Outside food needs to be permitted for students at lunch

by Sydney E.

As people from the Innovation Center transition to Airport High School for their second half of the day, being able to buy fast food before lunch isn’t a perk or privilege they can enjoy anymore. Last school year a new rule was enforced that banned outside food– including fast food and snack/beverages from convenience stores– from coming into Airport High School. If it’s brought in, it has to be eaten in the office or thrown away. However, after considering all sides of this issue, it becomes clear that outside food should be allowed to be brought into Airport High School by students.

First of all, the term “outside food” can be subjective. What is defined as “outside food”? We’re allowed to bring lunch boxes, that is outside food as well. Lunch-boxed food certainly doesn’t come from the cafeteria, however it is still permitted. If I was to put fast food in my lunch box, would it still be considered outside food? If rules like this are going to be made, they need to be more specific.

Second of all, it can cause chaos in the front office, where students enter the school. People who bring outside food into the office are asked to either throw it away or eat it in the office– which doesn’t mean they'll be excused from class. This does nothing but add to the traffic of people coming in and going from the office. Besides, it’s embarrassing for the person who has to sit there and eat in front of people walking by them.

Third of all, this is my time and my money. If students have additional time in their schedule to eat before class, they should be permitted to do so in the cafeteria, especially people who have first lunch. We have extra time in between classes to go to restaurants and to eat the food before our third block class. To add to that, if I took the time to buy something, with my own money, I shouldn’t have to throw it away because I didn’t have time to eat it in the office. At that point, my money is being thrown away too.

The rulemakers may argue, outside food entering the building is a safety precaution. It’s the same as bringing a lunch box in, but those aren’t checked for safety reasons, and there could be germs, allergens, drugs, alcohol, poison, or even weapons in those foods. To catastrophize further for a moment, a student could make brownies with drugs in them at home and bring them to school, but one cannot order such a product through Door Dash, so really in some ways food delivery is potentially more safe than food students bring from home. Same thing with food safety. A regular citizen at home is more likely to miscook his food than an expert at a restaurant, so issues with food quality from home arise compared to food that is delivered. Critics of bringing fast food to schools may also argue that it can make students late to class. Again, some people have first lunch. After the first few weeks of school, most people have gotten used to their time frames in between classes. There’s many fast ways to receive food now, by placing online orders or curbside pickup. Another reason the rulemakers may argue is that it’s unfair to other students who don’t have the advantage. Perhaps their logic is as follows: not every student has the financial ability, driving privileges, or flexibility in their schedule to go get food from restaurants at lunch, so therefore no students should be able to. If students want outside food, they can just get it the day before, bring it in through their lunchboxes, and heat it up in the provided microwaves in the cafeteria. So, even the fairness argument is moot.

An investigation of students reveal they share in my opinion, including Gloria J., a high school student at AHS, who stated, “I feel that outside food should be obtained by people coming back from the Innovation Center, but I don’t feel that people should order food to school or leave campus for food because that is a safety issue.”

Anthony M., an AHS student who has senior late arrival stated, “There are some inconsistencies with what is considered ‘outside food’. Lunch boxes are homemade, but still outside food regardless.”

All things considered, outside food should be allowed to be brought into Airport High School by students. A few principals ago, when we had Mr. Damm, he briefly allowed seniors to leave campus as a privilege and nothing bad happened. The term “outside food” should be better defined. Chaos, caused by this rule, in the front office can be limited. Students’ time or money doesn’t have to be wasted. Take all of these things into consideration and think about this next time you’re sitting down eating lunch at Airport High School. If you want to make change with regard to this policy, contact Sydney Edmond at edmond737@lex2.org.