Many studies have been conducted and reported on regarding school lunch policies. News outlets such as the New York Times, NPR, and even the Today Show have done reports on the lack of nutrition that schoolchildren are receiving nationwide. Unsurprisingly, students consistently do not receive enough calories to function at the level that they need to. I am writing as a concerned sophomore looking to see what can be done about this problem in our own school. It is important for all of our students to have the ability and opportunity to eat a complete lunch, so that they can succeed throughout the day. The best way to ensure that all students get that opportunity is to allow food in the Learning Commons.
Many studies have found that the reason
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The solution to these concerns is accountability. When students reach high school, they are automatically given gargantuan amounts of responsibility; which only increases with grade level and age. The staff at Orange place a large amount of trust upon its students; which is shown in the fact that we even have Plus Lunch at all. The fact that many students choose to use the Learning Commons shows that many of us have honored our commitment to use Plus Lunch constructively. If the students can be trusted to spend an hour of lunch however they like; then it is reasonable to assume that we can be trusted to eat responsibly as well. The Learning Commons is vigilantly patrolled during Plus Lunch as it stands, and if any student were to be seen making a mess or not being productive; proper reprimanding could be performed.
On the issue of distraction, any student who is willing to go to the Learning Commons and not eat at all in order to get their work done; will not likely be too distracted by their food. Finally, it would be difficult for students to seek out other places where they could both work and eat; because the Learning Commons has many resources not found in other areas of the school, and tutoring schedules for classes are often confusing, hard to remember, and inconvenient; forcing students to ferry themselves from classroom to classroom; further disparaging their