This battle has been going on year after year, generation after generation: the battle for the time period of lunch.  At YLHS, the lunch period is only 30 minutes long, and that is far too short for students to do everything they want to do.  However, passing periods are 7 minutes long, and it does not take a full 7 minutes for students to walk to their next period.  Therefore, YLHS should take off 2 minutes from each passing period and use that time to extend the lunch period.

One reason that the lunch period should be longer is because students often have club meetings or other various responsibilities during lunch and they simply do not have enough time to finish eating their lunch.  

Ryan Lowery (10) complained that “our lunch periods are shorter than Kevin Hart.”  

There have been multiple occasions when I personally have not been able to finish my lunch because I had other obligations that took up time and prevented me from doing so.  If students are continually unable to finish their lunch, this may have lasting repercussions on their mental and physical health throughout the days and weeks.  Any lunch period that is not long enough for students to eat their lunch is completely inadequate.

Another reason that the lunch period should be longer is so that students can socialize more.  There are two major parts of school life, academic and social, and both are important.  Even without other lunchtime activities, 30 minutes is barely enough time for students to both eat lunch and socialize with their friends, especially if the student has to take time to buy lunch as well.  The social aspect of high school is crucial to a student’s life, and a short lunch impedes on the student’s opportunities to develop friendships and relationships.

Now, one might argue that a longer lunch period will only extend the length of the school day and make it less bearable for the students.  However, this problem is easily solved by cutting out unnecessary time wasted during passing period.  If a student walks from one class to another at an average pace without taking any detours, even if the classes are across the whole campus, it will take a maximum of 5 minutes.  Shortening passing periods will effectively add up to 10 minutes of time to the lunch period without making the school day longer at all.
Lunchtime is one of the most important times of the school day, and keeping it too short may have negative consequences.  There is actually a simple solution, though, that adds time to the lunch period without any detracting repercussions.  The battle for the length of lunch has been raging for years, and at YLHS, it is time for the tides to take a turn for the better.