During the 2022-2023 school year, WJ announced the “pay and go” rule which doesn’t allow students to eat their previously purchased lunches in places like Georgetown Square or Wildwood Shopping Center due to repeated misbehavior.

The fairly new rule was implemented on May 1, 2023, due to multiple fights, complaints and disruptions to the environment and customers.

With the creation of Pay and Go, students have been encouraged to go back to school without being hassled by security seemingly resulting in fewer fights, fewer complaints and a calmer environment.

However, the negatives outweigh the positives.

The rule was enforced months after local grocery store, Giant, implemented a rule that only allows 25 students in at a time to make the store less crowded. This creates a line outside with multiple students waiting for long periods of time to make their purchases.

The 25-student rule has created more problems this school year with students trying to return to school on time. The halls have been significantly more crowded than in previous years. The large intake of freshmen this year adds to the struggle of trying to get to class because there are hundreds of kids coming back to school at one time.

Pay and Go should be eased to make lunch more fun for everyone so students don’t have to wait until they reach school to eat their food. Not all students deserve to suffer from Pay and Go. Alternatives could be lifting the policy entirely or only applying it to students who have caused problems in the past.

Fully lifting the rule can be used as a second chance at freedom for students who have disrupted the environment so innocent students can regain their privileges. Ultimately, this would make it so all students can still leave school during lunch, which could cause problems.

It’s good that WJ is putting its foot down when it comes to out-of-pocket students. However, it’s annoying that everybody has to suffer because of their peers’ actions.