Pros and cons of a longer lunch

For many people, lunch is the best part of the school day. They get to talk to their friends, eat lunch, and have a break from learning.

Should Jenison have a longer lunch period? Here are the thoughts of a few members of JHS on why or why not.

Pros vs cons

Most people enjoy lunch, yet it is the shortest part of the school day. Most of the people interviewed said that if they could, they would make lunch five to ten minutes longer. “I would want a longer lunch hour so you could socialize a little more,” said Skyler Noe, a sophomore here at Jenison. So what are the benefits? Students could have more time to socialize with their friends. For those friends whose only period together is lunch, it can provide a great boost in their mood each day. Longer lunch also means more time to eat. Especially for students waiting in the long lunch line, 25 to 30 minutes can feel too quick. Finally, a longer lunch period might mean a longer mental break. School can take a toll on people and more time to take your focus off classes can be nice.

How about the cons? Noe said “if you don’t have any friends then it would be boring and sad,” while Sammy Robinson couldn’t think of any. If you do not know anyone during your lunch period, you might disagree with most of the pros. It can be pretty unenjoyable to eat alone for half an hour, in which case you would not want a longer lunch. Another possible con might be a longer school day. Changing the lunch period would also mean changing the length of other aspects of the day. Would we keep the class lengths the same and extend the school day? Or shorten passing periods? Or shorten class lengths and have less work time and more homework?

Off-campus lunches

How would extending the lunch period affect our juniors and seniors leaving campus? With the current 30 minutes, it can be tough to drive to your desired location, eat your food, and get back in time. “Some of our local businesses I think could really benefit from having, you know, three-four hundred kids that go out to lunch and have time to be able to get back in time but to go out and you know, hit up some of those local eateries. I think that’d be a good thing” says Mr. Formsma, a language arts teacher at Jenison. A longer lunchtime could allow students more time to wait in fast food lines. They could also go sit down at our local restaurants like The Win.

So what is the verdict? From the people interviewed, there were more pros than cons, but does one side outweigh the other? Sammy and Skyler said their pros were stronger. Mr. Formsma felt his cons were on par with his pros, which is why he felt comfortable with the current lunchtime. Students might want more time to eat or talk, while a teacher may think that 30 minutes is the perfect length. There are valid arguments for both sides, but it seems wanting a longer lunch is the more popular opinion.