Posted on 01/25/2007 5:45:29 PM PST by paulat
R.I. School Bans Talking at Lunch
Jan 25 6:22 PM US/Eastern
By JUSTIN M. NORTON Associated Press Writer
WARWICK, R.I. (AP) -- Class, from now on there will be no talking at lunch. A Roman Catholic elementary school adopted new lunchroom rules this week requiring students to remain silent while eating. The move comes after three recent choking incidents in the cafeteria.
No one was hurt, but the principal of St. Rose of Lima School explained in a letter to parents that if the lunchroom is loud, staff members cannot hear a child choking.
Christine Lamoureux, whose 12-year-old is a sixth-grader at the school, said she respects the safety issue but thinks the rule is a bad idea.
"They are silent all day," she said. "They have to get some type of release." She suggested quiet conversation be allowed during lunch.
Another mother, Thina Paone, does not mind the silent lunches, noting that the cafeteria "can be very crazy" at the suburban school south of Providence.
Principal Jeannine Fuller did not immediately return a call seeking comment, but a spokesman for the Diocese of Providence described the silence rule as a temporary safety measure.
Spokesman Michael Guilfoyle said the school does not expect complete silence but enough quiet to keep students safe.
Lori Healey, a teacher at the school who also has a son in third grade, said "silent lunch" means students can whisper.
"They know it's not for punishment," she said. "It's for safety, and they'll be the first ones to tell you."
Stacey Wildenhain, a teacher's assistant at St. Rose, said her 7-year- old son does not mind the policy. He told her: "The sooner we eat, the sooner we can get out to play," she said.
Amanda Karhuse, of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said that students should not run wild during lunch, but that they also should not have to remain silent.
"It seems kind of ridiculous in our opinion," she said. "Kids need that social time, and they just need time to be kids at that age."
The principal's letter also spelled out other new lunch rules, including requiring students to stay in their seats and limiting them to one trip to the trash can. Any child who breaks the rules will serve detention the next day.
Paone's 6-year-old son, Joey, said he accepts the changes, but some of his classmates were having trouble obeying the rules.
Kara Casali, who also has a 6-year-old son at the school, said the rules against talking will be tough to enforce.
"I can't imagine having a silent lunch," she said.
___
On the Net:
St. Rose School: http://www.saintroseschool.com/
Just prep for real life according to some on other threads.
Thank GOD and the Founding Fathers for the 1st Amendment . . . . . . . . . oh, wait, it doesn't apply to these kids!!
Many times while she was in college she told us how glad she was to be homeschooled. Her college counseler said he loved HS students.
Sounds like a typical Liberal...doing all the Wrong things for all the right reasons.
That was a great posting.
However, Public Education has never, at any time, been a bastion of academic excellence. It's always been boring and alienating.
I'll characterize this thread as swallowing the AP whole. LOL
I'll admit...I'm dim. I have no idea what your comment was about.
My comment is based on an interview with a school spokesman I heard on the radio today where he stated that the silence thing is for the first ten minutes because they have had three kids nearly choke to death recently. Some advice, take anything the AP writes with a grain of salt.
Thanks for the additional info...you didn't give us that, originally.
Maybe the kids wouldn't be choking if they didn't have to gulp down their food so they could finally talk.
Something is wrong in this cafeteria, if that's the case.
My public middle school cafeteria had a reversable sign on the main post with "quiet" on one side and "talk" on the other.
After any altercations or other shananigins, it would be "quiet" for at least a few days during lunch as punishment.
The area in which I lived wasn't the greatest, so "quite" lunches would occur more often than not.
The administration mostly wants all the students AND teachers AND parents to sit down and shut up about everything.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Government schools trash the First Amendment every day. Well...so much for a citizen's right to free speech.
I admit, I sympathize with the "silent lunch" (and breakfast and supper) thing. I put in a lot of time and effort making meals, and I really wish everyone would just close their mouths and chew their food!
Beg to differ. I was educated in a smalltown school in Oklahoma, graduating in 1956 -- a class of 28. We received an outstanding education -- and an appreciation for learning that has continued to this day.
A lot of this is attributable to smalltown dynamics, to be sure. The arrangement was truly "local control". We knew the teachers outside of school, they knew us. They were friends with our parents, if not family. And they were absolutely committed to our excellence, while brooking no crap from any of us.
And, if I'm not mistaken, kids at every other smalltown school in our area got the same kind of education.
At one time, public education was a success.
That they're FReepers says they have the same standards the rest of us do.
We have our oldest (8 y.o.) in a Catholic school (pre-K through 6th), and I can assure you that they are allowed to talk during lunch (I volunteer to do recess duty once a week). When the bells rings to end lunch, everyone must get quiet. Then they are dismissed to quietly dispose of their trays and line up for recess (where I can assure all FReepers, they are allowed to play things like dodgeball and swing and slide and climb monkey bars like we used to do as kids). If they break the silence rule after the bell ending lunch rings, they get to wipe down the tables :)
I know to some FReepers, anything but homeschooling is unacceptable, but the school we have chosen for our daughter (after 3 years of homeschooling) is quite firm on discipline, but the kids are happy and well-taught. Their test scores prove this, and the parental involvement is very high at this school (when you're shelling out thousands of dollars a year on top of paying your taxes, you have a huge stake in what happens at the school).
As a kid growing up in Catholic schools, we were never made to keep silent at lunch. We were not disallowed from playing dodgeball, kickball, football, or any of those other 'dangerous' games. I received a top notch education with good discipline.
Bottom line...this school is nuts!!!!
Yes, we should blame teachers. We should blame teachers who open the doors to schools that emotionally, physically, socially, or educationally hurt children. If teachers were true professionals, they would do as other professionals do. They would refuse the job, or they would do what was right, regardless of how much parents or principals complained, nagged, or whined. - Wintertime
Always gotta to get your digs in and make sure you insult conservative teachers who do their best every day don't you? Why don't you add the line you've added before, that Christian teachers SHOULD quit their jobs and work at McDonalds before they teach in a public school? Be sure to add that those that work at McDonalds have more integrity than public school teachers - another great example of your hyperbole.
So, to try to get an straight answer from you from a previous post - are Freeper teachers stupid, greedy, or evil? I'd like to know where you place me.
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