As you may have heard, there is absolutely no eating in classrooms in the new THS. The only area allowed is in the cafeteria. According to building administration, the main reason given was that crumbs can very easily get left around and attract unwanted critters, so no food helps to keep the school in mint condition for as long as possible.
There may be some positive impact so far, but that doesn’t change the opinions of students and teachers. Teachers are allowed to eat in their classrooms, but some feel for the hungry students. Mr. DiFabbio said, “I feel like it should be a senior privilege, [as] they have the maturity to eat and clean up after themselves.”.
Students report that they have been sneaking food wherever they can, claiming they cannot focus without snacking. According to https://www.nokidhungry.org, “When children are hungry, they typically have less energy and the ability to focus. So you can imagine that feeling tired and distracted impacts a child’s social interactions and behavior.”
Breakfast and lunch are provided for students of THS, but many are concerned that the lack of intermittent snacking is causing a calorie deficit. According to Healthychildren.org, boys require an average of 2,800 calories per dayandd girls an average of 2,200 calories per day. Broken into three meals, this would require students to average 833 calories per meal, which might be difficult to accomplish.
Many students are athletes and require even more food, up to 5,000 calories a day depending on the level of activity.
Junior Nathan Pepler noted an additional obstacle for students trying to maintain healthy food intake: “I think it’s unfair because there are students who don’t have time to eat breakfast.”
Peplar also commented that the time between breakfast and lunch feels unfairly long. “People are hungry; eating isn’t something they should take away for hours at a time.” Breakfast provided by the school is from 6:45-7:10, and the last lunch period is from 11:44-1:14. Thus, some students are currently not allowed to eat for almost five hours.
