Underclassman off campus rights
February 8, 2016
For the last few years now underclassman at Palatine High School have been arguing for their right to go off campus.
Students have been disputing their off campus rights because the school lunches lack a lot of calories which are especially vital to active student athletes. Some students are so dead set on not eating school lunches they bring their own lunch boxes to school (like myself). Other students will have their older friends or relatives bring food to school for them at the end on a period from a restaurant they were at. This often leads to students eating those meals in other classes and not being able to pay attention.
Also, it has to be brought to attention that the school lunches are horrible. Some students will skip lunch on certain days because they refuse to eat what is on the menu. Instead they go the remainder of their day on snacks they acquire from friends, which is not a good diet to maintain focus in school.
Since the school has decided they are not going to change their low calorie menu for awhile, it is only fair that students should be let off campus to obtain the nutrients they need.
An argument sophomores use is that not every student would use the off campus privellage every day. Some upperclassman students can drive but choose to stay on campus the entire year anyways.
The idea that underclassman are not allowed to go off campus at such a large school like Palatine is not a bizarre idea. It would be difficult for the school staff to be able to check in and check out a large amount of students between passing periods. With all four classes involved there would be a large amount of students entering and exiting the building at the sound of the bell. It would not be easy to make sure the students have enough time to get their food and return in time.
Not every junior and senior can drive during lunch. Some of them are either missing a license and or a car. So for the underclassman they would be in the same boat as those older students.
“I think it opens up a chance for things to go wrong” says Palatine physics teacher Ryan Hall, “New drivers are prone to accidents and it could be a liability issue.”
Some students are for the idea of having only underclassman with licenses to have the right to go off campus.
“I think anyone should be allowed to go off campus depending on if you have your license or not” says Palatine sophomore Donald Angelaccio. “If you have your license then by law you’re permitted to drive.”
Plenty of upperclassman are against the idea of any underclassman going off campus.
“It would be kind of annoying to constantly have my younger friends asking me for rides” says Palatine junior Corey Ocock. “Some days I wouldn’t mind, but usually I would.”
This would be a problem for sophomores too, not just freshman. Many sophomores would either not be old enough to drive and or not have a license. Some students are qualified drivers but have birthdays late in the year so they would not be able to go off campus without a ride from an upperclassman.
If licensed sophomores were able to go off campus, that would possibly benefit the school as a whole. There would not be too many more people, and less upperclassmen without licenses would struggle to look for rides before the period.
I believe students more students should be allowed to go off campus. It is unfair to keep them held on the school and force them to eat food they would often rather not eat. There is multiple ways and rule changes this can be done. After all, other schools let their sophomores off campus.