It’s been hours since you ate lunch, and the school day is still far from over. Your stomach is growling, and you’re starting to get hangry. Many schools have a solution: snack time!
Tearra Sutton, a fifth-grade teacher in North Carolina, says letting her students have a snack helps them refuel between lessons.
“That small break has made a difference in their energy, focus, and readiness to learn,” she explains.
Health experts recommend that fifth- and sixth-graders eat one or two healthy snacks per day. For kids who have after-school activities, an afternoon snack in class might be their only chance to eat before dinner.
However, classrooms are snack-free zones in a lot of schools. Some teachers argue that having food and drinks in class can be a recipe for trouble. They point out that students trading snacks and constant loud crunching are big distractions. Cleaning up sticky spills and piles of crumbs can create more work for teachers and take away from class time.