No time for lunch: ‘They come home with a sore stomach’
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Full cups and half sandwiches; many children come home after a day at school with a (half) filled lunch box. They often don’t have enough time in the lunch break. That should change, you think.
On social media you reacted en masse to our statement: ‘The lunch breaks in the continuous schedule are much too short’.
Angela: “Certainly! Our youngest is of the ‘stuff it in, because then you can play’, the oldest comes home with everything and something in her lunch box and ‘yes, sorry, there was not enough time’.
Serena: “Time is often not the problem, but a film is often set up. As a result, the children ‘forget’ to eat. And then the drums are not empty.”
Lizzie: “My son gets 20 minutes on a timer. I don’t think it’s such a good one, that timer and then relatively short. Sandwiches (2, because toddler) and pieces of fruit often finished or almost finished, but regularly full drinking cups. I would allow fifteen minutes later and then leave school fifteen minutes later.”
Kelly: “At sometime! They always come home with a sore belly. Even on a school trip, my son had only one 10-minute break. If they still wanted to eat afterwards, it had to be done quickly, quickly in between.”
Eveline: “My daughters only get fifteen minutes, sometimes even ten! The school indicates that the children want it that way and do not need thirty minutes. As a parent, I disagree with that!”
Reanna: “My son has ten minutes to eat, fifteen minutes to play and then inside. My 11-year-old son just manages to eat one sandwich and have a drink. So he is often hungry and also has a headache.”
Different sound
Fortunately, it can also be done differently. For example, Samantha says: “The school our daughter attends takes the time to eat. The lunch box always comes home empty; she still has time to eat tomatoes and cucumbers in addition to two sandwiches.” It does not look familiar to Nazife either: “My child will eat everything neatly.” Leonie thinks we shouldn’t ‘pamper’ our children like that: “It’s also a matter of practicing eating at home. There is not half an hour of eating time at school. That has to be done at home.”
“It is also a matter of practicing eating at home. There is not half an hour to eat at school.”
Mirre is a teacher in a middle school class and speaks out about all ‘hard opinions’. “We first play outside and then have lunch. After fifteen minutes, almost everyone has just finished their food and drink and if not? Then you can really eat or drink something while I start the class.” She continues: “And, yes, in one break we watch NOS Youth news or The core (educational) and in the other break I read aloud. I think it’s a shame that everything about education is portrayed in such a negative way. That doesn’t make the profession any more attractive in times of shortages.”
What do you think?
