You know, back when the Flying Nun was on TV and I was like 12-13 years old.
I used to think about Sister Bertrille in a way that was...
Well, let me put it this way.
It wasn't like she was exactly saying her prayers.
If you catch my drift.
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/
LOL! Bizarre.
I hope no one chokes in the bathroom...
"Oops, can't have any more bathroom breaks..."
I know it's wrong for kids, but I for one enjoy silence from time to time.
The ladies yip-yap nonstop while we fellas are concerned mostly with stuffing our faces.
With that, allow me to add...
*BELCH*
(... now that's entertainment...)
I just don't get this "keep 'em quiet or drug 'em" mentality that's out there about kids.
When I had issues...I left in the morning after my chores and rode my bike until I had to help for dinner (no lunch). That burned off my "issues."
These kids are being strangled.
And we wonder why so many are fat and listless.
You know, back when the Flying Nun was on TV and I was like 12-13 years old.
I used to think about Sister Bertrille in a way that was...
Well, let me put it this way.
It wasn't like she was exactly saying her prayers.
If you catch my drift.
No, just brain dead.
Except that in prison you can still get an education.
The school I teach at already mostly bans talking at lunch. I think it's so unnatural to not speak while eating. In Indiana we often have to stay inside for recess during the winter, and the students watch movies. They don't get to talk all day. If my own child were at that school, I would raise a huge stink about it. I've tried to change things as much as I can, but there's nothing I can do. The administration mostly wants all the students AND teachers AND parents to sit down and shut up about everything.
School is to provide careers for administrators and keep them safe from responsibility.
LOL!!! Parents seem to want their kids fat and silent.
Such flippancy ignores the thousands before her who choked to their deaths at that very cafeteria.
...oh, my.....
And alienated.
The "keep 'em quiet and drug 'em" mentality seems to trace to teachers. FReeper teachers, take no offense -- I'm not talking about you.
Teachers who don't know their subject, can't engage the kids to teach it effectively and, thus, can't maintain control of their classroom. The whole motivation for the public education hierarchy is no longer to "teach", but to "control".
What has happened to public education (recognizing that the subject school in this thread is a Catholic school) is an absolute shame.
At the Catholic school I went to a hundred years ago, no one was permitted to talk at lunch. Which means we ate our own lunches Then we packed up and went out to play for at least 30 minutes. In all weather except raining buckets.
some of my children went to Waldorf school where they went out in all weather. It was part of learning about nature.
Today in the school in our local town the children are not permitted recess if the temp and wind chill factor combine to be 15 degrees. NOT MINUS 15 degrees. Just 15 degrees. It hits that often in these northern climes.
The childrens' theory is that there are some teachers who dont want to stand outside and they lobbied to pass this ridiculous rule.
I went to Catholic school in the mid-60s. For the life of me, I can't remember any rule not to talk. But we DID go outside, no matter what the weather!
We also walked to school, no matter the weather.
Of course, there were no sex predators every other block....
Not a day goes by that I don't feel glad about having homeschooled my [successful college graduate] kid.
I would bet your kid is, too!!
I remember reading children's stories and wondering how the kids traded their lunches in the stories. It took me a while to realize that of course, they could speak!
Thanks for the ping, clintonfatigued.
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