Hangry kids

My teacher friends may not agree with me, but I agree with this Richmond mother.  My friend Margaret has complained about her two grandsons not eating their lunch, saying they didn't have enough time. I've also heard from other parents and grandparents, children are coming home from school starving and when you open their lunch, most of it is still there!

Nutrition and proper eating time should be part of the school day, then let the children out to play for a good long time to give the teachers enough time to have their lunch.

A J McLellan Elementary School Surrey, School Hours:

Bell Schedule

8:30 Welcoming Bell 8:35 Instruction Begins 10:15 Recess 10:30 Recess ends 11:42 Noon break - outside play 12:07 Lunch entry bell - inside for lunch eating time 12:27 Instruction Resumes 2:27 Dismissal

If the lunch entry bell rings at 12:07, most children will take time to get their lunch, find their classroom, open their lunch and start eating. This is NOT enough time.

I found this article on CBC.CA

Richmond mom Judie Schneider started a Change.org petition
asking for longer adult supervised lunch times for elementary school children in B.C. 

One B.C. mother is tired of picking up a hungry, grumpy kid at the end of the school day and is asking the province to mandate longer lunch breaks, so children have more time to eat.

Judie Schneider says she has heard from other parents in her school district in Richmond that her son is not the only one coming home "hangry," with an uneaten lunch and a bad attitude, because lunch breaks are are only 17 minutes long.

"The kids are hungry from lunchtime onwards until the end of the day and that sets the tone," she told the host of CBC's All Points West.

Schneider wants the Ministry of Education and the B.C. Teachers' Federation to take action and has created an online petition demanding lunchtimes be extended to 35 minutes and be supervised by adults.

The petition has over 7,179 signatures.
'It's chaos'

Many schools in B.C., including in Richmond, have lunch breaks that are around 40 minutes long, however half of that is mandatory outdoor playtime and students often have less than 20 minutes for a meal.

Schools in the Surrey school district for example give students a 45-minute break in the afternoon but only 15 minutes to eat lunch, and in North Vancouver, students have 2- minutes to eat.

This period includes coming in from playtime, retrieving lunch from their backpacks, washing their hands, and cleaning up after the meal.

The result, says Schneider, is wasted food, kids who can't focus on afternoon classes and who return home too exhausted to spend quality time with parents.

The vice president of the Richmond District Parents Association, Andrew Scallion, wrote on the petition website: "I have heard from many, many parents of their frustration with too short eating breaks.

"This is an extremely important issue."

Schneider said parents have also spoken to her about safety concerns, because lunchtime in her son's school is not supervised by adults.

Change Petition