Hall Monitors: Separating Fact and Fiction
November 3, 2013 9:19 PM Subscribe
How did hall monitors in American schools actually work?
I went to k-12 school in the US within the last 20 years and grew up with the hall monitor in pop culture (Simpsons, etc.), but never actually in practice in any of the schools I attended. Looking back as an adult, the idea of giving a child authority + free access to roam the halls of the school strikes me as utterly insane.
How did hall monitors work in real life? Did a student take a period off so he or she could wander around the halls? Who held them accountable? How did they enforce anything against other students without grownups present? Is the pop culture account totally wrong? If so, how did it work IRL as opposed to the Simpsons/South Park portrayals?
I went to k-12 school in the US within the last 20 years and grew up with the hall monitor in pop culture (Simpsons, etc.), but never actually in practice in any of the schools I attended. Looking back as an adult, the idea of giving a child authority + free access to roam the halls of the school strikes me as utterly insane.
How did hall monitors work in real life? Did a student take a period off so he or she could wander around the halls? Who held them accountable? How did they enforce anything against other students without grownups present? Is the pop culture account totally wrong? If so, how did it work IRL as opposed to the Simpsons/South Park portrayals?
We had hall monitors, but they were adults. The ones at the schools I attended and/or worked at were hourly (not salary) but I don't know if they were contracted through a private company or worked directly for the school system. Most of the time, their job was analogous to a security guard in a museum. They'd sit in a certain chair in a certain spot while class was in session, and ask to see students' hall passes as they walked by.
Other duties:
-- They'd clear the halls if students weren't supposed to be in them -- basically yelling at students to get to class once the bell had rung.
-- They'd hang out in the cafeteria while it was in use, usually by the exits and maybe by the lunch line (ie, during breakfast and lunch periods). In some schools I went to/worked at, I think they also used the cafeteria as their break room (as opposed to using the teachers' lounge), but I'm forgetting what exact experience makes me say that, so I'm not 100%.
-- They carried walkie talkies and would get paged by the main office if a classroom teacher needed their help, like to escort out an unruly kid or pick up a kid whose parent had come to get her or to "babysit" the class if the classroom teacher needed to slip out to the bathroom.
-- They were supposedly "security" and they could be kind of harsh, but they were mostly youngish women or very old women, so in actuality they weren't that scary. If there was a real fight or something, the cops would be brought in instead (they also had offices in the school, but they didn't "monitor" the halls or anything).
*Note: I think there were only hall monitors at the high school, but I'm not absolutely sure.
*Note: the era I know about is roughly 1990s through 2000s.
posted by rue72 at 10:07 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Other duties:
-- They'd clear the halls if students weren't supposed to be in them -- basically yelling at students to get to class once the bell had rung.
-- They'd hang out in the cafeteria while it was in use, usually by the exits and maybe by the lunch line (ie, during breakfast and lunch periods). In some schools I went to/worked at, I think they also used the cafeteria as their break room (as opposed to using the teachers' lounge), but I'm forgetting what exact experience makes me say that, so I'm not 100%.
-- They carried walkie talkies and would get paged by the main office if a classroom teacher needed their help, like to escort out an unruly kid or pick up a kid whose parent had come to get her or to "babysit" the class if the classroom teacher needed to slip out to the bathroom.
-- They were supposedly "security" and they could be kind of harsh, but they were mostly youngish women or very old women, so in actuality they weren't that scary. If there was a real fight or something, the cops would be brought in instead (they also had offices in the school, but they didn't "monitor" the halls or anything).
*Note: I think there were only hall monitors at the high school, but I'm not absolutely sure.
*Note: the era I know about is roughly 1990s through 2000s.
posted by rue72 at 10:07 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
BlueHorse, in your experience, were there (kid-aged) hall monitors all day or was it just at lunch/recess when kids were supposed to be eating in the cafeteria or playing outside (not hanging out/running wild in the halls)?
posted by blueberry at 10:07 PM on November 3, 2013
posted by blueberry at 10:07 PM on November 3, 2013
We had hall monitors in HS that were peers. I don't remember this as keeping me from going anywhere I wanted to go. Just that it was annoying.
posted by jbenben at 10:34 PM on November 3, 2013
posted by jbenben at 10:34 PM on November 3, 2013
Best answer: From what I remember, there were 2-3 hall monitors in the hall all day. I think they served 15 or 20 minute shifts. It was a big deal to be a hall monitor, crossing guard, class room helper, or lunch room worker, and grades had to be kept up and work done, or you were out. It was a mark of pride to be able to slide in without disrupting the class when your shift was done. Of course, if you were a real shit, and not enamored or tempted into goodness by the thought of quasi-authority, you could still get a paddlin' to convince you to behave.
We were pretty good little buggers then, but I can also say with pride that my senior class had the first sit-in protest against the Vietnam war. Peace, love, Age of Aquarius and all that. We pretty well shocked the community. Mine was also the last senior class where the girls were required to wear skirts at all times. That sucked. Took me 30 years before I voluntarily wore skirts/dresses again.
Things were different then. Before cell phones. Before Ipods. Before Walkmans. Before the one/two strap debate, because nobody carried backpacks.
And we walked up hill both ways in the snow, winter AND summer, barefoot.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:39 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
We were pretty good little buggers then, but I can also say with pride that my senior class had the first sit-in protest against the Vietnam war. Peace, love, Age of Aquarius and all that. We pretty well shocked the community. Mine was also the last senior class where the girls were required to wear skirts at all times. That sucked. Took me 30 years before I voluntarily wore skirts/dresses again.
Things were different then. Before cell phones. Before Ipods. Before Walkmans. Before the one/two strap debate, because nobody carried backpacks.
And we walked up hill both ways in the snow, winter AND summer, barefoot.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:39 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
Ooooooh if you're talking about *student* monitors specifically, we did have "safety patrol" in elementary school. They were the "good kids" in 4th and 5th grade and they wore florescent orange belts.
I can't tell you about their duties because despite my aggressive lobbying efforts, I wasn't allowed to become one (grumble grumble).
posted by rue72 at 10:47 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I can't tell you about their duties because despite my aggressive lobbying efforts, I wasn't allowed to become one (grumble grumble).
posted by rue72 at 10:47 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
During the early 80s (Atlanta area), we had Safety Patrol as bus monitors - older kids who got to stand up in the back (and front) of the bus wearing the florescent orange belt thingies. I don't remember that they did a whole lot, though. In my 70's elementary school (Chicago area), I don't remember any safety-patrol type things.
I do remember Magic Circle time and watching Free to Be You and Me in class. The 1970s were a very strange time.
posted by jquinby at 4:58 AM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
I do remember Magic Circle time and watching Free to Be You and Me in class. The 1970s were a very strange time.
posted by jquinby at 4:58 AM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
I do remember Magic Circle time and watching Free to Be You and Me in class. The 1970s were a very strange time.
This is true, I was in elementary school then and it was very ambivalent. In one day you could be lying on shag rugs on the floor "doing math at your own pace," and then the teacher could hit you for not paying attention during class prayer. In rural Pennsylvania, they had a feeling they should be doing something progressive but had not figured out what it meant to be You and Me. In this scenario we had Hall Monitors. They wore the bright orange belts or vests and stood there in the hall before and after school as people shuffled to class, if I remember correctly -- they did not miss class during the day in my school, but they would leave a little early and come in a little late for their duties (I think.) They also stood outside the school and helped the parent volunteer crossing guards by waving kids to the crosswalk, etc. They were the model 5th and 6th graders. The idea was that they would tell on you if you transgressed in some way. The orange vest magically made them into grownups for 15 minutes.
posted by third rail at 5:12 AM on November 4, 2013
We had hall monitors through elementary and JHS, but they were always parent volunteers - this would have been from 76-85, in NYC.
posted by deadmessenger at 6:37 AM on November 4, 2013
posted by deadmessenger at 6:37 AM on November 4, 2013
I have recently (as in the past year) seen kids as crossing guards where I live in Seattle. Only at the elementary schools.
posted by brookeb at 7:00 AM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by brookeb at 7:00 AM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
+1 Safety Patrol with the orange belts. They came in a little late and left a little early and though I never was one, I got the sense that they just made sure everyone made it to/from school bus to classroom without incident. They were mostly sixth graders I think. This would have been in the mid-eighties.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:39 AM on November 4, 2013
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:39 AM on November 4, 2013
Best answer: When I was in high school, kids with good grades could apply to be runners during their study hall, which means you went to a particular office (dean, counseling, attendance, principal) and you a) physically carried written messages to students or teachers in class; b) did a little light secretarial work and sometimes manned the reception desk when the secretary was occupied; and c) sometimes did hall-monitoring right outside that office. We had adult hall monitors who worked all day and hall-monitored, cafeteria-monitored, bus-loading-organized, etc. Basically student hall monitors just sat in the desk in the hallway right outside their assigned office doing homework, and if a student came by, asked to see their pass (most kids flashed their passes automatically), and if a parent came by, you said, "Are you looking for the dean's office? Oh, the cafeteria? Would you like me to walk you there?"
If there was a student without a pass, or you were walking a parent to another part of the school, you stuck your head in to the secretary and said, "A kid just went by without a pass," or "I'm going to take this parent over to the cafeteria, be right back." The secretary would walkie-talkie one of the adult hall monitors to go see what the non-hall-passed kid was doing, which was usually smoking something-or-other in a bathroom.
When I was in elementary school we did have 6th graders as "safety patrol" who helped the smaller kids get on the bus after school and kept them in order when waiting for parent pickup in the car pickup area. There were always adults there too who were actually in charge, but 50 wound-up little kids with short legs climbing tall bus steps sometimes need a little help. A 6th-grader also was the crossing guard for the street right in front of the school, where parent-pickup was, for 20 minutes after school to help large groups of students cross when there were large quantities of cars. It wasn't a busy street except with school traffic; the busy streets had adult crossing guards. When I was in kindergarten they were kids old enough to cross street without having to hold a hand like in real life, so they completely counted for someone who could take us across a street. When I was in second or third grade they weren't so necessary but we mostly followed their directions because most people comply with non-coercive authorities who are doing a job, there wasn't really any REASON to disobey the safety patrol. Every now and then some kid would dart across the street just because he could and didn't have to wait for the safety patrol crossing guard and they'd get rebuked by the real adult teachers the next day (as well as the FORTY SEVEN PARENTS who were right there picking up kids).
Everyone knew the safety patrol were mostly there to help out the 5 and 6 year olds, and the 5 and 6 year olds WORSHIPPED the "big kids," so they weren't really disobeyed. Mostly your biggest problem was TOO MANY HIGH FIVES or six kids wanting to hold your two hands.
I wasn't a safety patrol person but I was a runner in high school, and it was pretty good, it was much QUIETER than the actual study hall for studying, and I got to run errands and talk to people. Everyone always had a hall pass when I was hall monitoring, so I never had to exercise my total lack of authority. :)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:03 AM on November 4, 2013
If there was a student without a pass, or you were walking a parent to another part of the school, you stuck your head in to the secretary and said, "A kid just went by without a pass," or "I'm going to take this parent over to the cafeteria, be right back." The secretary would walkie-talkie one of the adult hall monitors to go see what the non-hall-passed kid was doing, which was usually smoking something-or-other in a bathroom.
When I was in elementary school we did have 6th graders as "safety patrol" who helped the smaller kids get on the bus after school and kept them in order when waiting for parent pickup in the car pickup area. There were always adults there too who were actually in charge, but 50 wound-up little kids with short legs climbing tall bus steps sometimes need a little help. A 6th-grader also was the crossing guard for the street right in front of the school, where parent-pickup was, for 20 minutes after school to help large groups of students cross when there were large quantities of cars. It wasn't a busy street except with school traffic; the busy streets had adult crossing guards. When I was in kindergarten they were kids old enough to cross street without having to hold a hand like in real life, so they completely counted for someone who could take us across a street. When I was in second or third grade they weren't so necessary but we mostly followed their directions because most people comply with non-coercive authorities who are doing a job, there wasn't really any REASON to disobey the safety patrol. Every now and then some kid would dart across the street just because he could and didn't have to wait for the safety patrol crossing guard and they'd get rebuked by the real adult teachers the next day (as well as the FORTY SEVEN PARENTS who were right there picking up kids).
Everyone knew the safety patrol were mostly there to help out the 5 and 6 year olds, and the 5 and 6 year olds WORSHIPPED the "big kids," so they weren't really disobeyed. Mostly your biggest problem was TOO MANY HIGH FIVES or six kids wanting to hold your two hands.
I wasn't a safety patrol person but I was a runner in high school, and it was pretty good, it was much QUIETER than the actual study hall for studying, and I got to run errands and talk to people. Everyone always had a hall pass when I was hall monitoring, so I never had to exercise my total lack of authority. :)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:03 AM on November 4, 2013
We had hall monitors when I was a kid. At one school, I'm not sure how it worked. At the other, a K-8 school, hall monitors were drawn from the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, and were permitted to miss study hall for it. (The kids whose parents had opted them out of religion classes were allowed to do it then, and I believe that sometimes kids missed library for it.) Two classes in each grade, seven class periods in a day, so basically each class had two kids on hall patrol each day. We also had office runners (gophers for the secretarial staff, basically), and...another "office" that escapes me at the moment. Library helpers, maybe? In conclusion, parochial schools thrive on child labor, in my experience.
Safety patrol is still a thing, though my experience with it at my daughter's elementary school is that it's the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, after-school only, and they're supervised (at each crossing) by a single adult "helper", usually the old guy who does the crossings in the morning.
posted by MeghanC at 8:07 AM on November 4, 2013
Safety patrol is still a thing, though my experience with it at my daughter's elementary school is that it's the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, after-school only, and they're supervised (at each crossing) by a single adult "helper", usually the old guy who does the crossings in the morning.
posted by MeghanC at 8:07 AM on November 4, 2013
we mostly followed their directions because most people comply with non-coercive authorities who are doing a job, there wasn't really any REASON to disobey the safety patrol.
My parents used to complain about this all the time, that the safety patrol kids were being trained to boss around and snitch on the other kids. You know, what's next, Hitler Youth?
And thaaaat is probably why I could never convince the parent volunteer who ran the program to give me a belt. Ok, just fell into place.
posted by rue72 at 8:12 AM on November 4, 2013
My parents used to complain about this all the time, that the safety patrol kids were being trained to boss around and snitch on the other kids. You know, what's next, Hitler Youth?
And thaaaat is probably why I could never convince the parent volunteer who ran the program to give me a belt. Ok, just fell into place.
posted by rue72 at 8:12 AM on November 4, 2013
> There's no way kids are crossing guards now thanks to liability issues
Kids are crossing guards where I live, near Seattle.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:34 AM on November 4, 2013
Kids are crossing guards where I live, near Seattle.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:34 AM on November 4, 2013
Student crossing guards at the elementary level are common where I live. (They're always fifth graders, and being one is considered a privilege earned.)
posted by RedEmma at 10:00 AM on November 4, 2013
posted by RedEmma at 10:00 AM on November 4, 2013
Still have crossing guards? Hooray!
Being a crossing guard with the white cross belt and the orange flag was one of the few bright points in a really shitty year when my mom died. It felt like recognition and respect, and lots of kids knew me by sight and said hi, even if some of my classmates were jerks.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:53 PM on November 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
Being a crossing guard with the white cross belt and the orange flag was one of the few bright points in a really shitty year when my mom died. It felt like recognition and respect, and lots of kids knew me by sight and said hi, even if some of my classmates were jerks.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:53 PM on November 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I remember being a little'un during the late fifties/early sixties--second/third/fourth grade--and having the big sixth grade hall monitor with the blue armband help tie my shoe, tell me to quit yelling in the halls, and to stop running. (I did.) And then when I was in sixth grade, I wore the White Belt of Authority with the Orange Flag and was a crossing guard. From what I remember, most kids bowed to the hallmarks of authority, even if you didn't think much of the kid wearing them. Usually the older kids seemed to live up to expectations. Either that, or if you got caught dinking around, you lost your chance at being a hall monitor or crossing guard. They were pretty well coveted positions.
Stopped working in high school because there were too many damn cliques.
There's no way kids are crossing guards now thanks to liability issues.
I can't see hall monitors working now. Kids today. No respect.
Now get off my damn lawn.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:02 PM on November 3, 2013 [4 favorites]