Seniors have been mastering the technique since they first were allowed to drive and park at school. It’s a skill that requires timing, precision, and a little guts. Escaping the parking lot, a refined art, may be risky, but the outcome reaps huge benefits. Sadly, school administrators and staff fail to recognize students’ motivations for sneaking out and attempt to keep them at school by assigning parking lot monitors and other semi-efficient methods. However, this entire struggle is unnecessary, especially as most students who leave just want to get good food. If the school would consider an open campus policy for lunch, this epidemic could be significantly relieved.
Ladue used to have an open campus, a long time ago before the current teachers even worked here. Ladue’s system was similar to other area schools’. That era’s administrators, however, decided that the time and effort devoted to keeping the students honest was not worth it. They closed down the old system, and current staff members have not yet found a way to modify open lunch policies to make it easier for administrators to monitor students.
There are plenty of existing food establishments around the school that cater to people looking for a quick, delicious meal. The cafeteria and bringing food from home are by far the most popular, and just recently a new food station was added to the Commons. This selection works perfectly for students who have a limited amount of time for lunch. Let’s be honest, half an hour is not enough time for most people to eat a balanced meal, even when teens do stay at school.
There are potential problems that exist with allowing students to leave during lunch. Parking lot monitors would have a more difficult time monitoring who comes and goes, and it would be hard to keep track of who has which lunch time. In addition, less money would go to the school income from lunch costs. These problems can be easily prevented. Potentially, each student could get a punch hole on their ID card, marked for A, B, C, or D lunch, that would tell what time they are allowed to be off campus. In order to leave the parking lot during lunch, students would have to show the parking lot attendant their ID, confirming their identity and lunch time. This would relieve the problem of students sneaking off campus during class by offering them an opportunity and eliminating their desire to leave. Also, this privilege would only be available to upperclassmen, which would reward them for two years of good behavior while giving younger students something to look forward to.
Most likely, students going to Schnucks, Companion, or other local restaurants on a daily basis would raise the revenue of those companies, though this would be at the cost of decreasing school income, which may be harmful. However, the increase in revenue from those food establishments could be followed by a slight tax increase for those companies, enough to substitute the profit that the school lost, but not enough to completely take away the benefits to the restaurants. If managed properly by the school district and municipal government, open lunch could benefit not only students, but schools and businesses as well.
Other schools in the St. Louis County have open campus for lunch, proving that such a practice can be successful. Take Clayton, for example: its high school is extremely close to many restaurants and students frequently leave to grab a quick bite to eat during their designated lunch times. The decrease in scrutiny shows students that the administration trusts them and the majority of students take that responsibility seriously. Clayton has been using the open campus system for years, and they very rarely have problems with students abusing the system. If students were to take advantage of the privilege, their opportunity to leave could be revoked.
Modifications can be made to other schools’ models in order to tailor them to Ladue. Perhaps parents and teachers would have to sign a permission slip in order to allow students to leave during lunch. Second, open campus privileges can be taken away very easily, and could be accompanied by a no tolerance policy for kids leaving at other times during the day. As the system would flourish and evolve, more guidelines could be established in order to prevent students from taking advantage of the system, and to keep it convenient for administrators.
All in all, the benefits of open lunch greatly outweigh the problems. Businesses would be encouraged to open around the school and the local economy would be improved. High school students deserve the opportunity to take on more responsibility, and this is a small step that would be very highly regarded in the eyes of all students. #
