As many students are aware, a handful of local businesses have become stricter on their rules when school lets out. While some students may find this upsetting, I’m on the business’ side and think these rules need to be in place.  

   Some students may not understand what these rules are. Let’s go back a few months to the movie theatre rule. Kids under the age of 16 were not allowed at the theatre without an adult or guardian. These rules were put into place for a reason, a good reason. This is not the only example there is to give though.  

   This has been more of an issue with middle school, at least from what I have heard. But this information is relevant to high schoolers as well. The businesses around us work hard and many of them are locally owned. They deserve respect and kindness towards all the hard work that they do, so please do not trash or mess with any of our local restaurants, shops or grocery stores.  

   Over the years, I have seen many students order food from one place and go and eat it in another competing restaurant. Most of our local places don’t really have strict rules on this, however, I think that they should. It is disrespectful to use restaurants just for their space and not help their company. Other paying customers could be using this area, but instead people who aren’t even supporting the business are taking up the space. I know this maybe something that we don’t really think about, or we forget about it. These companies work hard to stay afloat, especially with the way inflation is nowadays. Try to help them out instead of just using the facility next time.  

   A while back, there was a minor, rumored discussion of switching the middle school and high school times. This was meant to cause less after-school chaos around the area. When I heard of this idea, I was honestly excited. As a student who participates in extracurricular activities, the thought of having more free time after school was thrilling. This idea was put out to keep certain age groups of students from vandalizing or messing with other businesses. Of course, this was not targeted at all students, but it was the general idea that mattered. The rule was obviously never put into place, as nothing has changed, but in my opinion, it was a good thought. Please remember, this was something I had heard from a non-professional source and could have just been a rumor. However, I didn’t think it was a bad idea.  

   Things have seemed to settle down, but this is still a huge thing to consider. Please be considerate of the places around us. Respect them as they are working hard to serve our community. Support them and help them to stay in business. Don’t interfere with the rules they have in place and just simply choose to follow them. That would be a good step in the right direction.