Gossip and rumors are two inevitable aspects of life. While some students have never gotten in trouble at BHS, others complain they are continuously being reprimanded for doing the same exact things as those who don’t get into trouble. Rather than jump to the conclusion that teachers and housemasters discriminate, Insight did a bit of investigative reporting to determine if BHS treats all students equally. We wanted to see if the gossip and rumors were true.

Over a two-day period, senior and sophomore students were sent on missions around the school to see if certain students were profiled and singled out. Students went out in the middle of class, walked into the bathrooms without signing in, entered the library without a pass, and left the building through the gym doors to walk back in through the main entrance.

While there wasn’t enough conclusive evidence to determine if any type of profiling exists, we have concluded that there are a multitude of factors that play into how students at BHS are treated. Though some students assume they are treated differently because of the color of their skin, Insight was not out to prove racism exists, but rather to stop the assumptions and gossip and see what factors may cause a student to be stopped in the hallways.

Through this investigation, we found that grade level is a key aspect to how you are treated by faculty. The majority of senior students who participated in this experiment were not stopped; and those who were stopped were simply asked where they were going. No punishments were given for the senior students who followed Insight’s directions. Many more of the sophomore students, however, were stopped and questioned about what they were doing in the hallways.

Some of the senior students felt the cliche is true: it’s all about who you know. Since seniors have built relationships with many teachers, when passing a teacher they know in the hallway, they are greeted with smiles and waves. These student-teacher relationships are built on the foundations of trust, which is most likely why the senior students were not stopped. Underclassmen, lock this information into your brains. Respect your teachers and build relationships–you have no idea how much it can help you.

Appearance is another factor that seemed to play a role in who was stopped. During the experiment, not a single student who was dressed in formal attire such as a dress or bow tie was punished for wandering the halls, trying to enter the library, going to the bathroom without signing in, or exiting the building. Some passed the same teacher multiple times, or even had conversations in the halls with different faculty members. Students not dressed as formally were the ones who were questioned for trying to complete the same tasks. One male student entered the library carrying a book, and believes this made him look like he had a purpose, causing him to not be stopped.

While teachers should not judge students based on the clothes they wear, students, keep in mind that, unfortunately, how you represent yourself will always affect you. That’s just life. How you dress is an immediate indicator for one’s perceptions of your status and behavior, and is a reflection of how well someone thinks you are put together inside and out. Insight does not feel uniforms are the answer to this problem, but students should know that you are judged by how you carry yourself.

In a school where we are constantly told we are becoming “college and career ready,” how students are treated is far from a college or workplace environment. Having to raise our hand to go to the bathroom, fill out a pass in our Agenda books (which is just downright unsanitary), and sign in and out of the bathroom is not only a waste of time, but so far from how it works in the real world. We should be trusted to go when we have to go. Rather than interrupt class to ask permission and have a teacher sign the pass, just let us simply walk to the bathroom when we need to. If students don’t show up to class, they will still get a cut slip. Students will still be punished accordingly. But give us the benefit of the doubt to simply go to the bathroom–something we all learned to do before preschool and will still need to do in college and at work.

The bottom line is this experiment proved there is much inconsistency within our school. But with 1900 students it can be hard to be consistent with so many rules. Maybe it’s time for a change. Worried about safety with eliminating passes? Instead, students should have to carry around their student ID like teachers do. Our school marks visitors by giving them IDs to wear; but why don’t we mark who actually belongs? If students take advantage of our “college and career ready” freedom proposals, they will be punished. We’re not asking for much to change, just put more trust into all BHS students.

With a few simple rule changes, maybe BHS could become more equal for all students. Although a school so big makes it harder for rules to be enforced consistently, it is in no way impossible.  Giving a little bit more trust to the students could go a long way.