As everyone knows by now, we are experiencing a new lunch system at Roosevelt called “20/20 lunches” and students at RIS are not happy with it.
According to students interviewed by journalists from The Rough Rider, the program splits up friends, doesn’t give students enough time to eat, and overall causes the majority of students unhappiness.
A poll of 190 students from all grades at RIS shows just how unhappy they are: 178 out of 190 told us that they don’t like 20/20 lunches. That’s equivalent to 93.6%.
Of the multiple reasons why students are displeased, one of them is for social reasons. Due to the random selection of lunch studies, many students are split up from their friends and on some days they have to eat lunch alone because of that.
“Me and my friends are in different groups, so we don’t get to eat with each other,” says 8th-grader Jack Weingarten.
Another reason why students are disappointed with the program is because it doesn’t give students enough time to eat. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that students get no less than 20 minutes to eat lunch.
However, that means 20 minutes to actually sit down at their table and eat — excluding time that is lost waiting in line or walking from class to the cafeteria, according to Action for Healthy Kids.
7th-grader Emma Simms further explains, “I do not like the 20/20 lunches because I want more time to eat my meal and socialize with my friends; I leave the cafeteria hungry.”
Another student, 8th-grader Anna Sheldon, said that on average she only has about 10 minutes to eat after waiting in the lunch line, walking to the cafeteria, and cleaning up.
During a press conference with The Rough Rider, Mr. Gechtman talked about how he and other administrators from different school districts have been brainstorming how to make an optimal schedule, including discussing a block schedule where you don’t have the same class every day and making classes and lunch longer.
He also explained how his main duty is to keep students safe, and in order to fulfill that task, he can’t have 200+ students in the lunchroom all at once.
He stated, “I want to make sure once you get to school you’re in a safe, warm, environment where you feel comfortable to learn and grow. Too many students in one room at one time creates an unsafe environment.”
However, although social issues exist with the current program, that isn’t the only issue that arises. The fact that students don’t have enough time to eat also jeopardizes their safety, according to Action for Healthy Kids.
The fact of the matter is that most of the students don’t want to eat all at once. So they suggested other alternatives such as 30/10 lunches, 40/40 lunches, choosing your lunch study, and more.
In conclusion, 20/20 lunches not only upset students due to social reasons, but also pose a risk to their safety and well being.
If you’re in that group of students who don’t like 20/20 lunches, you are encouraged to scan the QR code attached to this article. The QR code will bring you to a website called change.org. You will have to create an account (which is considerably easy, we recommend using your home google account). Once there you can sign the petition calling upon the administration of Westfield, New Jersey to change 20/20 lunches.