0
0
He would escape if he could, but he’s stuck there like he is every other day. Just dreaming of what it would be like if he were allowed to leave.
Chicken sandwich, some fries and a milk all make it onto the tray. Same options as every other day of the week.
Still thinking of all the other foods out there that he could have, junior Scott VandenHeuvel carries his food out to his table where he can sit and talk to his friends.
“There’s more stuff out in town than the school can provide,” Scott said. “The school needs more variety.”
One way to provide this variety would be to have an open-campus lunch. Supports say this system would allow students more options to choose what they want to eat and give them more freedom, but some feel the safety risks outweigh the benefits.
Math teacher Brian Baird said, “We have to be careful with protecting young adults. That’s our job: safety and security.”
There’s always the option on putting limits on who can leave, such as basing it off of grade point average, but for Baird it’s all or nothing.
“Teenagers don’t make the best decisions, even with a longer time frame. Ten percent would ruin it for the other 90 percent,” he said.
Baird also said when leaving the school, students are faced with the risks and pressures of drinking or smoking, car troubles and accidents.
“As a teacher I couldn’t live with that,” he said.
Senior Amelia Sadler agrees that an open-campus lunch would cause problems. But sshe sees it as more of an educational issue.
Sadler said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea at all. A longer lunch results in a longer school day, and it’s also environmentally negligent.”
Allowing students to go out for lunch, she said, would give them the opportunity to skip classes after. It’d be easy for a student to go out and not come back for the afternoon.
“A majority would not bother to get back in time,” she said.
But junior Brian Darr disagrees. “Eventually it wouldn’t be a problem,” he said.
But for Baird, the safety of students should be a priority in school along with their education. An open campus could jeopardize both of these.
“Maybe we have to offer more (food) options in the building,” he said.
But for Scott, it’d be easier to just go out into town for his lunch. But until then he’s stuck in the same lunch room every day knowing that there’s only so much the school can do.
