One major controversy that most students do not think much about is the school’s policy on letting students leave for lunch. The current policy here at GBHS is that students are not allowed to leave campus during their given lunch period. I think this should be changed, but with a few guidelines to keep this rule under control.

   Ask yourself this question, “How many food places and restaurants are located around our school?” I counted eight places, not including grocery stores such as Publix, Walmart, and CVS where food can be purchased. Overall, that is eleven places that could gain more business and profit if our school allowed students to leave campus to pick up food.

   For many reasons, several students do not eat during the school day. Perhaps if they could leave for lunch, it would allow them to have a nutritious meal before continuing an exhausting day of school. Many restaurants offer healthy lunch options such as Panera and Tropical Smoothie. Publix also offers multiple snack and meal options to choose from.

   I understand that some of the school’s staff may be worried about students leaving campus and either not returning or being late to their next class. I can see how this could be an issue and could become a reality, but I have a way that could help this plan be put in motion.

   Our school could begin this process by letting upper class students leave for lunch. This may seem unfair for other grades, but I am a sophomore, and I do not necessarily see this as an issue. Freshman and Sophomores will get their turn to leave campus once they have reached their junior and senior year.

   This rule would be put in place to ensure that students simply go pick up food and return to class. We could make a lunch pass or some form of ID that will allow students to leave campus without having the chaos of checking in and out. This would be a system to make sure that students make it back to school. If this process runs smoothly, then maybe they will open it up to other grades. If necessary, the pass or ID could be taken away if students choose not to return or take this privilege out of hand.

   Another way to do this is just like parking passes. If a student would like to leave for lunch, they could fill out an application to receive this pass. This could be one way to help get this idea moving.

   Also, only juniors and seniors should be allowed to leave is for the simple reason that most of these students can drive. I realize that some sophomores can drive and that many places are walking distance from the school, but after calculating the time to get from place-to-place students could easily be late to class. It would be faster if the students could drive.

   This change could be an amazing advancement to our school. Giving students that little piece of independence and allowing them to go pick up their own food would be a terrific addition to our school policies.