You hear the bell ring as you walk out of your classroom and smell the fresh air. The murmur of  voices provide a blanket of familiarity. All period you were craving a nice double double from In-and-Out. So, you and your friends decide to go there for lunch. This is life when you have an open campus. However this is only hypothetical for Roseville High School’s campus. 

Schools often reject the idea of having an open campus because of those who abuse the privilege to skip and cut class, which will affect  the school’s revenue. Let’s be honest: it isn’t impossible and (ironically) actually really easy to leave campus and ditch in its current state, and often students think of it as a challenge to try and leave campus without getting caught. But that’s not the only reason we should have open campus. As of January 2020 all RJUHSD schools are removing the right from students to use food ordering services to get food to school. For example, Doordash and pizza delivery companies. This hinders students choice of food and is just one more reason why we should be allowed to go outside of campus to get food and get a break from the cafeteria food. 

Especially with the repetitive cafeteria food, going to local restaurants would be a great addition to the campus allowing us to support local businesses and give students a chance to clear their mind with a change of scenery. This would refresh their minds, resulting in them being ready to return and finish out the school day. On top of that, we can’t even fit all the students of one lunch in the cafeteria, often leaving students to wander around in the heat or stand around at tables because no seats are available. 

Although teachers and administrative staff fear students not coming back to campus, this is something that could be beneficial for getting us high school students ready for the real world. At a job in the context of a professional career, an individual has the option to go and get lunch during their  break, however coming back is still their responsibility – just like it would be for us with open campus. 

There is no detrimental effects that come with having the privilege to leave campus. Open campus lunch can be something that is earned. For example, all students with a certain GPA could be allowed to have open campus in reward for their hard work, alleviating the chances of students ditching school. 

It can present a much needed break from school and a much needed chance to clear your mind by leaving  campus before returning to finish out the day. On top of that, it could also allow students to stop by their house to eat things like leftovers, eliminating lunch costs and food waste; a huge problem on campus due to students not liking what they are eating. More than half of the children in the United States are medically on track to be obese by time they are 35 and sugary drinks at school are a contributing factor to that. Additionally take care of animals while parents are at work. 

On the contrary, it makes sense for parents to be concerned about their children leaving school and driving around, further emphasizing why staff  can make it a privilege for students with a certain grade point average to represent their responsible nature. Furthermore, students that are eligible can have the school send home a waiver allowing their parents to grant access to off-campus permission providing a blanket of comfort for staff and parents.  Limiting students privileges and not approving of things that can be beneficial to the school, community, and real work life situations affects student’s views on their own roles in society and within the high school.