High Schools and Hall Passes

Why do we insist that high school students carry passes with them through the halls of our schools?  I thought we were trying to encourage them to be responsible, to know how to be adults, to be accountable for their own actions...

Aren't we,
By telling them that need a pass to be in the hallway,
Actually telling them that they don't belong here??
Isn't this actually saying we don't trust them to do the right thing?
Aren't we the ones who let them into the building in the morning,
Welcomed them at the front door?
Encouraged them,
Told them we're happy to see them?

If all of this is true, then why in the hell would we require them to take a pass with them when they need to use the bathroom? I'm talking about high school students here, not elementary kids.  I could even see this applying to middle school kids...  maybe.

But seriously, consider the 18 year old high school Senior who:

drives a car,
has enlisted in the military and
will go off to Boot Camp a week after graduation,
holds down a job after school and on weekends,
helps her single parent out at home with the younger siblings,
has her share of household chores, and
maintains a 3.5 grade point average in her Honors and Advanced Placement classes (paraphrased from the work of Dr. George H. Wood).

This is the same kid we say we are helping to become a "well-rounded citizen" who is a "lifelong learner."
This is the same kid we say we are encouraging to become responsible and accountable for her actions.
This is the same kid we are asking to make sure she takes a pass with her to the bathroom while she's at school.

If we are worried about kids getting into trouble, ending up where they're not supposed to, spending too long in the bathroom, and whatever other worry you can come up with (there are a million... I've heard them all), then maybe we haven't expressed strongly enough to them that this is a public school and therefore belongs to them.  Maybe we spend too much time, expend too much energy, on devising rules and procedures for things because we know of no other way to control them.  Maybe we haven't brought our students into the fold, gotten to know them well enough, helped them to understand their connection to school in such a way that helps them to see that they are a part of something larger than themselves - a true and genuine community that relies upon and respects each individual as a core member of that community.

We wouldn't say to students: " I don't trust you so take this pass so I know you're supposed to be here."  We wouldn't do that.