Do we really need to ban chewing gum in school?
This is a question plenty of students are asking daily. Throughout the school day, students may crave a piece of gum. But, in many schools, gum is now labeled as a distraction or as a mess. Though these opinions or concerns are valid, it is also important to see the benefits that come from chewing gum as well.
Chewing gum, even during classes, can help with a student’s concentration and attention span during lessons or other school work. This is also an advantage that teachers would have, since their students would be more concentrated as they were teaching them. This can also help with stress and anxiety, which some students suffer from on a daily basis.
Scientific American conducted an experiment with 20 random participants, and they found that “they had higher accuracy rates and faster reaction times than the non-gum chewers. Those chewing gum also maintained focus longer during the exercise.”
Personally, when it comes to gum, I love to chew it. I think it really does have some helpful benefits. When I chew gum, I can tell a difference with my concentration than when I don’t chew gum. I also think that chewing gum helps with your hunger, and that can really benefit students throughout the day, especially if you have a late lunch.
Students hate that we aren’t allowed to chew gum on the school campus. It isn’t fair that the whole school has to be punished for what only some of the students are doing. If kids would just stop making a mess with gum, we would probably be allowed to chew it on campus.
When it comes to gum, Miss Sunding states, “If kids were respectful and actually cleaned their messes up, it wouldn’t be a problem.” She has also noticed certain areas in her classroom where gum has destroyed things, like an area on her floor that is basically ruined because it’s where students have spit out their gum instead of throwing it away.
It is understandable for teachers and staff to be worried about gum becoming a mess. And I agree. Often there will be gum stuck under my desk or on the wall somewhere. It’s disgusting, and it’s mostly the reason why we aren’t allowed gum in school.
However, completely banning chewing gum in school shouldn’t be the solution. According to an article on Exploros, many teachers have observed a decrease in gum stuck to furniture after they allowed students to chew it in class. If staff permitted gum on campus, students might feel less inclined to hide it under their desks or create a mess.
It is possible that staff may consider allowing us to chew gum on campus as it offers certain benefits; however, we also need to recognize the responsibility we have when it comes to cleaning up our messes.
