I am at a school for my practicuum where it is all but school policy to give silent lunch if they don't meet their goal for Accelerated REader of Accelerated Math. How do you guys feel about silent lunch in general, do you think it is a viable punishment? How do you feel about it in relation to academics?

I will give my opinion. I think if they are talking in class then it is fine, BUT as a punishment for not meeting academic goals...absolutely NOT!

I agree... for academic purposes silent lunch may not work. I mean they only eat for like 15-30 minutes. Now maybe if you take P.E. from them, then they might fly right. I know when i was little that if P.E. was taken from me, then i was heartbroken and made sure the next that i did my homework

I think that silent lunch is bad, because whatever they are being forced to do during lunch (reading or math) the kids are going to start to hate that subject. They are going to relate lunch time to more work time and not free time. The only way i think silent lunch should be allowed is if the student is being bad.

Silent lunch for academic reasons? Oy vey! Children need time to socialize. If they can enjoy a decent, even short lunch, at least they may be able to focus on work when it's time to get 'back to the grind' - which it sounds like alot of the current educational approach is... grindingly dull and punitive.

Learning in a public school is about learning to be a socially viable citizen. In school, especially in the younger years, children need to interact so they can learn what: to say, to not say, to do and to not do. It a silent lunch is implemented, students are robbed of this, and to me, they are robbed of a very intricate part of their education. Punishment can be administered in a different way for academic misconduct.

yes, i also agree with you....in the case of insubordinance the student should definitely being punished in some way, but i don't think that they should have to be silent the entire time.....with the exception of extreme cases of misbehavior....i feel that punishing them for academics in that way discourages the children to reach beyond what they already know for the fear of punishment....

If you make students have silent lunch, when are they going to talk? That's right, in class. Kids talk. That's just what they do. It's hard for a 5 year old who has talked every day since they could to just stop when they are sitting in their kindergarten class. When you make kids sit silently all day, and their only time to talk is during PE or at lunch, you are going to have a real problem if you have no PE or silent lunch. Let kids be kids. We are making them grow up way TOO fast. We can only do so much when teaching them and helping them learn and grow as students. You can't always help those who don't help themselves. I know I'm going far, but silent lunch will not help in the academic area. It didn't when I was young, so of course I am completely against it.

i dunno...i think that silent lunch is ok as long as it isn't all the time. same for taking away PE. i remember hating silent lunch and having my PE taken away...so i think that to some extent it was successful as a punishment for me. however, if you give silent lunch all the time then you ARE taking away that valauble time to socialize and you are also making the children have a resentment toward you. same for taking away PE too often. i remember my teacher in 4th grade took away recess so many times that i have the impression that we had very very few recesses the whole year. and i look back on that year and that teacher with a lot of resentment. so yeah...i think it would be effective in extreme moderation.

I don't think silent lunch should be a punishment for not finishing assignments or having a specific score, but I do think silent lunch could be used for disipiline if student has broken a classroom rule. I am also at a internship this semester. I am working in a fifth grade classroom and I just had a experience with silent lunch. A group of four students had been given silent lunch because all four of them had gotten into an arguement in class and insulted one another. The teacher I am with actually sits with the students that have silent lunch to make sure they do not talk. I found this very effective. This teacher is very BIG on RESPECT, so he is serious about the punishment if students show disrepect.

Wow. I think that the teacher sitting with the students is effective.
At this very same school, they take the kids out of pe and music for the same 'problem' Just recently i found out that it is illegal to do that. i can see that it is effective but i DO not agree with it because PE and music and art are staple parts of an education. There must be something else you can do

You know, this may sound wierd. In hearing the recent class discussions o silent lunch and bussing, and all of those things, I am not moved to take them away. I am not a big PUNISHER or anything, and it isn't like I want children to suffer. I grew up in Charlotte (all my life), and went to schools where I was at a bus stop at 5 in the morning for school that probably ddn't start until 8:15. I grew up with the idea that I would have a bus ride, and that it may take a while. I also grew up with silen lunch in every classroom I was in. It was a standard for me, and these things just feel natural. I do not think that I will be a teacher who implements silent lunch, or who takes away PE or Music because all aspects of school are important to a good well-rounded education. I don't however see problems with thse "policies" mostly just because I grew up with them as the norm. It may be teacherslike me who grew up with these common practices who continue to implement them, and it is up to each of us to make that judgement for ourselves.

no...not for academics....yes....for disruptive behave....but i don't think it should last the entire lunch period unless the insubordinance is very intense...or is a continual thing....

I was under the impression the Accelerated Reading and Math was an enrichment activity that students could choose to do. At least, the students and teachers that I have worked with used it as such. It was a way for students who had extra time and interest to read outside of the classroom texts. So, punishing students for not completing a extra-honors based assignment is in my opinion wrong. And if the teachers and administrators are expecting all of their students to be in honors programs, then they really need to re-evaluate their opinions of student performance dynamics. The end result of this punishment will be a dislike of education and increased chance of dropping out. And how does that help the student?

I agree. Our goal as educators should be to help rather than to hinder. To me giving students silent lunch is taking away a necessity of life. School lunch periods should not be a place of isolation and work. If punishment must be administered , do it in regards regards to academics rather than a childs free/fun time.

How would we feel as adults, if our break time/lunch time was restricted?

Vickie Flanagan

Silent Lunch..oh my..still in effect!! crazy! i feel it works on some students but others it doesn't, just like any other punishment. I actually do not feel it is an adequate punishment for anything, but if it was gave to any student it should be the blabber mouth, not something educational. That needs to be taken up with the student's grades and between the parent, student, teacher meetings/phone calls/ letters.

I think Silent Lunch is crap (sorry if I offended anyone)! Anyhow, I recently did observation hours at North Wilkes Middle School and several of the students did not turn in their homework so they ended up getting silent lunch. Through out the whole lunch period the students who had silent lunch talked, whispered, threw food, etc. I believe that it does nothing for the students -- its almost a joke to them. The teacher who was on duty watching the students was talking to another teacher and every now and then would yell at the students to be quiet or they would have silent lunch all week!! I believe silent lunch should be done away with and have something new come in that would actually enforce appropriate behavior. Maybe miss PE or reward day?