When lunch comes around in third block, most students have either already eaten half of their lunch or wish they had. Seeing as the normal student eats breakfast around 6ish, that’s almost another 6 hours until they eat again. But with the onslaught of pests and vermin throughout the school, the administration is cracking down on eating outside of the cafeteria.

With the new rules come new issues, one of which is the fact that students are losing focus due to their hunger. With not eating for over 6 hours, the students are losing concentration in their classes. This could take a potential toll on students when their grades start plummeting. Yes, it is a good idea to make sure that the students do not attract pests with their carelessness but it is also a priority for students to get the best education they can get, something they are not able to do while hungry. That’s the issue; do you sacrifice eating in classrooms to keep the pest problem at bay or do you enact rules in which students must clean up after themselves in order to be able to better commit and focus themselves to their studies?

The staff and administration met recently on solving this issue. Their conclusion was as follows: no food is to be consumed outside of the cafeteria in any circumstances. Teachers wishing to involve food in a lesson must get in contact with an administrator prior to the event for clearance. Any student who eats outside of the classroom will fare disciplinary action.

The reason? As mentioned before, stray food can attract pest such as rats and cockroaches into our building. As Jack Sclar, Assistant Principal put it, “Linganore High School was completely torn down and rebuilt due to their pest problem.” Personally, I don’t think tearing down our school is worth a little snack in Second Block.

It comes down to this; no eating in classrooms. There are many solutions to combating midday hunger. One of which is eating more at breakfast. And if you don’t eat breakfast, start! Eating more protein rich foods like peanut butter or sausage will keep you more full for longer, making you able to get through the day without the need to snack throughout your classes. Because not only is eating in classrooms not sanitary, but can also be very rude. When a teacher is giving instruction and you’re chomping away at some potato chips you disrupt the entire class and the learning environment, which can lower your grades just as much as not eating would.