Like many things in life, school goes by in a blur; if not the classes, then definitely the breaks. Many students believe passing periods are too short to remember and that the nutrition break is so rushed to the point where it’s hard to finish off a bag of chips. Lunch is no different; 30 minutes may be enough to eat a meal, but things become tricky once you have to do anything other than that. The first thing students have to worry about is actually obtaining their lunch.
“Waiting in the cafeteria line takes about five to seven minutes,” freshman Reyah Tokhi said.
After their food is secured, students have to use their time wisely to relax and clear their minds of all the stress caused by classes and school in general.
“Do you know how much effort it takes to maintain a 4.0 GPA? It’s way too much. I can’t do it all, and my lunch—which should be a simple aspect of my day—just getting food in my system so I can function during classes, is too short for me to even do that. We need longer breaks,” freshman Dahlia Valencia said.
The struggle becomes even more real when using the restroom is added into the mix.
“The lines are super duper long. You have to wait until the very end of lunch to go to the bathroom.” freshman Sehna Fiamor said.
With this in mind, students have to choose whether to waste half of their lunch waiting for the bathroom, or to go during class—which isn’t as easy as it should be.
“Teachers are only allowed to let one student go to the bathroom at a time—which I understand; but I’m a cross country runner, and I have to drink tons of water, so I constantly need to urinate—and when there are four girls trying to use the bathroom in front of me, it’s not very good for my bladder.” Valencia said.
Coincidentally, most club meetings here at MHHS are also held during lunch.
“All club meetings run so short. Especially for things like debate club, where we need time to physically prepare our debates. We can hardly get a sufficient argument in the allotted twenty minutes that we’re together.” Valencia said.
Along with debate club, she’s a member of comedy club and half the sky.
Although there are many compelling reasons to lengthen lunch, it’s understandable why there may be mixed opinions on the matter. It’s school after all—the whole reason it exists is to give people an education. Lunchtime is not the priority. But at the same time, it’s not like students are asking for two hours to sit around and do nothing. They just want to be teenagers and avoid having to plan out every aspect of their lunch just so they can get a conversation in with their friends.
“All we would need is ten more minutes to account for time lost waiting in lunch lines,” Fiamor said.
