The teacher has stopped her summary and is now focused intently on you. You must act quickly now, because her gaze is once again headed in your direction. You either swallow the gum, letting it fall to a pit in your stomach, or stick it under the desk, adding to the already colorful array of gum that's there. In almost any high school you visit throughout history, the issue of gum is ever-present. And the number of kids who disregard the rules to get a few smacks in before school's out will be just about the same.
Schools forbid gum in class for various reasons.
Some claim that it distracts us from our school work. While others say that since we litter the undersides of the tables with gum, we do not deserve the privilege. But in the eyes of most students, these ideas may be easily countered. School administrators think that since we put gum under the tables that we shouldn't be able to chew it in school. But if we were allowed to chew it we wouldn't have any reason to put it under the desks.