Underclassmen Should Be Given A Chance at Off-Campus Lunch Passes

This year, the campus supervisors have begun to more stricltly enforce rules that state that freshman, sophomores, and juniors cannot leave campus during lunchtime. 

However, rules for leaving campus during lunch are too strict and should not be enforced on all underclassmen. 

Allowing students to leave campus at lunch has many upsides that are not normally taken into consideration.  

When students are able to leave campus at lunch they are able to make more personal choices on what they want to eat. Otherwise, they have to stick to school lunch or whatever they are able to pack themselves for the day. 

 Leaving campus at lunch also offers a better break from the stressful school day. Giving the choice to students to get away from school and go eat on their own can be a way students can energize themselves for the rest of the day. 

Finally, having the opportunity to be independent by themselves can benefit students in many ways.  For instance, leaving campus can teach these students time management and financial responsibility. 

However, this does not mean that allowing students to leave campus at lunch has no downsides. 

Rafaello’s Pizza, a hot spot for students during lunch time due to its proximity to the school, has complained of messing around, and obnoxious behavior from students that walk over during lunch. Students are also occasionally late to their third or sixth period class because they were off campus getting food. 

A solution to these problems could be providing students with an off-campus lunch pass. This pass should not be limited to only students without a sixth period. 

If a student is late to their sixth period consistently or is caught causing disruptions at local food places, this pass and their privilege to leave during lunch, would be taken away. 

Our school needs to be more fair when it comes to handling punishments, for example, having individual students take responsibility for their actions and not punishing an entire grade for the actions of a few. 

Although students may have been irresponsible in the past when allowed to leave campus at lunch, if a more organized off-campus system is used, students will take their responsibilities more seriously.