For the past two weeks high schools across the nation have been AP testing. The test takes up more than half of the school day and there is only one 5-10 minute break. Now, one would think that the most important part of the break would be using the bathroom. That may not be so anymore, since water bottles have been banned from the testing center.

As someone who brings a water bottle with her to school everyday, working for almost 4 hours without being able to take a drink is unheard of. But, what is the point of this? This rule was not in effect before. What is the danger in drinking water?

The worry that has arisen with bringing plastic water bottles to the test is the chance of someone cheating. Cheating, from a water bottle? Yes, it has happened, but I’m not sure it has in AP testing. If you bring in a disposable water bottle, there is a way of cheating with it. Everyone knows the method of writing the information one knows  one will forget inside the water bottle label. But for an AP student is that really reasonable?

I understand if it is a math AP exam or maybe even a science one, but how would people in english and history cheat? As an AP world history student, there is no saying what will and won’t be on the test and there is no possible way to write all of world history on a water bottle label. Therefore, why would there need to be a ban on them for these type of tests?

An even better solution would be to inform the students to only bring in reusable water bottles, none made of plastic. It is understandable that not all reusable water bottles are opaque but, water bottles that are not opaque would be easier to see that there is no form of cheating within them than plastic ones.

A last solution to this problem would be confiscating plastic water bottles if seen during the test, or at least checking them to make sure there is no form of cheating. Also, one would think students that have worked and studied so hard to get a good grade on their AP test would jeopardize their chances by writing one fact or formula on a water bottle label.

Is there really a point to this ban? There have been multiple suggestions for solutions made here and I think at least one of them should be taken into account. If students stayed hydrated they will have more energy and maybe even do better on the test.