Everybody knows the embarrassment of trying to open a bag of chips in class. The loud bag crinkling in your backpack, the sounds reverberating throughout the room. You hold your breath. The teacher didn’t hear, right? She is one of the strictest teachers when it comes to eating in class, and if she caught you, you would surely be kicked out of the room. But you don’t care. You’re way too hungry to let this opportunity pass you up. She tells you that you can’t eat in her class, which gets you thinking, if you can eat in other classes, why can’t you eat in this one?

The Menlo community has always been on the fence when it comes to eating in class, and the rule varies from teacher to teacher. Nevertheless, most students still occasionally eat in class, whether it’s due to hunger, an unfinished lunch or just to refuel. The rules should be clearer about what is allowed, and students should be permitted to eat more freely in class without fear of getting in trouble.

Snacking in class can help you stay full, allowing students to remain focused on their classwork and assignments instead of getting hungry and distracted. According to No Kid Hungry, a program run by nonprofit group Share Our Strength, 80 percent of teachers observed that hunger decreased concentration and 76 percent saw that it decreased academic performance. So, allowing students to snack in class will increase their concentration and help them perform better on tests and assignments. 

Food also stands as a way for students to connect. Many students enjoy sharing food with their friends during group work. People also often share food with their friends while working together, and you may have had this happen to you when a friend breaks out some gum or sweet treats during class. Additionally, some language classes even encourage eating by providing candy and allowing students to make food as homework, which they can bring into class for others to enjoy. 

The latter has become a tradition in both the Mandarin and Latin classes. In Mandarin, students often find themselves making traditional Chinese foods during a class lesson. For instance, students celebrate the mid-autumn festival by making mooncakes or the Lunar New Year by making dumplings. Similarly, in Latin, students are asked to bake ancient Roman bread recipes and bring them into class, with the students even being able to share their bread results with their peers. Jennifer Jordt, one of the Latin teachers, even allows students to buy food off of her to eat and share with their friends, helping raise funds for the Latin club, the Junior Classical League. Even Flik, Menlo’s dining service, helps students out, giving out to-go boxes by request and allowing students to take their food wherever they need it.

Now, despite all of these accommodations, there are still some classes that are quite adamant about their no-eating policies. Particularly the science classes, which, once you get to the higher grade classes, tend to feature more and more hands-on work with dangerous chemicals that could potentially be harmful if ingested. Due to that, science classes are an exception to the benefits of eating in class.

However, some teachers don’t like having food around simply because of the “distraction,” something I disagree with. In some computer science classes, students usually aren’t permitted to eat since their food may get stuck to their computer keyboards, potentially causing some damage, and also because the room may get messy. Despite this, I still don’t quite agree with this sentiment, as some students just don’t have the time or the accommodations to eat before class, especially if they were rushed or didn’t get a proper meal beforehand.

All in all, I think it’s pretty safe to say that eating in class at Menlo should become a more prominent option. Eating in class should be allowed, but students should be more careful about where they eat, being mindful of the potential health hazards around them.