Open Campus Policy

Students, you, as well as I, have always felt the strain of limitations brought upon you this and past school years. These past years, the school board has been closing students’ ability to do almost what they please to an oppressive detention in which you cannot even walk the hallways to get a sip of water. How many times have you or heard that someone has been given a detention for just walking around the halls? How many times have you been hassled for trying to go to your car and sent back into the school by a so called “rent-a-cop” and a new enforcer cop? All of these and more are related to the idea of a closed campus. I, on the other hand, am on the behalf of an open campus. An open campus gives the student more freedom and responsibility to make the right decisions. As opposition, the closed campus concept would argue that not all or any of the students should receive such trustworthiness from the school. I think that not all but a select group of students should have the open campus opportunity. Another matter with open campus is money issues in many areas in which I will discuss.

As time goes on, each class of students gains and loses freedoms. An open campus freedom would not only just let students go where they please; it would also give the students a responsibility to manage their time. Many administrators on the board of education do not think that a high school student should have such a responsibility. They would tell us that we are too immature to be able to manage time during the school day. I think that students are mature enough to have such a freedom placed within their grasps. I can anticipate that the opposition will be outraged by all students receiving this freedom and responsibility. If such a concept as open campus could be arranged, there surely would be rules and regulations placed in effect to ensure that the school will not have liability of the student once off school ground.

The group of students that can leave the school can be very easily simplified from the current thought of all students being able to leave. First of all, a freshman certainly cannot leave the school grounds. A sophomore, even though more mature than the freshman, should as well not be able to leave the grounds.