E hall with their friends for some time after the bell, but now will not, for they know they will face repercussions if they are late.
By announcing the hall sweeps, the administration is helping the same students they are trying to catch. They are essentially telling students when they will and will not face disciplinary action for being late to class. If the administration truly wished to decrease the tardiness issue plaguing Marshall, they should reconsider their approach of announcing the hall sweeps for the whole school to hear.
Instead, they should make the process more discreet by sending out a faculty email, ensuring that students remain oblivious.