By Desiree Lutz Wilson High School gives 30 minutes for students to eat lunch, and although the time seems reasonable, is it really enough? The answer is no; from traveling to lunch from other classes to waiting in line to buy lunch, there are many factors that cut down on student’s time to eat. 80% percent of students, out of 113 students from ninth to twelfth grade surveyed, have said that standing in line to buy their lunch affects the amount of time they have to consume their food. Also, traveling from the Lower House to the Upper House and vise versa takes a good amount of time (since there aren't as many travel breaks around lunch), which ultimately decreases the amount of time to eat lunch. Sophomore student Morgan Jacobs says, “Walking from the Upper House to the Lower House [to eat lunch] results in me arriving later than everyone else so there are less food options to choose from.” Though students have the choice to pack lunch from home, many do not have the time in the morning to get food together or even the food at home to do so. Lunch times should be longer in order for students to finish all of the meal to get the nutrients growing young adults need. Lunches here at Wilson High School used to be a full period; However, that was when only sophomores, juniors and seniors were at the school. Back then, there were nine class periods in a day (40 minutes each) and three lunch period options. Since freshmen have been added to the high school, more students means less lunch time and more lunch periods. A recent study shows that students with longer lunch times consume more calories and nutrients than students with shorter lunch times. Though students have half an hour to eat, which is a reasonable amount of time, 55 students stated that just 10 more minutes would allow them to finish all of their meal. Our high school principal, Mr. Trickett, has even stated that he is “personally in favor to increase the school lunch time,” and that he is open to suggestions on how to modify the lunch schedule that will make lunches longer. It is very important for student mental health to get breaks throughout the school day, and lunch is the perfect opportunity to have one. Principal Trickett even agrees that lunch is a good way for students to relax and socialize with their friends. By making lunches longer, students will be getting double the benefit -- they could finish all their food and get a mental break from school and learning at the same time. This being said, talking to friends and eating is sometimes hard to do at the same time. 35% of food is thrown away in schools. This may not seem like an overwhelmingly huge number to those with adequate resources, but it is 4 million dollars wasted every day. 55% of students have said that they throw away a lot of their lunch because of the amount of time they are given to eat. Increasing the time students are given to eat lunch will allow this number of waste to decrease as students will have more time to consume all of their food. Lunch times need to be longer and the longing for it can be shown through studies and surveys done at Wilson. 76% of students have even said that they sometimes or never have enough time to finish all their lunch because of the amount of time given. Since Mr. Trickett is open to longer lunches, one option could be renovating both cafeterias to fit more students. With enough support and persuasion, longer lunch times could be close to happening in the near future. Photo Courtesy Of: Flickr.com; Commons.wikimedia.org
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
Archives
December 2019
Categories |