According to the Austin ISD school board policy, only seniors are allowed to go off-campus during lunch. Seniors, however, have been having trouble with following this policy. The most common mistakes seniors have made are coming back on campus late, bringing back food for their friends or for themselves, and even hide underclassmen in their cars.

Principal Tina Salazar made clear in her class-wide meetings at the beginning of January, that the privilege of off-campus lunch is in jeopardy for current and future seniors.

Seniors sometimes take advantage of the privilege of going off-campus and hopefully, they do not ruin it for me considering I will have the opportunity to go off-campus next year. Threatening seniors to take away that privilege doesn’t really affect them because they are going to be out of high school in a couple of months. But for juniors, it can affect our senior experience.

If a senior is irresponsible enough to not be able to come back to school on time or follow basic rules, then they are not going to do so well in the real world and should face the consequences. at said, the school should continue letting seniors prove their maturity with off-campus lunch privileges as long as they can make responsible choices without being monitored.

The biggest problem seniors have with going off-campus for lunch is showing up to class on time. One solution seniors can do to prevent this is to plan ahead and choose an appropriate time to head back to school. This can hopefully help seniors from being late to class.

Underclassmen are also at fault for off-campus privileges being in jeopardy. I see underclassmen frequently sneaking off-campus at lunch in various ways. School administrators and security have done what they can to limit underclassmen from leaving campus at lunch yet some still find loopholes.

Teachers are also affected by students who abuse off-campus lunch because students often bring food to class or even sometimes deliver to other students, making them late for their class. Food that is brought to class leaves crumbs which invite insects and can cause a distraction.

Although abused, off-campus privileges also have benefits to offer to seniors. Seniors have the opportunity to eat tastier, healthier foods and the chance to have time for their self and not be surrounded by students. It also helps them develop the skills of managing their own time, self-discipline, and to demonstrate their maturity.

The school is heavily populated and the cafeteria is already overcrowded and known for having long lines. If the administration bans seniors from going o campus for lunch it will make these problems even worse. Having to feed even more students would not be cheap, so off-campus lunch lets the school save money and reduce crowding in the cafeteria.

Seniors are getting ready to become adults and go into the real world. When seniors go off-campus, they have to be responsible enough to come back to campus on time. Without off-campus lunch, seniors are not going to be as prepared for learning how to manage time and can cause problems when or if they go to college.

Another essential skill needed for the real world is learning how to budget money. Off-campus lunch help seniors develop the skill of saving money and spending it when needed. The school needs to give students a chance to be able to make the right decision for themselves and deserve to have some freedom.

Although seniors sometimes abuse the off-campus policy, it still should not be taken away for future seniors. Students have to be able to be responsible for their own actions but also have freedom.