Every year at McLean High School, it seems that lunchtime is shorter and shorter. Currently, the schedule states that students have 30 minutes for lunch; however, that time becomes closer to 25 minutes when one considers the amount of time it takes to get from class to a seat in the cafeteria.

This time becomes even shorter for those who wait in lines to buy food or use the microwave. These lines can often take to five to ten minutes. Once a student gets seated with food ready to eat, he or she may only have 15 or 20 minutes until it is time to go back to class.

Many students feel that such a small amount of time is simply not enough during the long and busy days at McLean High School. For instance, senior Alex Karimi states, “Lunch is not a pleasant experience at McLean because it is far too short and therefore does nothing to reduce stress.” . Senior Kaustabh Bose also stated, “Lunch should be a minimum of 45 minutes.”Currently, McLean High School only gives its students one ten minute break during the day other than lunchWith such a little amount of break time, each school day often feels like a sprint to the finish line with little time to rest.  Ideally, lunch time would be a break that helps give each student some time to relax before the rest of the day. At this moment, the lunch break does not do that. Therefore, increasing the time that high school students have at lunch could provide that break that they so desperately crave in the high stress environment of McLean High School.

  The easiest way to solve the current problem without a drastic change of the schedule would be to return to the format that had three lunch breaks instead of four. This would allow the school to increase the amount of time for lunch by five to ten minutes without having to change the time that school ends each day. In turn, both students and teachers would have more time to eat, relax, and recharge before the final class or classes every day.