Is Lunch Long Enough?

Lunch is the one sacred period of the day. A time of 40 minutes that we don’t have to worry about classes, or we can catch up if we are behind. However, the length of 40 minutes is not enough for what we need. This is brought up not only by students but even by staff. Mrs. Nurmi, the Senior sponsor for this year, brought up how when she was in high school, they had a 50-minute lunch. “ We had time to eat our McDonald’s- at McDonald’s. You didn’t have to bring it to your next class.”
But while that may be true of them, the current 40-minute period for lunch is difficult to do anything with. Gabby Welsh, a Senior this year, also agrees that lunch is too short. “I often have to meet with teachers and eat. I don’t have enough time to do both, though, so it’s either fix my grades or eat.” This is a common problem, not having enough time to eat your lunch, once you get it.
This problem extends to everyone, so much so that even the freshmen are feeling the heat. Amiee Cowles, who is entering her freshman year, explains the difficulty of the situation. “It’s hard to leave campus and come back on time unless you have someone who speeds” This brings up an interesting point: if lunch were longer, is it possible that the roadways around Dimond High would be safer because the students wouldn’t feel the need to speed back? We’d have time to eat and socialize without feeling rushed.
Chloe McKay, a sophomore, brings up another good point about why she thinks a longer lunch period is a good idea. “I’d like a longer lunch period because I study during lunch, so it’d be easier. Lunch isn’t long, so it’s hard for everyone to have enough time to eat and socialize. And it’s hard to redo a test during lunch, so if it was an hour, they’d have the equivalent of a full class period to redo the test.” Students whose grades depend on being able to retake a quiz or such during lunch surely would appreciate more time.
In conclusion, the vast majority of the people at Dimond would prefer a longer lunch period. The reasons for such a change are numerous. Whether it be the lack of time to eat, the absence of time to socialize, the difficulty of completing an hour’s worth of work in 40 minutes, or even keeping the roads around Dimond safe, only one thing could help these issues simultaneously: having the lunch period extended to one hour.