Kids need to eat!

The average lunch period in US elementary schools has decreased by 6 minutes in the last two years, according to an article in The Boston Globe. Kids have an average of 24 minutes to get their food and eat it. I've learned not to send anything hard to open or slow to eat in my son's lunch. You'd better peel the orange in the morning or it won't get eaten. Even so, there are no guarantees. Often he brings his lunch bag home with not a single thing eaten. Not enough time, he says.

This short break in the day has a lot of functions to fill. It's a social occasion, when kids have a little less structure and a chance to see their friends from other classes. It breaks the day in two, providing an orientation point and a defense against the monotony of arithmetic and handwriting. Most importantly, it's about eating--refueling for the afternoon and for growth.

At least we're not dealing with the absurdities of lunch periods starting before 11 AM. With luck we won't have to face that until high school.