Every day between the hours of 11:37 to 1:39, Lafayette students go to lunch in 5 separate blocks. These blocks are organized by class type: Math, English, Science, etc. This system has been in place and has worked well for quite some time. However, a problem arises when you look into the amount of time each student has during their lunch break.
To many people, 25 minutes may seem like plenty of time to finish eating your lunch and return to class on time; however, as has been shown repeatedly by many students, it becomes too difficult to eat your lunch quickly when in conjunction with other factors.
For example, the lunch line usually gets very long and causes students to miss out on their already short lunchtime. Many students must wait in this line daily and, by lunchtime, find that they need more time to finish their meal.
Another factor would be the bathrooms. Many teachers will advise students to use the bathrooms during lunch instead of going during classes or in the hallways. However, when students go to the bathroom during lunch, it is likely to have a rather large line, which takes up even more of the minimal lunch time.
When asked about her opinion on the length of the lunches, Alyssa Lucas, a sophomore at Lafayette High School, says, “I think it depends on whether the student is bringing their lunch or getting school lunch. If they are getting school lunch, then no, they don’t have enough time because I’ve seen people like 10 minutes before lunch ends still in the lunch line. Teachers expect us to use the bathroom at lunch [also], so 25 minutes is not enough time to go through the lunch line if you do, find a seat, eat, and use the bathroom. It’s not possible.” This is an opinion shared by many students who also have difficulty adjusting to strict lunch times.
The Times polled 100 students on their thoughts on the school lunch times, and their answers revealed the numerous problems surrounding the lunch system.
When asked, “Do you think we have enough time to eat lunch daily?”
85 students responded with no, with most students citing reasons like the extensive lunch lines taking too long (lines can usually take 5-10 minutes to get through and sometimes get to 15 minutes) and the long bathroom lines.
15 responded that they find that they can eat food each day by the time lunch ends. This data reveals that the overwhelming majority of students are unhappy with this system and that it should be changed in some way to benefit the students.
It seems that lunches are kept so short to fit all lunch periods into 3rd block. However, if we could extend lunches into parts of the 2nd and/or 4th lunch periods, students would have more than enough time to eat their lunches daily.
