Lunch: an important part of a teenager’s social life. When they can rest, hang out with their friends, gossip, and have fun. After the stress of classes, a break like this is always welcome. Also, it is necessary to eat to have enough energy to face the day. A healthy meal is the best, but that is not usually what it is found in cafeterias. When people think about cafeteria food, the first word that comes to their minds is not broccoli or salad; it is pizza.

The cafeteria is a service for the students and the teachers of the school, so it is normal to want to know what they think about it. Are they happy with the schedule? Do they like the food? Would they change anything? After asking twenty different students and four teachers, this is what we know.

25% prefer first lunch. They like it because they consider that it is in the middle of the day, and they can eat earlier. They added that the second lunch is too late, and by that time they are starving. The people who prefer second lunch (70%) think that it is better because they only have one class left, and first lunch is “breakfast time.” Some juniors and seniors confessed that during this lunch time more restaurants and fast-food places are open.

When talking about leaving school for lunch, 60% of the juniors and seniors prefer to leave, and  40% of the freshmen and sophomore would do the same if they could.

Some reasons why people prefer to stay is because their friends stay too, they do not have a car, or there is not enough time to eat. While a few of the students stay in the cafeteria to eat, others prefer to eat in classrooms.

40% of the students said that they don’t like anything about the cafeteria. The rest of them don’t care and enjoy staying there. Asking about the things that they do not like, everyone agreed that it is noisy (sometimes you can not even hear your friends) and crowded. Some juniors and seniors even said that they do not like the atmosphere– “too many freshmen and sophomores.”

All the interviewed teachers stay at school for lunch, and all of them bring their own food. Only one of the teachers have tasted the cafeteria food, and she did not like it.

One of the biggest problems with the schedule is the lunch time. 66% of the students that leave school said that there is not enough time to go to the restaurant, buy the food, and eat. Between the recommendations that they have given, the one that appears all the time is students saying, “ten more minutes of lunch.” Even the teachers agree with them saying that lunch should last one hour. Students and teachers have also given other ideas to improve lunch time such as sitting outside, more seats inside, and more variety in the cafeteria menu.  

After listening to all these opinions, we now know the necessities of the students and teachers, so it is time to improve; it is time to make this important place better for everyone.