Rule bans students from eating lunch in the hallways
By Leena Laloui
Despite having two separate lunches, finding a place to eat can be difficult given the number of students at Timber Creek. The lunchroom is hectic, and sitting on the many benches throughout the school can get uncomfortable depending on the weather. Many students found a comfortable balance with eating in the hallways during lunch, but recently that option is no longer available. The admin are enforcing a rule in which no students are permitted to eat in the hallways during either lunch. This has resulted in some problems for the students who used to eat in a designated hallway, and now have no place to go. Many students are against this rule because of the business of the school, and how there are virtually no empty or quiet places to eat at lunch.
Anyone who has set foot in the cafeteria during either A or B lunch can testify that it is undeniably loud and hectic. Sitting in the busy cafeteria is not an experience that everyone can tolerate, unless you don’t mind the constant noise and the risk that you might get hit with a miscellaneous food projectile while you attempt to eat. In addition to just being loud, it’s also extremely packed with students, with barely any empty places to sit down. Sophomore Diana Portman, who used to eat in the hallways said, “I think the new rule is ridiculous because the cafeteria is way too loud for me and my friends to eat in without being miserable the whole time.” The only other options for finding somewhere to eat is sitting in the courtyard or finding a teacher who knows you well enough to let you eat in their room all the time, which is a difficult option. About the alternate courtyard seating, Portman said, “Most people want a consistent place to eat in so we always know what the plan is. It’s annoying to be changing places all the time, but the courtyard is either too hot or too cold for us to sit outside all the time.” With the Florida weather, sitting in the courtyard usually means one of three things: you’ve got the hot sun beating down on you the whole time, you’re shivering on a cold bench, or you’re getting rained on. For most students, these options are undesirable to say the least.
Many students feel that lunch is a time where you should be able to just relax and take a break to hang out with your friends, work on assignments, or do whatever you need to get done. With these restrictions on the short amount of time we have for lunch, it’s not as easy to get things done. Sophomore Brooke Cannoe said, “I don’t usually eat in the hallways, but I do eat on the stairs at the back. Recently I was doing my calculus homework on the stairs and an admin threatened to give me a referral because we aren’t allowed to eat lunch in the halls or the stairs. The rule is stupid because the courtyard is so busy and you aren’t allowed to eat in the library, so it’s really hard to find somewhere quiet and peaceful to get things done.” The lunch restrictions make it a lot harder for students to have a solid lunch spot. It’s a recent change too, so a lot of students who have been eating in the same place for months, or even years, now have to go through this shift which can be annoying to say the least. According to Coach Jackson, the reason for this rule is the minority of students who are disruptive in the hallways. He said, “The issue is that 90% of kids can eat in the hallway without causing problems, but 10% can’t, and most of these rules are based off of that 10%. If we could get that 10% to cooperate it wouldn’t be a problem, but in today’s society that’s not easy to do.”
Timber Creek has a large population, and now that the available places to eat lunch have been suddenly cut down, it’s very difficult to find a place to eat that is not only quiet and empty, but comfortable as well. It’s almost become a competition to find the most comfortable spots to eat in. Most of the best spots are taken by the time everyone gets to lunch, and there’s not a lot of vacancies in the cafeteria. The restriction on eating lunch in the halls has left a negative affect or impression on many students who would love to be able to sit in the quiet, calm, temperature regulated hallways to eat their lunch.
Peace and quiet!Sophomore Diana Portman enjoys lunch in the quiet hallways. A practice that is no longer possible due to administration placing more focus on enforcing the rule that students can’t eat lunch in the hallways. “My friends and I think the halls are the most convenient place to have lunch,” said Portman. Photo by Leena Laloui