Early Lunch

[MuscleHead]

Monica Yant Kinney: Schools should know morning is no time for lunch | Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/26/2009

I had to laugh when I read this. My son had the same experience when he was a freshman at Ryan. I went to the school and attempted to have his roster changed but because of the classes he was taking it just didn't work. Finally we were able to work it out with one of his teachers in a later period. He was permitted to have a snack, usually a power bar, and a beverage during the class. Although the mother in the article brings up some very valid points, for us it turned out to be a non-issue.

On Sept. 10 at 9:42 a.m., Trevor Wuest will sit down for his first high school lunch, whether he's hungry or not. That the Archbishop Ryan freshman may force-feed himself meat loaf and mashed potatoes at such an un-lunchlike hour is a sign of these strange times.

Trevor, a typical teenager, would rather not draw attention to his plight. But his mother, Virginia, is bracing for a food fight.

It's ludicrous, she says, to make students eat lunch when they've barely digested breakfast. Especially since many schools, like Ryan, have strict no-snacking rules.

"Food is fuel. Without it, your brain isn't going to work," Wuest argues. "I know my son. He's not going to be hearing anything his teacher says in last period because his stomach will be growling."

If landing early lunch wasn't bad enough, Trevor's schedule has him finishing the day with . . . algebra.

"Math," Wuest frets, "is his absolute worst subject."

[stonefly]

I went to Ryan in the late 80s/early 90s. The first thing I would look for when I got my schedule was when my lunch period was. Thankfully I never had third period lunch. That is a terrible time to have lunch. There are only so many spaces in the lunchroom and there are a lot of students. Short of constructing a new lunchroom space, the school probably has no other option.

That poor kid in the article is probably going to get ridiculed in school because his mom made a stink and his name got in the paper.

[arlee]

That is really frickin' early to have lunch. I haven't even had breakfast yet.

[robot]

That is really frickin' early to have lunch. I haven't even had breakfast yet.

It is breakfast, not lunch. I don't care if they eat meatloaf, but if you eat at 9:45 it is breakfast. Is the school so insanely over crowded that the students have to put up with this kind of thing? It is a private school right? I once had a 10:30 "lunch" in public school and I thought that was crazy.

[KeepingItReal]

The poor kid will probably come home from school and directly commence pigging out on snacks and junk food before dinner. And they wonder why there is an epidemic of obesity among American children?

[Hospitalitygirl]

It is breakfast, not lunch. I don't care if they eat meatloaf, but if you eat at 9:45 it is breakfast. Is the school so insanely over crowded that the students have to put up with this kind of thing? It is a private school right? I once had a 10:30 "lunch" in public school and I thought that was crazy.

Archbishop Ryan is not a "private" school, but part of the Archdiocesan school system. It is quite crowded, and apparently the school has little choice but to stagger lunch periods in this way.

The only real issue here is that there is the "no snack" policy. To have to go from 10:15 to 3:00 with no food can wreak havoc with blood sugar. I don't know how they don't have more kids pass out, frankly.

[petesgarden]

I had to laugh too - totally old news. At Central I had 2nd period lunch one year, and 7th another. Early lunch just meant you didn't have to do your homework the night before - just in the morning at lunch. Late lunch meant you could leave school early - awesome. Win-win IMHO.

[bobside]

I had last period lunch twice during High School and loved it. Just went right home.

[tipo42]

I don't see what the big deal with eating lunch/breakfast at 9:45 is. This kid could sleep in a little more and skip breakfast at home, and as someone mentioned early finish homework from the night before. So he has to go from 10:30 to 3:00 without eating--Big deal. It's not a surprise that there are so many fat people in America when people like this make an issue out of not eating for four and a half hours.

[Towelie]

That poor kid in the article is probably going to get ridiculed in school because his mom made a stink and his name got in the paper.

My old sixteen year old self came out when I saw this story.

I mean, I almost want to go back to Ryan and make fun of this kid because of his mom myself.

[bobside]

My old sixteen year old self came out when I saw this story.

I mean, I almost want to go back to Ryan and make fun of this kid because of his mom myself.

Da Towel is on da prowl

[wislad]

My old sixteen year old self came out when I saw this story.

I mean, I almost want to go back to Ryan and make fun of this kid because of his mom myself.

Now now, Towelie. Mother doesn't rhyme with smother by accident.

[MuscleHead]

My old sixteen year old self came out when I saw this story.

I mean, I almost want to go back to Ryan and make fun of this kid because of his mom myself.

I showed this thread to my son and we were cracking up. He said if I did that to him he would have gotten himself expelled from Ryan. The humiliation would have been too much to bear.

[robot]

Archbishop Ryan is not a "private" school, but part of the Archdiocesan school system.

You have to pay to go there right? That is a private school.

[Hospitalitygirl]

I don't see what the big deal with eating lunch/breakfast at 9:45 is. This kid could sleep in a little more and skip breakfast at home, and as someone mentioned early finish homework from the night before. So he has to go from 10:30 to 3:00 without eating--Big deal. It's not a surprise that there are so many fat people in America when people like this make an issue out of not eating for four and a half hours.

To be fair, with all of the activities that students tend to take part in, it's not at all uncommon for many to start their days at 7-7:30AM. An early lunch in and of itself isn't the worst thing in the world, it's the fact that one may have to go 5-6 hours before eating again, which is unhealthy, and leads to overeating.

[Hospitalitygirl]

You have to pay to go there right? That is a private school.

Private entails a different tier of school. In this case, think St. Joe's Prep; Holy Ghost Prep; Nazareth Academy; Mount St. Joe's; the various Friends' Schools. They are considerably smaller, elite and more select, and such early lunches are not an issue.

[Tracey]

Monica Yant Kinney: Schools should know morning is no time for lunch | Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/26/2009

Sheesh, are they still doing this??? They did that when I was in 7th grade: I had lunch at 10 AM. I stopped eating breakfast, because I wouldn't be hungry again in time for lunch. Never quite picked up the habit of breakfast again, which really isn't good for your health.

[zvezdochka]

Went to NE and had 2nd period lunch one year. Made no sense but gave us time to talk and bs around (I did homework the night before anyway, being the good girl that I was I remember not eating lunch at all in hs for a long time because I was too lazy to pack it, didn't like the unhealthy stuff the caf sold, and didn't want to spend money on it. So I ate something in the morning (if I did) and then ate nothing till I got home around 5pm. Not the healthiest thing to do but I don't remember it being a problem.

[scotty269]

I had to laugh too - totally old news. At Central I had 2nd period lunch one year, and 7th another. Early lunch just meant you didn't have to do your homework the night before - just in the morning at lunch. Late lunch meant you could leave school early - awesome. Win-win IMHO.

9th grade - 2nd lunch
10th grade - 5th lunch
11th grade - 4th lunch
12th grade (this year) - 6nd lunch

Adv. 08:00 - 08:32
1st 08:35 - 09:28
2nd 09:31 - 10:24
3rd 10:27 - 11:20
4th 11:23 - 12:16
5th 12:19 - 01:12
6th 01:15 - 02:08
7th 02:11 - 03:04

This mother needs to get out of her son's life if he doesn't want her in it. Especially true with such a non-issue like this. So what if he has an early lunch? He should learn to deal with it! At Central, lunch is served EVERY period! Argh, some people...

[toxigal]

[QUOTE=MuscleHead;66235]Monica Yant Kinney: Schools should know morning is no time for lunch | Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/26/2009

my school had shorter lunches but split periods. so 5th period was about an hour and a half long and you spent 25 minutes of that at lunch. If you had B lunch, you went to class then stopped for lunch and went back to the same class (the entire class had the same lunch perios) generally if you had B lunch you had an elective 5th period (Art, music, tech) because it was less disruptive than stopping in the middle of a chemistry lecture. we did have 2 cafeterias for about 2K students - freshman and sophomores had one and there was another for juniors and seniors.