GraceGearon StaffWriter Many schools across the nation have been giving their students more and more freedom, trying to make them grow up and see what it would be like to live in the real world. Students agree that free lunch period is a freedom that they should possess. Student Liz Allen agreed on one thing- we should have free lunch, but we don’t have enough time. “Yes, students should have free lunch,” said Liz Allen, junior at Blue Valley High School, “The teachers and administration is always telling us we need to grow up and that they trust us but we can’t leave. It probably wouldn’t work with the way things are right now, we have like 15 minutes for lunch”. Students do only have 25 minutes for lunch, however if only 3 minutes were shaved off each class period, then students could add an extra 21 minutes to that already 25 giving students 46 minutes to eat lunch. “Now students are racing to finish their lunch,” said Kim Gearon, para professional at BV, “leading to either eating too much because you didn’t realize that you were full, or not eating enough because you were eating too slow.” Another issue that Allen questioned about is the car accidents. “Well I guess leaving for lunch could cause some accidents,” said Allen “but that doesn’t really make sense because kids could get in car accidents anywhere letting them go to get lunch wouldn’t make the car accident rate skyrocket”. With the added lunch time students could take their time, therefore allowing them to be more careful and making the accident rate even less of a problem. “I could think of many ways to spend that time,” said Allen “if I didn’t end up going to get food, I could go home and get something I forgot, which I always do, I could spend that time studying or completing homework that I was assigned that day so then I wouldn’t be up so late that night, the possibilities are endless”. Students could think of many useful ways to spend this time. “I usually don’t have time to pack my lunch in the morning and the school lunch is disgusting,” said Allen, “it may be healthy, but I’d rather not eat it because it taste like greasy cardboard most of the time”. This leading to students not eating and not being able to focus for the rest of the day. “When they tell us we can’t leave, it feels like they are guard in a prison and we got our time outside revoked” said Allen. As you can see the students want just a little bit more freedom with their lunch period and want to eat food that they actually like.