Open-lunch in school

www.wiman.us	Education Issues Topic Index A-Z Index	Open lunch
	Education Issues Topic Index A-Z Index	Open lunch

I was shocked, SHOCKED to learn on transferring to a new school in my senior year, that I could not leave the campus over lunchtime.

In my previous high school, lunchtime was 'open,' that is, you could leave campus as long as you got back in time for afternoon class. No one questioned the institution of open lunch - individuals who abused it were punished individually.

Does your school let you leave? Can you get a brief respite from the crowding and flourescent lights? Write us at letters@classroomwindow.com.

The rationale for closed lunchtime is usually that some students abuse the 'privilege' by staying out too long or getting in trouble at local businesses.

But schools also make noises about how they are training citizens to live in a free society. Is this how students will learn responsibility, by having none? The schools that have closed lunches are simply not doing their jobs! They are taking the 'easy' way out by making it impossible for students to learn self-control.

Self control? Yes. You don't learn self-control by being externally controlled. When I went to a Christian college, who were the students who were often drunk, couldn't study on time, and had the most problems? The minister's kids, who had grown up under constant supervision and control.

This is at the heart of what is wrong with high schools - they treat citizens like prisoners in the name of education, making them endure conditions that no workplace would tolerate. In so doing they simply fail to educate.

Crushing boredom, horrible lighting, poor ventilation, constant noise, badly designed furniture (no laughing matter considering repetitive strain injuries), politically driven curriculum, awful books, and teachers with no passion for their subjects... all this and you can't even go get a burger?

Note to high school administrators: Do your jobs! Yes, it can be a messy process, but I bet your district 'mission statement' says something about training productive citizens for a free society. You can't do that by controlling your students every possible moment. - GW