The Two Sides Of Entrepreneurship: Students Question The Restrictions

Author: Nyles Madison

Have you ever wanted to utilize the free market of school, for sales, or even heard people complain about being unable to? In this article, we cover both sides of the story, to help you get a better understanding of this topic. 

As some of you might know, there have been multiple cases of people promoting their own businesses across middle and high schools, most of the time leading to them being caught and having a punishment, sometimes severe depending on how many times they have got caught. A lot of students I have talked to think that this policy is unfair. I interviewed Leonardo, a 9th grader here and he expressed similar thoughts on the policy.

“In the student handbook, it actually doesn’t say anything about not being able to sell,” said one student entrepreneur. “It kinda encourages you to be independent. I feel annoyed because I can’t make money.”

Other students also say this allows the student store to basically price gouge, because of the lack of competition, and leads to a limited amount of options.

“It’s unfair to price gouge, even if it’s a school-run thing,” said another student. “Running the student store doesn’t really teach you how to run a business because you aren’t doing any of the managing.”

The student store, which is run by the 11th-grade entrepreneurship class, some argue that this class, which is designed to teach entrepreneurship, doesn’t adequately prepare the 11th graders in managing a business beyond sales, especially in areas such as restocking and money management. 

Also, the distribution of money is seen as a problem, because all of the money is going to an 11th-grade trip, in which most of the time, the other students don’t get to experience any of the rewards of their support. 

“Maybe the student store could pay a percentage to the school to help fix up the campus,” one interviewee suggested.

Some students also suggested the addition of full meals, or healthier foods. They also suggested splitting up the business class, to add competition, and offer different foods or goods.

Some even suggest reinvesting profits from student ventures back into the school.

“Maybe the student store could pay a percentage to the school to help fix up the campus,” said one interviewee.

Whether this changes the minds of some, one thing is clear, and that is students are eager to sell.