Should Students Be Allowed To Leave Campus for Lunch?

The benefits and concerns of an open-campus lunch policy for teenagers.

By Sariah Harris

After the first few hours of the school day, students need not only a break to prepare for the rest of the day, but also a chance to enjoy what they eat during lunch. For some students, this could mean having the choice to leave campus and get food somewhere nearby. Allowing students this ability, known as an “open-campus lunch policy,” could give high school students more independence. However, safety and responsibility remain major concerns when considering an open-campus policy. This raises the question: Should high school students be allowed to leave the school campus for lunch?

Allowing students to leave the school campus during lunch could help prepare them for responsibilities they will face after high school. Once students graduate, they will have to make decisions about how they spend their time without teachers or staff supervising them. An open-campus lunch policy would give students a small and realistic opportunity to practice managing their own schedules and making responsible choices. This independence could help students become more prepared for college, work and other future situations on their own. While the positive aspects of open-campus policies are prominent, there are negative aspects as well.

Of course, some students leaving school grounds could potentially be late returning to class, get into accidents or cause other issues while off campus. In reality, the policy could distinguish between students who have demonstrated that they can handle that freedom and those who haven’t. For example, schools could make the privilege dependent on attendance, behavior or consistently returning to class on time. Students who fail to follow the expectations could lose the privilege, while responsible students would be allowed to continue using it.

Echoing this idea, students already demonstrate the maturity and responsibility to handle this policy, suggesting that not everyone should have the privilege.

“I think it should just be for seniors. If not, it could get crowded, and they’ll take it away,” junior Ameera Leslie said.

By expressing these concerns, students have already acknowledged potential mishandling of the policy and proactively set in place reasonable solutions. Like Leslie, junior Allie Beers also says leaving campus should be restricted.

“In our case, no, because Paxon is like a really rough area,” Beers said. “But I think it’s genuinely a great idea for others that have nice places to go.”

In the end, the challenges of an open-campus policy shouldn’t outweigh the benefits it could provide to students.

High school is meant to prepare students for a future in which they will be responsible for managing their own time and accepting the consequences of their actions. It’s difficult to develop these skills when you are given little opportunity to practice them. Allowing students to leave campus during lunch would provide a controlled environment where they can practice those responsibilities. Ultimately, an open-campus policy wouldn’t just be about letting students leave for lunch, but about recognizing that students are capable of making responsible choices and allowing them to prove it.