Eating In Class

A+student+snacks+before+her+first+period+class.

Kirsty Fleming

A student snacks before her first period class.

Kirsty Fleming, Staff Writer

Most students get hungry from time to time in class, some more often than others. The one problem facing hungry students is their teacher’s rules on food and drinks. Many of us have experienced it before; we take out our snack, excited to scoff it down, when our teacher tells us to put it away and get to work.

While there is no district or school policy regarding food in classrooms, individual teachers can decide whether or not their students are allowed to eat or drink in class, and some of our teachers have done exactly that. These rules range from just having to ask when you want to eat to no eating or drinking anything but water while in class.

It may be hard for some students to understand, but teachers sometimes have very valid reasons and personal experiences behind their rules. Mr. Erickson, a freshman honors and junior English teacher, has his own policy on food and drinks in his classroom.

“I had a drink stain on my carpet for a very long time and only recently got it removed. My students can drink water in class, but they have to put any other drinks and food either away in their backpack or on the counter,” Mr. Erickson said.

Some students seem to mind the rules more than others and some don’t really care at all. Other students think it should be up to the school and not individual teachers to decide on a policy.

“I don’t really care too much when I have teachers that don’t let us eat or drink. I think the only people who really mind are the ones that bring in Starbucks or snacks every day. The school should just make an overall decision,” junior Gage Wakeley said.