Students should be allowed to eat lunches during classes.

I will not rebut her arguments. =======Counter Arguments======= -----Concentration and Health-----My opponent states that students should be allowed to eat snacks during class time because school starts so early and lasts almost 8 hours, which makes having breakfast difficult. First things first, the school day lasts for less than 7 hours so my opponent is simply factually wrong here [1]. Secondly, my opponent, herself, sourced an article talking about how high schools are starting at later times to allow teens more sleep time, which in term allows more time for breakfast [2]. Thirdly, she states that lunch is only available after 5 hours (1:00pm). This is also wrong. Most schools have lunch time start between 11 and 12 o'clock, which is a 2.5-3.5 hour stretch assuming an 8:30 start time [3]. Some schools even have lunch time-slots scheduled as early as 9:50am [4]. Besides, a 5 hour stretch is not unreasonable. It's fairly common practice to require 5 hours a work before a break is offered [5], so even if it were true that students had to go 5 hours in between meals, the worst you can say this does is prepare students for the real world, which is what schools are meant to do in the first place. Pro then contends that the body is meant to eat every few hours. Firstly, I've already established that the meal-time gap is much, much shorter than my opponent made it out to be, but even if we grant the 5 hour gap to Pro (which isn't even all that long), students get breaks in between classes. Elementary students get recess every couple classes and high school students get roughly 10 minutes of break time in between each class -- more than enough time to eat something if needed. I, personally, ate a sandwich between every single class back when I was in high school. This is just a personal example, so take it as you will, but it establishes that there is time to eat during the school day if you're willing to take it. The fact of the matter is, a break between each class plus a lunch break after only 3 or so hours of total class time is plenty of time to eat. There's no need to take up class time with such things. It will only distract others and keep the student occupied on something other than their school work. It's also worth mentioning that new scientific studies are beginning to show that eating every few hours may actually be incredibly UNhealthy. What we have found out is that keeping your blood-sugar levels constantly elevated results in constant sugar-protein binding to occur. This process also happens when you cook meat. It's called the Maillard Reaction, and if this reaction is occurring within you at a constant rate, you are effectively slow-cooking yourself from the inside out which can result in kidney disease, joint deterioration, stiffening of connective tissues, cataracts, and atherosclerosis [6]. Finally, Pro states that 20% of students fall asleep in class and should therefore be allowed to eat in order to boost energy. In this case, Pro is guilty of equivocation. Fatigue brought about by hunger is not the same thing as fatigue brought about by sleepiness. You can't out-eat a poor sleep cycle and in fact in many cases eating will only make you more tired, not less [7]. =======Sourcing Issues=======Pro has not conducted her sourcing as per the DDO norm. As the result, I can't be sure which of her sources back up which statements, if any. As of now, it appears that that Pro's sources are largely unrelated to the argument that she has presented. Unless my opponent wants to lose the sourcing point in this debate, I recommend that she tie her sources to her claims to allow for easier verification. I don't like having to hunt through my opponent's sources, especially if I'm not sure what argument the source is meant to apply to. =======Conclusion=======I have, in a point-by-point manner, dismantled Pro's argument for why students should be allowed to eat during class. She has exaggerated several factors of her argument, exaggerated on the implications of these factors and drawn conclusions that are unsupported even by these exaggerations. Also, she delivers many of her points in the form of a question, suggesting that she either does not fully support her own argument or that she doesn't fully understand the implications of her arguments. The fact of the matter is, students already have a great deal of time to eat both meals and snacks at school. Meals before and after school are matters that come down to the students time-management ability -- this problem should not burden class time. Teachers are there to educate, not to supervise over an unnecessary and perpetual lunch program. I look forward to your response.1. . http://nces.ed.gov... 2. . http://www.npr.org... 3. . http://www.pvnccdsb.on.ca... 4. . http://www.weightymatters.ca... 5. . http://www.afl.org... 6. . http://www.t-nation.com...7. . http://www.drmirkin.com...