How long should lunch be?

Lunch at our school is 30 minutes. During this time students need to get to the cafeteria, stand in the lunch line, eat their food, and put their trays back. So should lunch be shorter or longer? There are pros and cons to both sides. 

 

The CDC recommends that students should get at least 20 minutes of time to eat their lunches. This does not include the amount of time it takes for students to stand in the lunch line and get their food. However, many times once students are seated they only have 15 minutes or less to finish their lunch. Nutrition experts say that 15 minutes or less is not enough time for kids  to properly eat and digest their food. It is also better for students mental health if they have time to socialize during lunch. 

 

However, if lunch was longer, the school day might also be longer. This would leave students with less time for after school activities, and can also make students more tired from a longer day of school. If lunch was longer and the school decided to keep the school day the same, then lunch would take away class time. Then the teachers would have to fit their lesson plans into shorter classes, and students would have less time to learn the material and ask questions about it. 

 

In my opinion, I think they should just keep lunch period at 30 minutes. I feel like I have enough time to eat lunch, and I don’t think it's worth making the school day longer or taking away from class time. 

 

Do you think lunch should be longer or shorter?

 

If so, how long do you think lunch should be? 

 

Sources: 

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/longer-lunches-smarter-students-the-controversy-of-10-minute-or-1-hour-lunch-periods 

https://www.livestrong.com/article/525829-pros-cons-of-longer-school-lunches/

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  • I think that lunch should be longer because there is not enough time to eat becuase you have to wait in such long lines. Also by the time you get in line and get your food and sit down you will only have a little bit to eat and talk.

  • I personally think that lunch at our school is the perfect amount of time. I think it is a good time and you get some conversions. and go to the bathroom. Sometimes the line is a bit slow and you don't get enough time to eat but that is very rare, at least for me.

  • I think the length of lunch right now is a good length. We stand in line for a couple of minutes but we still have time to eat and relax for a couple of minutes. I think if lunch were any shorter people would be running out of time. But if it were any longer there would definitely be chances for kids to start messing around. 

  • I think lunch is just the right length, but I also always bring my own lunch, so I don't have to wait in line. Although, from watching my friends and looking around the cafeteria, it seems that everybody who eats school lunch has enough time to eat. The ones in the back of the line may be a little rushed, but I think most would agree that they would rather be a little rushed over being in school for any longer.

  • I think that lunch is just fine the way it is right now. If it was shorter most of us wouldn't be able to finish eating. however, if it was much longer then it would just give kids/ students more time to mess around.

  • i feel lunch should be longer as i feel i have no time to eat my lunch and i should have enough time to eat my lunch. also i feel its unfair for the teachers as they have to eat lunch then have no time to prepare for their next class. i feel lunch should be 45 - 50 minutes that might be to long but it would give us students time to socalize and give the teachers time to get ready for their next class.

  • I think that the amount of time we have for lunch is good. I wouldn't want it to be any shorter but if lunch was longer I think it would take too much time out of our day and make the school day even longer. I think 30-40 minutes is enough time to eat and socialize I don't think changing it would be beneficial. 

    • I agree, I wouldn't want the school day to be longer

  • I think lunch should be shorter. Because, many kids get done eating in like 10 minutes. Then you have 20 minutes to do nothing. I think lunch should be 15 minutes so then we arnt at school as long. Then they can take 15 minutes off the end of the day. 

  • I think the time we have for lunch now is not bad, I think it is a good amount of time, you have time to eat and have time to talk with your friends, I think we should keep the time we have now it works for us and it will continue to work for us. 

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