Misplaced Priorities at a Session on Schools
The article is about Chicago Public Schools wanting to mandate that the first instructional class open with pupils having breakfast at their desks, even at schools already offering pre-class breakfast. Pre-class breakfast is breakfast that is already provided by the school that is in the cafeteria. The interim chief of the public schools wants all children to have breakfast because the link between nutrition and academic performance is clear. Having breakfast in the classroom would take away 20 minutes from academics instead of 10 minutes from the pre-class breakfast.
I feel that having breakfast is important because it provides the brain with energy needed to be successful in school. It has also been proven by Abraham Maslow that children need the nutrition to help them learn (physiological needs). I have found that with the student I teach that if he doesn’t have breakfast his behavior is worse; because he is focused on being hungry rather than focusing on his academics and what he needs to be doing.
I believe that it comes down to what is more important for the teachers in the classroom. Spending 10 extra minutes on breakfast so that the students are full and not hungry or trying to teach to students who are hungry and acting out because they can’t focus.
