I bet you know the feeling when the bell rings at lunch while in the middle of eating. You slowly get up and drag your feet to the next class and I’m sure you’ve said that lunch isn’t long enough!
Well I agree, and some of your classmates do also. “I feel like sometimes there isn’t enough time to eat. Since the lines are also long, that wastes half of my lunch and I have barely any time to eat.” Audrey Thomas a freshman at Oakmont stated.
I think the real problem is that with everything we have to do, the 83 minute classes, so much work, we don’t have enough time for a break. I mean each class we have many papers, projects, and tests.
One thing that also takes up time is walking from your class and getting in a long line. By the time you get your lunch, sit down, and take a bite, oftentimes, the first bell has already rung. After that, you are just stressed trying to finish what you’re eating.
It’s not only the fact we don’t have a long enough lunch, it’s also that throughout these 83 minute long classes, we only have 34 minutes of break in total: 23 minute lunch (Including a 3 minute passing to get to lunch), 5 minute bagel bar, and 9 minute midday break.
Half of our ’10 minute’ break is also taken up with getting to our next class. A lot of the time people have classes at the other side of the school that they are rushing to get to. One thing some teachers do is also start class during 10-minute break.
No, I don’t think that we should have a 2 hour long lunch – or even 1. But I think we should at least have 30 or 40 minutes to take a break from the stress of classes. 30 minutes wouldn’t affect much. It would most likely take two minutes from every class. Is two that bad?
Oh, but there is a wrench to my idea.
The Dept of Education states, “Every secondary school student is scheduled to receive a minimum of 990 hours per school year.” so according to that, we need a minimum of about 5:30 hours of learning a day. Which leaves us with extra time we could have at lunch.
Lunch is our break from work to eat and socialize but all we get to do is try and stuff all of our food in our faces before lunch ends. Which also is not healthy. Who knows, would you want a kid to choke while trying to finish their food?
You or some others might think that we have enough time to socialize, say out of school, which isn’t always true. A lot of us have sports every day or most days of the week and games/competitions on the weekends, not to mention all the homework we get.
As you can see, there are many problems here that all have a part in the problem I’m covering, but we are only focusing on one right now, the shortage of time. So, do you think it’s a problem?
I know that a lot of teachers don’t allow you to talk or work with your friends in class, so when do we have time? Maybe a minute or two on our way to class but it’s just not enough. It is said that talking to friends can help your mental health, making you happier.
“I feel like I don’t have enough time to eat, and by the time I get my lunch I only have 5 minutes.” Jada Sandjong a freshman at Oakmont stated. So, wouldn’t you like to be able to have time at lunch with your friends?
There are countless reasons why I think we should have a longer lunch period, but what do you think? No, we wouldn’t talk to our friends all day but we would at least have a little time to do so, while also being able to finish our lunches. Even though we would have to adjust our schedules slightly and stay longer at school, I think this would be a good change.
