LITTLE ROCK — BELIEVE IT or not, there are still some schools that allow the kids to walk off campus when lunchtime rolls around. Which might have made perfect sense in a long-ago past before kids’ lunch boxes came into vogue. Or before canning. Or before fire was tamed. But come on, in 2012?
There are things on the roads—those roads are now paved—called cars and trucks. They move fast. Some are even driven by teens who have a taste for Burger King down the interstate and are in a hurry to get there and back before the next bell rings. The rest of us need kids walking around and driving around during the noon rush like we need soggy fries.
About a decade ago, Fayetteville High pretty much had to allow students to leave campus for lunch. The size of the student body had outgrown what the cafeteria could handle. But a new cafeteria has changed things. For the better.
The grown-ups at the school say next year the campus will be closed. Nobody’s going to be walking over to the fast-food joint down the street during the noon hour.
Of course some of the kids object.
Why does everybody treat me like a kid?
A student who will be a junior next year has suggested, helpfully enough, that this change be gradually implemented. It would work like this: Next year juniors and seniors would be able to leave campus for lunch, and the year after that, only seniors. Did we mention the student will be a junior next year? And would be, well, grandfathered in? Thank you for the suggestion. Now let the adults ultimately responsible for your safety make the final, best decision.
To their credit, a couple of restaurant managers interviewed in the papers said the absence of the kids might actually help pull in more adults from surrounding businesses. That’s the spirit.
We understand young people get tired of adults telling them what to do. We can vaguely remember being young ourselves. And always being told what was for our own good. We had our doubts. Even alternate suggestions. Now we understand that all those adults who told us those things all those millions of years ago were right.
Close the campus. Feed the kids in the cafeteria. Let’s keep everybody safe. We’ll be more than happy to listen to you gripe, young people, knowing you’re healthy and safe enough to gripe. It’ll be music to our ears.
Editorial, Pages 14 on 06/23/2012