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Brittney Bowers
More often than not, school is the only place some students are given a meal. Students
are only allotted an average of twenty minutes to get to the lunchroom, get their meal, eat, and
then return to class. Due to having such a short amount of time during lunch, many students
are going without a lunch. Kristy Duncan even states that when a child is hungry it affects the
way they act. They are not able to concentrate, be creative, nor are they able to problem-solve
as they should. (“Free Lunch is A Good Thing for Children”) Lunchtime for students in school
should be extended and students should all get free lunch. Extending lunch time and making it
free for all students overall helps improve their grades and allows for each student to eat
Why is it important to extend lunch times for student? Most schools only allot students
an average of twenty minutes for lunch. Eating lunch during the school day is important for
students, and if missed it can affect their overall academic achievement. Byzak explains that
when a student can actually enjoy their lunch and socialize then their academic performance
goes up. (“The Comfortable Cafeteria Program for Promoting Student Participation and
Enjoyment: An Outcome Study”) They tend to be more engaging, being able to concentrate and
focus in class. When children have a more pleasant environment in the cafeteria, it also helps
reduce their behavioral issues as well. Extending lunch times will allow for students to have
some time to relax and take a break from the long school days that most students have to deal
with. I know when I was in high school, we had 20-minute lunches. That included the time to
Why is it Important to Improve Lunch Time for Students 3
get lunch, eat, and be back in class. Even though I was a teen mother or two toddlers, I still felt
more rushed than I would at home. Students need to be able to socialize and relax because
selfcare is important. Parents have also noticed that their children are not able to get a full
meal in, especially in the younger children. One parent noted that their Kindergartener was
provided with an apple, but due to the time they are allotted, this child is not able to finish his
apple. Other school officials noticed that younger children are having a more difficult time
eating some of the food offered to them. (Blondin, 2015) Younger children are often faced with
this problem more than the older ones. When a younger child is unable to finish his meal, he or
she might still be hungry. Obviously being a mother, I see the struggles of a child who is hungry.
Especially at that age they still have a difficult time expressing themselves.
Students often rely on food from school. This could be the only time some students eat.
So, why not make it a free meal? Schools already offer free/reduced lunch but it is not offered
to every student that should qualify. Students who receive it often skip out on it because they
face being bullied by those who are not receiving it themselves. That is it would be a more
effective to just make it free for everyone. Woodard (2015) states that children who did not
have any struggles paying for lunch felt entitled. Due to school lunch times being so short, the
long lines of children wanting a hot meal only made these “entitled” children want to bring
their lunch. Those who receive any assistance even paying for lunch were often teased. When
Woodard (2015) did a pupil questionnaire, she found that children who qualified for free lunch
was considered to be one of the top three reasons for being bullied. So, after learning this a
team came together to figure out how they were going to deal with those who were bullying
others. Considering my situation growing up, I can relate to those who received reduced lunch
Why is it Important to Improve Lunch Time for Students 4
but never utilized it because of the way that other students, especially while I was younger,
looked at it. Eating school lunch was considered to be nasty and something people only did If
they could not afford to bring their own. Children are vulnerable starting into their teenage
Some might argue that allowing for all students to receive free lunch would be nothing
but a waste of food. Most schools do offer free breakfast for their students, and In doing so
cafeteria workers have noted an increase in a waste of food. But, most of the waste that they
have noted has been milk. Generally, out of all the students who participate in receiving
breakfast most always throw the milk away or put it back. While food might be wasted, It can
also be attributed to the taste of the food. (Blondin, 2015) While it is important to have a well-
rounded, healthy diet it is also important that most of the food is “edible.” Another way we
could reduce the waste that some say would come from allowing free/reduced lunch, make
sure a class roster is completed, even at a high school level. Researchers from Modifying Eating
Lifestyles at a School examined what the students intake looks like during a twenty minute
lunch period. After analyzing 1,001 students they discovered that there was a significant
amount of waste from these students simply because the lack of time available. These
researchers did acknowledge that while it would be almost impossible for every school to want
to lengthen the lunch periods. They did come up with ways to reduce wait time for these
students; set up self-checkout lines and add more workers into the serving line. (Feldscher,
2015)
Why is it Important to Improve Lunch Time for Students 5
In conclusion, lunch time for students is an important factor that affects their academic
performance. As Juliana Cohen (2015) states, “Many children, especially those from low-income
families, rely on meals for up to half their daily energy intake…” When professors are able to
acknowledge how important it is for students to be able to eat their lunch, then as a
community it is important to step up. A child’s education should be the main concern for
everyone since they are the future, they will be running the country when we are older. It is
Reference Page
Bazyk, S., Demirjian, L., Horvath, F., & Doxsey, L. (2018). The comfortable cafeteria program for
promoting student participation and enjoyment: An outcome study. The American Journal
Blondin, S. A., Djang, H. C., Metayer, N., Anzman-Frasca, S., & Economos, C. D. (2015). 'It's just
so much waste.' A qualitative investigation of food waste in a universal free school breakfast
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S136898001400294
Colllier R. (2015). Free lunch is a good thing for children. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association
Feldscher, K. (2015, September 11). Short lunch periods dont serve students needs. Retrieved from
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/09/short-lunch-periods-dont-serve-students-needs/.
Naughton, L. (2014). Giving children the best start: Free school meals: The journal of the health
http://nclive.org/cgi-
bin/nclsm?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1474889049?accountid=14197
Why is it Important to Improve Lunch Time for Students 7
Woodward, J., Sahota, P., Pike, J., & Molinari, R. (2015). Interventions to increase free school
2014-0083