張貼日期：May 02, 2011 6:6:45 AM

School Rules: Eating in the Classroom

Roger

      Imagine you are learning hard but the classroom is filled with food packages, pungent smell from food and annoying sound. Is that a good environment for you to acquire knowledge? Some people will say they cannot pay attention in the class if they are hungry. It seems that, in some ways, moderate eating help people learn well. Although having snacks in the class might help you to improve the efficiency of learning, it will also affect the teacher's teaching rate, disturb other students and cause mess in the surroundings. For these reasons we should not eat in the classroom when the class is going.

      First, eating when teachers are teaching is very impolite. Some teachers regard this behavior as rude and ill-mannered. Someone will say that not all teachers will care about this situation, but we cannot predict whether this teacher will accept students’ eating in the classroom or not. In the class, showing your respect to the teachers is necessary. If a teacher has a good mood while teaching, it can not only improve the teaching quality but also create a happy atmosphere for learning. In this easy environment, students will learn better. If students eat when teachers are teaching, it seems very rude and discourteous. If the teachers feel that they cannot receive respect from the students, they may have less passion in teaching.

      Another reason is students who eat in the classroom will affect others who want to concentrate on learning. Unpacking the package of food, chewing and swallowing food, and popping up coke cans can all produce annoying sound that will disturb others’ learning. The smell from food, especially the food which has heavy odors such as fried chickens, stinky tofu, or something with garlic source, will distract students from textbook reading. Maybe some would insist that they cannot pay attention to the course when they are hungry, but we still cannot ignore the other students’ right of learning.

      The third reason is students often leave their food packages under the seats. Most students have no good habit to take their trash way when they leave the classroom. What a terrible thing it would be if every student threw trash on the ground when they left. I had an experience going to the class after lunch time and found a pile of garbage under the desk, or sometimes there were drinks spilling on the floor. The classroom was totally a mess. How can one feel comfortable and study in this kind of environment? I think no one will tolerate stepping on disgusting food waste.

      Students cannot eat in the class for three reasons, which are reducing teaching quality, affecting learning efficiency, and messing up the surroundings. If we can discipline ourselves, I think eating in the classroom is acceptable. After all, moderate eating helps us increase our learning efficiency, but we cannot make sure that everyone can have good control over themselves. Someone may break the rule by accident. Because of this reason, making a school rule to prohibit students’ eating in the class is necessary.