Leaving the Campus at Lunch Should be Open to All

Jada Mason, Staff Writer
November 7, 2014

Do you think freshmen are mature enough to leave campus for lunch?

Should they be allowed the freedom to do as the wish at LAP because they are “young adults”?

These are the questions one has to think about and, ultimately, answer when this issue comes up for discussion. At Paint Branch, students in 11th and 12th grade can leave the campus for lunch, but 9th and 10th graders cannot.

PB has an “open lunch policy,” which means students don’t have to sit in one area for lunch and can eat their lunch and hang out with their friends in many areas of the school.  While students – particularly 9th graders who are new to this kind of freedom – enjoy this independence, but they still want more, particularly the opportunity to leave school grounds at LAP.

According to PB’s Ninth Grade Administrator Ms. Pettis-Jones, the administration does not want 9th graders leaving the building at LAP because ‘’they’re new and still navigating the building and leaving would just be too much for them.’’

Ms. Pettis-Jones notes that juniors just received permission to leave campus last year, as before that time it was only seniors. The rules for juniors and seniors being able to leave are that the student must have a 2.00 GPA or higher and signed parent permission.   While it is nice that 11th and 12th grade students can do this, it is still unfair that 9th and 10th grade students cannot. PB should create a system for all students.

A system should be put in place so all students can leave the campus for lunch.  While seniors and juniors should still be allowed to leave every day, freshman and sophomores should be limited to only 2 days per week.  Freshman should be able to leave on Mondays and Tuesdays and sophomores should be able to leave on Wednesdays and Thursday.  For freshman and sophomores the rules for leaving should be similar to those of the seniors and juniors, but a little stricter.  In order to leave campus, freshman and sophomores must have a grade point average of 2.5 or higher and a signed permission slip from their parents.

The decision on whether or not underclassmen should be able to leave the building is simple – just let them go.  As long as they maintain the right GPA and have their parents’ permission, they should be trusted by administration to leave campus for lunch.