WEST DEPTFORD – After an explosive growth in food delivery apps at the height of the pandemic, more teenagers than ever are used to ordering food using DoorDash, GrubHub, Uber Eats and more.
It has become a safety issue in schools, including in West Deptford.
After 17 deliveries were made by students in January alone, according to West Deptford Schools Superintendent Greg Cappello, the district is currently reworking its procedures for handling these deliveries during the school day.
“Security is extremely important to us. Our terms of service require customers to be of legal age, and we’re proud that many teachers, administrators, and parents can access DoorDash during the busy school day,” a DoorDash spokesperson said in a written response to the New Jersey 101.5.
“We are giving customers options to note delivery instructions for their Dasher, and we are enabling contactless delivery, in which deliveries are placed at an agreed location and communicated to the customer. We’re always eager to hear how we can improve our platform and welcome feedback from our 24/7 support team.
Messages to several other school districts – including Woodbridge, Freehold Regional, Edison, Toms River Regional, Trenton and Lawrence Township – were not immediately returned Wednesday, over policies involving the use of food delivery apps by students.
The number of food delivery app users was estimated at 45.6 million users in 2020, up from 36.4 million users in 2019, largely due to shutdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19, according to Statistical.
While those using these food delivery apps are supposed to be 18 or older, a minor with an authorized payment card can usually get food delivered, according to online forums.
A parent or legal guardian can easily agree on behalf of a child and create an account to use.
Among the exceptions would be if an order includes alcohol.
Doordash had the most sales in 2021, reaching $2.9 billion in total revenue, followed by Uber Eats at $2.51 billion and GrubHub at $1.31 billion.
This was a 241% year-on-year increase for Doordash, as 2020 revenue was $850 million.
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