Imagine this: You are in the cafeteria and join a line behind three or four students to use a microwave. You have to wait at least one or two minutes for each student to heat up their food, while precious seconds are ticking away. Finally it’s your turn; you put your food in for two minutes, and at last, you take it back to your seat. Just as you are about to take your first bite, you hear the dreaded phrase, “Alright guys, it’s the two minute warning, please clean up your table.” This is an all-too-common reality of Madison’s brief lunch breaks.
For many, the time spent waiting in line for microwaves or the lunch line consumes much of the 25 minutes students are given to eat lunch. Even students who do not have to wait in line find themselves trying to eat quickly. Conversations are cut short, food is thrown away unfinished and students rush back to class feeling like they hardly had a break at all. While students who buy lunch don’t need to wait for the microwave to heat their food up, their lunch time gets eaten up waiting in the long lunch line.
Needing to rush to finish lunch before the bell is also bad for students’ health. Currently, many students aren’t able to finish their lunch because the period is too short. Students will not feel as energized and replenished, leading them to be tired and less focused in their next class. Lengthening the lunch block would help students get the nutrients they need to perform well in their later classes. Furthermore, eating lunch consistently allows the body to align its biological clock–the circadian rhythm–with its environment.
In addition, extending lunch breaks gives students more of an opportunity to interact with others. Due to heavy workloads in many classes, students are often limited in the amount of time they can connect during the school day. The primary time for students to socialize is the lunch break, but with only 25 minutes, this time passes quickly and conversations are brief. Students have to stop mid-discussion to say goodbye to each other as they hurry back to class.
Although lengthening the school lunch period has many advantages, there are various challenges, specifically with balancing class time and lunch breaks. By law, Virginia schools must allow the time for five and a half instructional hours for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Schools also have to leave time for extracurriculars, which could be shortened if an extended lunch break leads to a longer school day.
However, these difficulties do not mean it is a problem that can be ignored. Students need time to eat and socialize, and the current lunch break is simply insufficient. Madison should extend its lunch breaks to meet the needs of its students.
