By: Makaila Sawyer

In a recent survey that I and a few other students conducted in AP Research titled Passing Time Questionnaire, I examined how effective students perceived the 4 minute passing time to be. Through the survey it was concluded that most Conard students find that 4 minutes of passing time is ineffective and not enough time to conduct the tasks expected of students during passing time. In the survey we asked questions like: “What is your longest distance between classes (Room# to room#)?,”(1) “Do you have time to socialize between classes?,”(2) Do you have time to use the bathroom between classes?,” (3) and “How often do you leave class to take a break as opposed to doing what you asked to leave for?” (4). The first question was in short answer format, meaning there was a lot of variety in students' responses. In response to the 2nd question 49.7% of students claimed they don’t have time to interact with their peers during passing time. When it comes to students that don’t have a lunch period, passing time may be the only opportunity they get to interact with their friends, but due to the short duration, they don’t get to socialize, which is a crucial part of school.

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From the 3rd question it was discovered that 81.8% of students don’t have enough time to use the bathroom before continuing to their next class. To add onto this, some teachers may not allow students to use the bathroom during class, expecting them to go during the 4 passing time, which is not enough time to utilize the school's facilities. Lastly, for question 4, 53.5% of students self-reported that they have left class at least once to take a mental break. With these statistics it was concluded that passing time isn’t an effective part of people’s day. Students are expected to go through 8 possible classes without the opportunity to take a brain break and socialize with peers. The lack of time students get to spend outside of a classroom will increase students' need to leave class to “use the bathroom” when really they're leaving  to take a break and clear their head. Having only 4 minutes between classes is unproductive and doesn’t allow students to perform at their best because a lot of students are feeling great levels of stress, and it’s possible that having longer breaks between classes will enhance their performance.

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