Senior Open Lunch: Freedom Comes with a Few Flaws

Senior Open Lunch: Freedom Comes with a Few Flaws

By Emilia Pelesz

This year, like every year, the senior class finally received a long-awaited privilege: open lunch. This freedom allows upperclassmen to leave school during lunch periods 5 and 6, giving them a taste of independence that many have looked forward to since freshman year.

For many seniors, open lunch has been a refreshing experience. It gives them a chance to grab a meal from Chipotle, Panera, Wendy’s, or even home! They can spend this time with friends, take a break from the school environment, or even sit down and get some work done for an hour before returning. Having this bit of freedom during the day makes the daily schedule feel less repetitive and provides a mental break for the seniors.

However, the transition has definitely run into a few bumps. The biggest issue many students have noticed is the line to sign back in after lunch. Doors usually don’t open until 12:00 to prevent seniors from roaming the halls, but the crowd of kids and the few computers available to sign back in make it a time-consuming occurrence every day. Students are told to get back to school from lunch early to avoid missing their next class, but the majority of the seniors are still late to class every day because of the long lines to sign back in. Having the students crowd around the entrance is also not ideal. Beyond being a fire hazard, as winter approaches, standing out in the cold won’t make the process of returning from open lunch any easier. Another drawback is that seniors can’t leave the building once period 5 lunch is over. This gives them around 20 minutes to do things before leaving, which is simply not enough time for tasks like getting extra help for a class or taking a makeup test. For example, if a senior only needs half an hour of extra help in math, they would have to commit to staying there for another half hour just because they went over the 20-minute mark.

There are many potential solutions for these drawbacks, such as allowing the students back in before 12:00, directing them to the auditorium as a place to stay before their next class. This would allow seniors to return to school on their own time, preventing them from crowding at the entrance, roaming the halls, getting warm when it’s cold out, and maybe even getting some work done as they wait. Allowing students to sign out after period 5 lunch would also be a harmless benefit to the seniors. This might even encourage them to get extra help, as they wouldn’t be sacrificing their entire lunch period anymore.

Despite these inconveniences, most seniors agree that open lunch is a privilege worth keeping. With a few adjustments, such as opening the doors earlier or letting them leave whenever necessary, it could become an even better experience for everyone.