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.
I agree that spending the extra time to have breakfast would be more benefical for students and teachers. You could even turn it into an academic health unit. With parents and families as busy as they are in the morning, breakfast for students fall off the list first.
ReplyDeleteProviding breakfast to all students in the classroom is also a good way to make sure low-income students are getting breakfast without singling them out. Even students from higher income families are often hurried in the mornings and so do not have breakfast so this would benefit them also.
ReplyDeleteWe are doing a unit on good and bad foods and do this with breakfast and lunch. We have encouraged parents for this week to bring the students with their breakfasts so we can talk about the good nutrition things and the bad. I think it is important to give examples and what better way then to have them use the breakfast they are going to eat.
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