1/07/2007

Feeding the mind, as well as the body

I'm about to use this blog spot to run a poll. One of the duties of the job at the school is to find better ways of keeping the place clean and neat, and in the greatest shape possible necessary for the filling of the young occupants minds. Along these lines I would like to pose this question to readers of all ages. When you respond, if you do, add the decade that you were in school please. This applies to all readers from wherever you went to school, not just BI. The question is:

Were you allowed to take and consume any food what-so-ever into a classroom? Or were you required to eat it in a cafeteria or a room designated just for that purpose?

I'm going to leave it at this point for right now. After a couple of weeks, I'll come back and tell you why I ran this post. TIFN

24 comments:

The Warbler said...

Hey, Ev,

I remember when I got to my first college (in the 80's - that's all I'm sayin') and was astonished that we could actually chew gum or mints in class. In my high school, a very nice facility, just like every other school around, there was no food, drink, water bottles, sport bottles, gum, candy or consumables of any kind unless a special 'party' day - and those special party days had to be written down and given to the custodians ahead of time so they knew to prepare for extra cleaning. In fact, come to think of it, Mrs. Howard confiscated a lot of Jolly Ranchers from me...

The Warbler said...

I meant to say none of the consumables were in the classroom. They had to stay in the cafeteria area.

Anonymous said...

Ev,
During grammar and highschool ( 60's &70's) food, candy, gum or drinks of any kind were not allowed in the classroom. I shared the Warbler's astonishment at beverages at hand in college classrooms, but at that point was too well trained to indulge. I taught at a RI Catholic highschool in the late 80's through early 90's where food, candy, gum and beverages were not allowed in the classroom or gym.
Jayme

Anonymous said...

Everett,we had to eat in cafeteria when i was there (mid to late 80s

Anonymous said...

Elementary school years through high school no foods or liquid of any kind were allowed in the clasrooms. In elementary and junior high(housed in same building) we were responsible for emptying our trays and sorting plates and flatware properly. Each week one student was responsible for taking dust pan and brush in hand to clean under table (assigned seating in those days), and then to get a dish cloth to make sure the table top was crumb free. The assistant principal would light into anyone who did not take these duties seriously. Believe it or not we all wanted to be the monitor and if the assigned monitor were absent, lucky was the student who got to fill in.
No one dared eat anything in the classroom, not even a cough drop. We all must remember the first poor soul who dared to sneak a piece of gum and ended up wearing it on the end of his nose for the day--really! Now the parents would probably sue if the student were denied the right to have a coughg drop. The years I speak of were 1945-1958 so you see it was a different time as we were also ducking under desks practicing for attacks.( not many of us were sure of what an attack was). Times change but cleanliness habits should not be ignored nor should responsibility for not littering or fouling the environment, indoors or outside be tolerated.

Sam said...

Sam, 1970's, Essex and Madison CT, no food outside the lunch room.

Lori, 1970's, Troy OH,no food outside the lunch room.

Eric, Class or 2002, Leander TX, no food outside the lunch room.

Samantha, Class of 2004, Leander TX, no food outside the lunch room.

Anonymous said...

I attended a Catholic elementary school. We did not have a cafeteria, so ate at our desks every day. Children had a rotating schedule of classroom jobs. Taking the trash out of the can, putting the bag in the hallway for the custodian and replacing the liner, washing the chalkboard, and the highly coveted "eraser clapping" (which meant you got to pick a partner and go outside.) And at the end of the week, we were responsible for cleaning our desks, inside and out. If we had an especially messy task, we had to clean our areas with a dustpan and brush.
In High School, we were allowed to consume food in the Cafeteria only. We were not allowed to chew gum.
If we were thirsty, we were directed to the bubblers which not only quenched my thirst, but most likely gave me mononucleosis, on two separate occasions.
In addition if you were caught walking on the grass, you were given detention.
I attended elementary school in the late seventies through mid-eighties, and high school in the late eighties.
In college (90's), I recall some people bringing a bottle of water to classes that ran in the 2 hour plus range. (lectures) But that was a rarity.

Anonymous said...

No food anywhere but the cafeteria. Graduated HS 1971.

Anonymous said...

Went to school on BI 70's thru mid 80's. If I recall correctly no food was allowed in any class room, Barby Michel, Hank Lemoine, and John Warfel. Were ALL there at that time.
What happened? The kids not fat and lazy enough for the teachers to control. So you plump them up to slow them down?

Anonymous said...

The last anonymous post couldn't have said it better. I realize that Everett is not taking issue with the "size" of kids (although we continue to speculate on the childhood obesity problem.... hmm...) it's really the mess they leave EVERYWHERE! I don't recall EVER being allowed to eat in a classroom unless it was a holiday party. Food was forbidden anywhere but in the cafeteria and chewing gum an automatic detention. I attended school in the 80's and 90's. The BI school no longer has any excuses. The new cafeteria is a wonderful space and with the exception of kindergarten and maybe first grade, that should be the only place food is consumed. Didn't we spend enough on this new school??? Students should learn to keep it looking like the bazillion dollar learning institution it it is.

Unknown said...

Ca. the late 80s, the only thing that seemed to be allowed was gum, and that was allowed pretty much everywhere unless you were obnoxious about it.. I asked Julia this question, and her answer suggested that it had never occured to her to eat anywhere except the cafeteria..maybe that is because she is young & can still listen to reason.

Any other school I've been to was pretty strict about not eating in class, although at boarding school you could get away with it, that AND smoking anywhere you wanted I might add.

In Julia's new school (San Francisco Friends), which has no cafeteria yet, according to Julia she gets exactly seven minutes for lunch before she cuts into recess, which, to my dismay makes her leave behind all the healthy (aka "icky") stuff in her lunch.

Sam said...

You know you raise a valid point - kid's lives are so hurried these days, with maybe 7 minutes for lunch. Heck they test the poor devils about 4 times a year now! I know, there I go over-generalizing again ... maybe I should leave it that some kids can be trusted with food and others are just plain old messy, anywhere, anytime, just like the adults. /Sam

Anonymous said...

My school years were the 70's and 80's and like all the previous posts,food was in the cafeteria only,and God forbid you left a mess!
As far as the degree of mess one makes is probably a direct result of their household upbringing.

Anonymous said...

My experience was very similar to Virginia's. I also attended a Catholic elementary school, in the late 50's and early 60's. We did not have a cafeteria, so we ate at our desks every day.

The school also made money selling milk and candy to the kids every day, but you could only eat at designated times (lunch and recess) and if you were caught eating, drinking, or chewing gum outside of those times, you got whatever punishment fit the crime (stuffed into a wastebasket, locked into the coat closet, hit on the knuckles with a yardstick, gum stuck in your ear, slapped, stood in the corner, kept after school to do chores, whatever the nun thought would work to discourage such behavior).

In public high school, we could eat only in the cafeteria (the 60's), but the punishments for breaking the rules were not as severe!

In college and grad school (the 70's), I don't recall anyone eating in class, but it was pretty laid back. Gum chewing was allowed for sure, and much of it ended up stuck under the desks!

Anonymous said...

A light bulb just lit up.!! When I was teaching I had a particularly "needy" inner city class. They not only needed the usual special ed. services but instruction in hygiene, nutrition, and living skills to assist them towards self sufficiency in the future. They also, most of them, lacked that special nurturing that kids from more intact families enjoy. SO, we had (with signed parental permission and permission from the school dept.) tea almost every day which consisted of herbal tea and a healthy snack, all, I may add at teacher expense, but there was no funding and I was glad to be able to institute this activity in my classroom. The kids were responsible for preparing, serving and cleaning up. We enjoyed our 10-15 minutes of civil conversation and sharing and they learned far more than they could have with pencil and paper. This was a special ed. classroom where special activities suited to individual needs was top priority. I am happy to be able to state the the custodian often told these students that their classroom was just about the cleanest in the school. The program worked to everyone's benefit but be assured that wearing outside jackets and hats was not to be tolerated and also that no other food or drink of any kind was allowed in the classroom. This was a few years back but when limits are set it is important to follow through consistently even in this more "laid back" time. No one should feel that he or she can walk away from a mess and leave it for someone else to deal with the problem. These are skills one should learn from one's family, but if not, then the school has to take on yet another burden in its already overburdened list of "to do's'".. PS.... had an irate parent demand of me "Why don't you teach my kid some manners?!" Hang in there teachers and staff. The light will dawn "non illegitimus carborundum!" (sp,?)

Anonymous said...

I went to a progressive, private school in Manhattan back in the fifties (a time, if the other respondents are to be believed, only you and I, Everett, are old enough to remember), and my school mates and I were a fairly pampered bunch of kids. We got to sit in a circle and sing Kumbaya, we were encouraged to express ourselves freely with clay and finger paints, and we called our teachers by their first names. We were even allowed as high school seniors to smoke in a special lounge. (All of which explains why the real world of the 1960's was such a stunning surprise to some of us.) But one thing we were never allowed to do was eat anywhere but the cafeteria -- not in the halls, not in the gym, not in the auditorium and definitely not in the classrooms. And, catching your drift, I have to report that the cafeteria was a filthy mess by the time lunch was over, but the rest of the building stayed remarkably clean. Except for the boy's bathroom on the eight floor, but that's another story.

Everett said...

" non illegitimus carborundum" Latin is NOT my forte, but those words are on my families coat of arms. "Down with the bastards" or something similar, no? Just kidding! Didn't mean to get off thread.

Anonymous said...

School was 60's and 70's, like most, no food or drink unless there was a party. And Non Illegitimus Carborundum means either 'Let the bastards beware' or 'dont let the bastards get you down', it was the slogan on the UBI (University of Block Island) T-shirts sold in the 80's, I still have one I saved.

Anonymous said...

Ev and ex Manissean--you are correct--"don't let the b------- get you down." Words I first learned in 1st year Latin and probably this phrase has kept me as "jolly" as I am, in these golden(ha ha ha ha gasp) years as I sometimes use them as a mantra when I veiw the "crapolla" tossed on our beaches, roadsides and ,it would seem, around our school. Try it Everett. Then get SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING about what I expect is a big problem at our school! Life lessons (one being that we clean up our own messes) are what carries us through life long after we have lost most of our Latin vocabulary. All boils down to personal responsibility for our actions. What lesson is more important than that?

Sam said...

Hmm, carborundum is a trademark name for silicon carbide, which is used for sanding, cutting, abrasives, and industrial diamonds. Interesting ...

Anonymous said...

Come on everett, lets get down to it.

Anonymous said...

The phrase means " don't let the bastards grind you down" . It's not real latin. It was also the motto of an american general during ww2.

Anonymous said...

I was in school in the late 50's, all of the 60's and half of the 70's and then taught in various schools in the 70's, 80's and 90's. In elementary school we ate lunch at our desks but that was it (unless you were lucky enough to walk home for lunch)- there was no celebrating everybody and their brother's birthday in the class every next thing. Occasionally there would be a Christmas or Valentine's treat but that was it. No morning snack time (unless you count the art paste).
In 5th -7th grade it was a different school with a small cafeteria and and the school lunch option (yum - just thinking about fish sticks and mystery meat makes me hungry...) There was absolutely no eating in the classrooms in those years.
8th - 12th grade was at the high school with the big cafeteria - standard fare, although I always brought my lunch. There was no eating in the classrooms (except the home-ec room). However, as you worked your way in to the upper grades and earned open campus privileges, the lure of Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's was always there. It does seem that for the most part, eating was confined to the cafeteria and instruction was in the classroom, the gym or the field.

islandgirl said...

Ev- we were allowed to have water bottles, gum, and cough drops, but other than that (unless it was a b-day party or something) we ate in the cafeteria and that is it. I was in the school system on BI from 87-2000