Lunch Time Should be Longer for Students!

West Middle School students are getting rushed to eat lunch in only 20 minutes. This is causing students to have problems later on in the day.

There are a lot of problems people are having after they eat lunch. Students have to gobble down their lunch which leads to cramps or upset stomachs. Also, not eating enough leads to headaches and distraction later on in the day. Some students have extracurricular activities or clubs, then they don’t have enough time to eat or it gives them less time to work on their activity.

With having more time to eat, it can benefit you later in the day. If we even add five to ten minutes for lunch, then students will have more time to digest and chew their food. If people eat slower, then they will know when they are full and when to stop eating. This will help students avoid weight gain. Also, students will have enough time to finish their lunch, and not be distracted by hunger later in the day.

We interviewed two 7th graders at West to see what their thoughts were about lunch. Abigail Nabozny, who brings her lunch, and Annabelle Zinski, who buys lunch. Abigail thinks that lunch should be at least 25 minutes because she usually feels rushed. Abigail said that some people are slower eaters than others. Annabelle stated that “I feel rushed to eat.” Annabelle wishes lunch was at least 30 minutes.

We also interviewed Ms. Becky, our lunch manager, to see how she feels about the length of lunch. Ms. Becky stated that she doesn’t have enough time to serve everyone with lunch being only 20 minutes. When she does get to everyone, she feels rushed.

As you can see, having only 20 minutes to eat lunch doesn’t benefit students the way it could. How much time do you think we should have to eat lunch?