The bell just rang, and you’re speed-walking across the school to get lunch before the line gets too big or they run out of the good food. Sadly, you’re too late, so you sit down with friends and wait till the lunch line settles down. 20 minutes left, and finally the line starts to shorten. You’re happy that you finally get to eat, but you’re terribly disappointed because the only food that is left is disgusting.

After you pick your food, heading towards your lunch table, your friends rush you because the bell is going to ring in 5 minutes and your teacher is a stickler for being on time. So you chow down on something that tastes like paper and hustle to your next class.

Back in the 90s, students were allowed to leave school campus during lunch to get food, so why isn’t today’s generation allowed to?  One of the main reasons is due to safety. Parents and school administrators wouldn’t be able to know if anything happened to students when they were off campus.

Also, if students were given the choice to leave for lunch, they wouldn’t make the right choices to buy healthy meals. Teens don’t have very good eating habits which can lead to major problems. “Less than half of U.S. adolescents are living heart-healthy lives, and lack of exercise and poor diets could be creating a new generation heart-disease patient,” said Alice Park in a TIMES news magazine article titled “Unhealthy Teens Could Lead to Rise in Heart-Disease Rates.”

Students believe there are other reasons why they should be able to leave for lunch. “Lunch lines are too competitive to get the good food while it lasts,” said senior Michael Castillanos.

“If students have money to buy food, they should be allowed to eat whatever they want,” said junior Fabian Guerreos.

“If students were allowed to leave for lunch, they wouldn’t have to worry about being hungry the entire school day,” said senior Christopher Howkins.

On the other hand, many adults believe allowing students to leave school for lunch is a bad idea. According to P.E. teacher Mr. Carreño, who attended Miami High when kids could leave for lunch, “Parents expect their children to be in a safe environment. They shouldn’t have to worry about the dangers students would face when in lunch.”

Miami High’s AP Mr. Arscott adds, “Students shouldn’t put their life at risk for better tasting food.”