Mead High School contains two different lunches based on a student’s third block. Each lunch is around 35 minutes long. It may seem like a fair amount of time for lunch, but that’s not the case for students attending Mead.
Mead High School’s policy allows for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders to leave campus during lunch, so students do accept the offer. Most who have a vehicle will go to places like McDonalds, Wendy’s, Qdoba, and more. The fast food stores in the area are around a 10-15 minute drive from the high school, but traffic from other students and regular traffic can modify this.
Additional time apart from the drive during lunch can be from ordering and receiving food.
Comparing the time alloted for lunch and the distance of places between the school, it can create unnecessary worry and rush to get back to class. Under this stress, new drivers usually do not make the safest choices while driving. A possible outcome of a student on this time crunch might be speeding or driving recklessly.
If the lunches were increased by 10-15 minutes each day, then the students who choose to leave campus would have that worry lifted. In return, this helps promote caution on the road so students can arrive to school safely without worrying about being late to their next class.
Granting students an extended lunchtime will help create fewer distractions in class, allowing for more time to socialize outside the classroom and improve focus during class.
One lunch period can also ensure students have a friend to sit with. All students should enjoy lunch with friends rather than split lunches, which may prevent this.
To accomodate an extended lunch, the school should add 15 minutes to the school day and end it at 3:00. Lunch would be around 50 minutes.
A longer lunch has many benefits. Those who leave campus would no longer feel the need to rush, and the worry of being separated from friends would be eliminated. As for cautious driving, the school should be aware and ensure their students safety.
