Social time or just for eating?

[steelcrazy]

This comment from another post in this group got me to wondering what you think lunch time at your child's school should be like and why?

"yeah but for me i don't consider lunchtime socializing but more about eating because they go to recess afterwards.  if my son is socializing & playing with his classmates then he's not eating like the other 90% of kids at school who just throw most, if not all their food away. "

Should lunch time be a time for the kids to socialize and interact with each other or should it be a quiet time for them to only eat?  Why do you feel that way?

BTW - please forgive me for any typing or spelling errors that I may have made by mistake.  Unfortunately I have more than one thing going on at the moment and this doens't have 100% of my full attention like we all know that CM should.

[steelcrazy]

How do your kids feel about that?

Quoting angelgrl5200:

my kids lunch room is eating only lol....I was actually surprised to find out, but they are not allowed to talk too much in the lunchroom.

[TheBabyFactory4]

Well if they aren't eating then socializing becomes a problem. The main purpose of lunch is to eat. Then socialize if you can

[mama_grizz]

I have no issue with my dd socializing at lunch. She always has a good breakfast, and a snack after school. She has a pretty fast metabolism, too, so even if she has all of her lunch she's hungry by the end of the day. Used to be that lunch was the only time they really got to socialize, as recess was more running around burning energy.

[Tara922c]

It should be for both. Many schools have a no talking lunch every single day, and it drives me insane. The school that I student taught at last year has a great system. There are stop signs on every table, when the stop signs go up, the students know that they are not allowed to talk. The signs are up for the first five minutes of lunch, and the last five minutes of lunch. Works out great, kids eat, kids socialize.

[jaytee]

Both! My kid will learn to eat if they talk too much, lol!!

[natesmom1228]

I think it's both. My son will eat and talk at the same time. I think it's important for lunch to be a time to let off steam. Not all kids go to recess right after lunch ( if at all) so this might be the only time to socialize during the day.

[angelgrl5200]

they don't know different, its been like that in all schools they have been in. some were way stricter than our current school but they seem to not mind. they can talk to the people sitting next to or across from them, but if they get too chatty a lunchroom attendant will step in and remind them eat not talk lol

Quoting steelcrazy:

How do your kids feel about that?

Quoting angelgrl5200:

my kids lunch room is eating only lol....I was actually surprised to find out, but they are not allowed to talk too much in the lunchroom.

[CarlysMommy1]

It's a time for them to socialize a little bit, but mostly for eating.  I can tell the days that DD socializes too much during lunch because she'll still have most of her food in her lunch bag when we get home.  They really don't have much time for lunch.  They have 25 minutes from the time they leave their classroom to walk to the cafeteria until the time they leave the cafeteria to walk to the playground.

[mommybug77]

They don't get recess at all so I have no problem with them socializing.

[steelcrazy]

Now that would suck for sure

Quoting mommybug77:

They don't get recess at all so I have no problem with them socializing.