Should Crossroads have Open Campus?

      Recently at our school, Crossroads High School in Granite Falls, we lost our privilege to have open campus lunch. With open campus lunch we had the opportunity to leave 15 minutes into lunch and do whatever we pleased, for the most part. But with the luxury we also had some strict rules set. One being that you must return back to school on time after lunch time. Our school provided an even longer lunch than last year so we had more time to eat, hang out with friends, and spend time outside, but students still took this to their advantage. Some more rules we had to follow in order to keep open campus was to be respectful and clean up after ourselves. Since it wasn’t a secret that the majority of the students would go smoke cigarettes outside, it was expected of us to clean up the cigarette butts and put them in the cans we had provided for that. Since one of the main places to go at lunch is the car wash, conveniently placed by the street, we are obviously expected to stay out of the road in the way of cars.

         Sadly, though, our privilege to do that was taken away by the police. Which means not only do we not really have a chance to get it back, but we also made that much of a negative impact that the police had to get involved. A large crowd of us would typically be by the car wash, by the road, and that was a part of the reason we got it taken away. Another, bigger, reason is because a student, who’s staying anonymous, acted inappropriately towards someone who had a great impact on where we could hangout during lunch time. I don’t know exactly what the situation was, but we students weren’t happy about it. There was a good handful of students who, daily, would take advantage of open campus and come back late, and when we had off campus they would still leave without permission. When those individuals, who were usually the same, did things like that then the whole school would get punished, so we wanted to kind of compromise and only punish those who deserve it or make it more fair as to where only certain students who are eligible can have open campus lunch. Because even though open campus might just be seen as an escape to smoke cigarettes, many students used the time to actually drive and get food for lunch.

-Jordan Trussell

Why should we have open campus? Personally, I believe it's good for students to take control of something small every day. A breath of fresh air, or perhaps a quick stop at a coffee stand can brighten an otherwise glum and repetitious day. I loved being able to walk to the local grocery store, as it gave me incentive to do some exercise, as I live a rather sedentary lifestyle more often than not. Anyways, a break outside of a suffocating building can be phenomenal.

Yes. Some people definitely screwed it up, but I firmly stand in my belief that it was lack of proper punishment and select behavior that led to the removal of open campus. Students did not consider the small task of sitting in at lunch a big enough obstacle to stop them from constantly skipping. Moreso, it was only a few individuals who repeated the task. The unfortunate fact about alternative schools is their bad rap, and the few trouble makers become the face of the whole school. Everyone at crossroads does burnouts in front of semis. Everyone at crossroads curses out friendly local business owners. Everyone is a delinquent, because humans focus on the negative, because the negative is the loudest. So, that loudest incident becomes definitive of the whole school, and it’s an unfortunate reality that the masses suffer due to the misbehavior of a few individuals.

And to conclude, yes, some kids do misuse the time given, but frankly, what high school doesn't have its delinquents? Everywhere you go you will find people who wish to push the envelope in anything they do, and the difference is containment. You have to make sure they don't repeat the action, lest the punishment become a fair price for the crime, and the perpetrators grow. Most if not all students are trustworthy, and a lot do have behavioral issues, but isn't that also true of those who’ve experienced traumas as well?

At crossroads we see a concentration of kids who've gone through monstrous events, and have found admittedly unhealthy ways to cope, but you can't just ignore it, and that's not everyone all the time. I have my own issues, and enjoy the chance to grab food I can eat easier, as I have a very picky stomach due to anxiety. Anyways, those who made mistakes definitely deserved to have their open campus taken away, but to punish the many for the mistakes of the few is unfair. And as I leave you, I reiterate, when the punishment is lacking, misbehavior breeds.

-Vail Bates