As teenagers, we know, we eat a lot. Definitely more than little kids. But, nevertheless, we are served the same size portions as the little kids at the elementary schools for school lunch.
Moms constantly complain about how their teenagers eat more groceries than they can keep up with, and students always ask their teachers about snacks.
Mrs. Rathgeber says, “I cannot eat anything in my room without a kid asking me for it or asking me if there is more. If I leave a box of something, kids will hint at wanting one, or I even have some kids that just come up and grab whatever it is out of the box.”
Some people, like Ava Minor (11), say, “I wish there were more options for sides. I feel like I eat the same thing every day.”
Jaiden Herzog (10) says, “I often feel unsatisfied after eating school lunch. When I get home, I eat everything in sight because I don’t eat enough at school.”
While, yes, I only eat the little bit that I’m served for lunch, I also bring snacks throughout the day. I’ve seen people on social media talk about how when they’re at school, they only eat breakfast and lunch, but when they’re at home all day, they eat all day long.
I think there are two responses to that. Either, one, they do that, but they’re hungry through the day and eat when they get home because they are so hungry; or, two, they have snacks through the day that keep them from being hungry.
In at least one of my classes every day, I hear someone asking someone else if they have food. In my yearbook class, we all share food every day. Not only should we not have to be hungry, I think having something to eat helps you focus more on your work.
While obviously, we’re not going to have the cafeteria open with full lunch meals all day, I do think that little snacks should be accessible to students. I know we have ‘super-snack’, but that is only after school.
Most kids have to get on the bus, so they don’t have time to get a snack before the bus leaves them. I think there should be little carts, or just opportunities for kids to get little snacks through the day.
