From the sound of things the latch may be broken and the safety catch is the only thing holding the hood down. If this is the case then it really needs to be repaired because it is feasible anyway that a bump on the highway could lead to the safety catch losing its grip. This would likely lead to the hood blowing back into the windshield; ruining the hood, the windshield, possibly the roof, and maybe even you.
I’m in agreement about checking with a bodyshop about this problem. You might also consider checking with a salvage yard about a used latch, which should not be more than 5 or 10 bucks. Maybe even free on a good day. A body shop or general garage should be able to swap this out for you for far less than 300 bucks.
The hood blowing back is a real cause for concern. Many years ago a friend of mine had the hood blow back on his old Ford at about 65 MPH. The windshield was broken and the front of the roof was caved in. He managed to get stopped (with the roof shoving his head down) and got the roof raised some by lying down in the seat and kicking it back up with his feet. This was followed by beating the rest of the windshield out into the car seat and driving the last 10 miles home, at night, with no glass at all. All in all, he was lucky though.