Is 10 minutes for kids to eat lunch in grades 3 to 5 normal?

[shadoww]

I was getting a check ready for my son to order milk for lunch at school this morning and my son who is in grade 3 this year told me he is not ordering any milk because he doesnt have time to eat his lunch as it is. I asked him what he meant and he said in grades 3 to 5 they only get 10 minutes to eat! Their lunch hour is 50 minutes I would think half of that would be to eat! Apparently kindergarten to grade 2 they get 20 then its cut in half in the upper grades. I really feel this isnt enough time, gee adults get half an hour to an hour for a lunch break at most jobs!!

Is this the norm in all schools in Saint John??

[V6Nside]

All the stories about the local schools recently including bullying, supplies sharing, crowed classrooms, unsupervised play grounds and now this is seriously making me think about home schooling, at least through the elementary grades.

I hope this one is not true..

[magoosmomma]

I am not sure exactly how much time my son gets (who is also in Gr 3) but he was only given 15 mins last year in gr 2. So I assume he is only getting 15 mins or less now as well..(although this year they are outside first then eat when they come in.. maybe this will help?)

[shadoww]

I really dont think 10 minutes is enough time, its teaching them bad eating habits from eating too fast!

[magoosmomma]

I agree 100%!

[dittydottie]

Have you called thge school and inquired?Was there an open house last night at your sons school?Get it from the horses mouth and than take it further to the school board.No attention there newspaper would love to share this information.
Weren't they all complaing last year about obesity in children,well wolfing down lunch would sure be adding to this wouldn't it??/

[dan j]

I really dont think 10 minutes is enough time, its teaching them bad eating habits from eating too fast!

Is this true? Is this wide spread?

I bet someone at CBC Radio 1 in SJ would love to hear about this and focus on it as a story piece if it is true.

EXACTLY (to above quote)! It's teaching them that eating is basically a chore, something to do quickly, not enjoy or savour, something that is in the way of other activities. These are poor habits to teach a young person. People need to slow down, eat slowly, enjoy their food, and get more out of the whole experience.

[shadoww]

Tonight is meet the teacher night so we are going to ask about it to make sure he is right if so we will be making a complaint.

[dittydottie]

Please keep us all informed by what they say.

[trinity]

For a lot of years I was a substitute teacher, and I never understood why they sent the kids outside to play for 15 minutes at recess, then brought them inside to have "snack"- this ate up (pardon the pun) another 15 minutes between them retrieving food, eating it, cleaning up, throwing out garbage, getting a drink, peeing etc. When I was in elementary school you took your "snack" outdoors with you- there was NO food allowed in the classroom, period. For lunch all the bus students went to the art room, since it was more than twice the size of a normal classroom, and everyone else went home for lunch. I always went home for lunch from grades 1- 9 because we had an HOUR off, I would have been very upset if I had to stay like kids do now because of time constraints. I get that they are trying to keep kids on track with attention issues and keep the school day short, but really- make them eat their recess snack AT recess OUTside and give them the extra time at lunch.

[shadoww]

The teacher says they have 15 minutes to eat, and ifthey need 5 more minutes a teachers aid will stay with them.
I dont know why my son thinks his time has been cut in half, and also my son in grade 5 says its only 10 minutes too. I think they are rushing them so they can go eat their own lunch. I told her I will tell him to take his time from now on and not rush, he is very thin and cannot afford to not eat.

[dan j]

Why can't they all eat lunch together?

[shadoww]

They eat in their own classrooms.

[dan j]

I mean, why doesn't the teacher eat with the students? I just can't get my head around rushing a child's eating like that.

[shadoww]

I have no idea, they are probably anxious for their breaktime. Which they deserve as well.

[dan j]

Yeah, good point but 10-15 minutes to scoff down a lunch for X* days per year will make kids think eating is something to get out of the way rather than something to be enjoyed so instead of eating good food the foods they're stuck with are things that take 10 minutes to eat, junk.

*However many school days are in a year.

[livkat]

Eating at school can be quite a social time, and some children do more talking then eating. Parents need to keep in mind that there is only 15 minutes for lunch, there is no need to pack the whole fridge.
Also dan, some kids do have to eat just to get it out of the way, it is not something in their life to enjoy. So when my daughter enters school, I hope the time limit is still 15 minutes.

[dan j]

Why isn't eating something they can enjoy?

edit: Meant for kids who have no physical reason why they can't enjoy food.

[gt]

these schools should know it is a proven fact that eating slower gives a person a reduced chance of becoming obese.

[trinity]

I don't know about you, but in a workplace, most people NEED that 30 minutes or more of lunch time to de-stress. Imagine the world of the average worker if they were given 10 minutes to eat and thrown back on the sales floor or phones or assembly line. They would be crabby with customers, not very productive, and prone to make mistakes and have accidents. I know that I am under a whole lot of stress at work and I think it is because I rarely get time away from the desk let alone eat- maybe MY day would go better if I did.

[dan j]

Eating while at a high stress level also kills the chance to digest properly too. In fact, making people eat quickly (with the food that can only be cooked/eaten quickly), making them eat stressed, and not giving people a chance to de-stress is basically killing your workforce.

[adorabull]

I worked at M. G. Teed school a few years back, the children had 20 minutes to eat then go outside.
I stayed with the children and ate my lunch myself, and encoraged the children to eat, and not dilly dally with everything else other than, and to eat the sandwiches soup what have you first not the pudding or oreos lol, and helped open packages and poke juice box straws ect. not just to mention children eating quickly and the obesity but they are growing and need good nutrition, and energy to learn while they are there.

And as Trinity mentioned, I remember eating my fruit roll up outside on the playground as well, oh how times change :0)