Open Campus Lunch Essay

When I was in high school, several Juniors and Seniors had their own cars to go wherever they wanted. However, the school administrators and school district were very strict on students skipping class, leaving school for lunch, and family or friends bringing food for students to eat during lunch time. In this day an age, a lot of teens are mature enough to drive, vote if they are 18, hold down a job, watch R-rated movies, and even marry in some states. Since teens are trusted with doing those factors they should be trusted enough to leave campus for lunch and decide whatever food they want to eat. Therefore, open campus lunch should be allowed because it allows for students to develop into mature adults, students will appreciate a varied diet,

and students will be helping the local economy.
Furthermore, students leaving campus for lunch allows them to be mature and independent at the same time.

Students would be mature enough to go to whichever restaurant of their choosing and independently pick whatever food choice that they want. Most teens like I did crave that independence of being able to do something if given the chance. For example, after school my friends and I would often get together to go eat at a restaurant of our choosing. Which helped develop our independence and maturity since we were not being dictated by anyone on what we needed to eat, how long we had to eat, and where we were assigned to eat.
In addition, there are several parents and school administrators who believe open campus lunch puts students at risk of not coming back to the school and commit risky behavior. However, risky behavior is being committed every second of every day by more adults than teens in high school. When students are already permitted to stay on campus all day sitting down in chairs wearing out their bottoms for hours it makes them want to leave campus. Allowing
open campus lunch would give them relaxation, freedom, and more concentration to come back more focused on their school work. Open campus lunch will aid in students dedication to want to come back to

school.
Moreover, several teens do not enjoy cafeteria lunch because of the poor food choice and often prefer a better varied diet. Open campus lunch would allow for students to make the decision whether they want a salad, fast food, or several other food choices. Students would not be subjected to eating all the unhealthy pizzas, cheeseburgers, Mexican taquitos, or other unhealthy foods and snacks often served at school during lunch time.
However, there is often the constant argument from parents and school administrators that students will be more engaged in eating unhealthy food off campus.

however, they often forget there is plenty of unhealthy food on campus such as, the foods I mentioned earlier and the vending machine snacks all over the schools. Several high school students participate in athletics such as, Football, Soccer, Volleyball, Tennis, and Basketball. All of those activities encourage a healthy diet in order for students to perform at an elite level. Therefore, school administrators should trust that those athletes will continually pick nutritious food choices off campus and influence their friends not in athletic activities to do so as well.
Furthermore, open campus lunch helps the local economy since students would often eat at restaurants, cafes, and bistros. Open campus lunch would actually help these businesses boost revenues and sales keeping the local economy strong and vibrant. Although school administrators would argue that students leaving campus for lunch would reduce school revenues. However, schools still can fall back on students spending money on snacks at the vending machine and there are a handful of students who still prefer school lunch because it might be more expensive to eat at restaurants than at the

school.
Overall, open campus lunch should be authorized in all schools because it will aid in adolescent maturity, offer varied nutritious food choices, and promote local businesses. Most parents, school administrators, and teachers want to see students succeed down the road. So, allowing students the freedom to leave campus and choose what meal they want all while promoting the economy benefits everyone in the end. However, there should definitely be restrictions upon time provided and repercussions put in place if students do not abide by open campus lunch rules. Whether it be detention or losing the privilege to eat off campus because teens need to learn that there are repercussions for not abiding by the rules.