Children's Rights!

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Why don't children get an hour for lunch anymore? How has this concept been eroded?

It is important for social and educational development.

I think parents and teachers would benefit too.

What do people think?

Funnily enough I've no idea how long mine get after they've eaten their lunch, but I know they have plenty of breaks. Morning, lunch and afternoon. I trust the school to structure the day in the way that works best.

I know of some schools that deliberatly shortened the lunch hour because of bad behaviour by the pupils. They caused too much trouble when they had a longer break. Now they have early lunch, and late lunch breaks, each of 25mins.

Combination of:

• some children find it difficult to cope entertaining themselves that long
• it's cheaper for the schools to pay dinner supervisors for 45mins than the old 75mins

Who do you think is going to supervise them for that length of time? Where are their wages going to come from?

I've noticed this op. It does seem a shame that kids lose out on that social time.

Not for a lot of dc though Jorris
25 - 30mins hanging round a cold playground is enough for a lot of dc

25 - 30mins hanging round a cold playground is enough for a lot of dc

Why?

When I was at primary school 100 yrs ago I, and lots of my classmates, went home for lunch.
So we needed a bit longer so we still had 10 or 15 minutes to play once we got back to school
That just doesn't happen anymore as Mums are out at work now

The school day has been shortened by cutting lunchtime down which saves money on lunchtime supervision but also things like heating and lighting.

If you want a longer school day, it's going to cost money.

i get 35mins for lunch! and 20 for break:’) not sure where all the time went because my school day is also now 15 minutes longer than it used to be 😖

It's silly to title this thread as "Children's Rights". When I was young my primary had a 1.5h break, and many of us went home for lunch. But the school day also finished an hour or so later. Things change. If schools find that half an hour works best, then that is fine, and the school day can end earlier with no loss of learning. Children can socialise after school.

Cost and behaviour. If you have a longer lunch hour, the children have to be supervised for that time. It's not clear that another half an hour playing on a playground with minimal supervision is better for them than half an hour longer at after-school club or having after-school playdates with friends.

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