For as long as Wilson juniors and seniors have enjoyed the privilege of off-campus lunch during the school year, scrawny underclassmen have been whining to the nearest available person about the injustice of the system.

In their minds, it is only fair that they should be able to go off campus during lunch. Students at other schools like Bethesda Chevy Chase (BCC) and School Without Walls can go off campus from their first day of freshman year, so it seems logical that Wilson would follow suit. This reasoning is valid, but totally naive.

Wilson is not like BCC, and it is most certainly not like Walls. Many schools outside of DC, like BCC, don’t have metal detectors or x-ray machines, which makes it easier to allow students on and off-campus with just a school ID. Walls is simply too small to only allow half of their students off campus; its cafeteria can barely hold 100 people. In contrast, Wilson has a lot of space to accommodate on-campus lunch, including the cafeteria, atrium, bleachers, and gymnasium. 

Furthermore, security measures at Wilson make off-campus lunch much more logistically challenging. Leaving and returning from off-campus lunch is hectic enough with half the school participating, so who knows what would happen with twice that.

Besides, even if the school were able to support all of these extra students going off-campus, there is no reason why kids under five feet tall should be allowed to leave the premises. You can’t trust them! One moment they’re getting lunch at Panera, the next they’re getting their lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Who said they’re allowed to go there? Next thing you know, juniors and seniors will be denied a nice, peaceful lunch period because a giant horde of freshmen came in and took all the fries. We’ll be forced to get hash browns and mac and cheese! •