THE BIG MAC QUESTION

Exploring the Complex Red Tape Around Morning Munchies

Rowan Hastings and Kiran Shere-Wolfe, Student

Rowan Hastings and Kiran Shere-Wolfe 

As many students pull into the parking lot in bright yellow buses, we are greeted with the alluring idea of yummy hash browns and hot coffee. How can we resist the delicious cuisine, just a few feet away from our school grounds, when we arrive at Carver Center every morning? The bright red and yellow sign, the scrumptious scents and mouth watering temptation is simply too much. But this harmless desire has created quite the controversy between our students and administrators. Today we will be investigating the McDonalds dilemma, and the turbulent opinions surrounding our morning munchie.

 The biggest concern from the faculty and staff about students going to McDonalds is that it poses a safety concern. Once you enter the school, the school is responsible for the safety of its students. Allowing students to leave campus and walk to McDonalds, even though it’s not that far creates a problem: if someone does get hurt, then the school is ultimately liable and is at fault.  We interviewed multiple students at Carver. Of the 186 students we asked, 182 (97.85%) of the students agreed we should be permitted to go to McDonalds. We also wanted to get the voices of our teachers heard, so we asked 17. Of the 17 teachers, 7 (41.18%) were on team McDonalds. 

 It really does seem the consensus is split down the middle, however change has to start somewhere. 

A potential solution would be to allow upperclassmen, such as juniors and seniors, to be given a signed form with parental consent to leave the building in the early hours, such as when the buses arrive but before the 7:40 bell rings.  Obviously a change like this would not happen any time soon but it is worth consideration, especially since some students can’t rely on the school meal plans or have time to get breakfast before the buses come.

At some point we need to ask, with how things are, are we really loving it?