During school our lunchtime is considered “free time.” Is it entirely free? Having free time does not include being forced to stay in one area and being questioned every time you leave “the pit.” As young adults, we should be able to have more freedom during lunch, especially if it is considered our “break” from the stress of the school day.
Most of the students at La Plata High School can agree that our lunch should be considered free range. We should be able to go wherever we want during lunch, whether it’s in the actual cafeteria, the library, another teacher’s room (with permission of course), or even outside. Going outside during lunch may sound hard to control, but I’m sure there are a few teachers who wouldn’t mind monitoring students who choose to do so.
This obviously can’t be an option during winter and inclement weather conditions, but on a nice spring day, why not? A little fresh air half way through the school day sounds great to me and it might even put both students and teachers in a better mood.
It’s kind of ridiculous how strict teachers are when they see you get up from a lunch table. “Where are you going?” Can I just go to the bathroom, please? I understand some kids would take advantage of such freedoms, but in that case they should be punished. The whole school shouldn’t be held back from being treated like adults just because some of us are unable to act our age. It just isn’t fair.
There are also some other schools who allow their students to go wherever they want during lunch, so why can’t La Plata? North Point High School’s student body is much larger than ours, yet they are allowed more freedom during lunch. We have less students, meaning we are probably easier to contain, so again, why not have free range?
In my opinion, if we are expected to act like adults, then we should be treated like adults. Something as simple as going where we want during lunch allows us to be more independent and make our own decisions. By the time you become a senior, it seems very elementary to be forced to eat lunch in one area. I understand freshmen may be “too immature” to handle something like that, but that’s only because no one has given them the opportunity to act like an adult. They’ve just been told, okay you have class in here, lunch in here, and you must stay there. Continuing to baby “young adults” holds them back from actually becoming one.
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