We had the same problem and one of our teachers came up with a great way to help with it. Our school has approx. 150 per grade, 1-4 that eat in our lunchroom. They come in by grade and sit with their class. There are 2 paid yard duty people on duty.
The solution was an Honor Table (by grade). Each day the YD rate the classes on table manners, cleanup, not getting up, etc. on a point system. The class(es) for each grade at the end of the week with the most points get to sit at the honor table, which has a special table cloth on it. For the next week, they get to come to lunch first and leave first.
It has been highly successful and a positive action. Good luck!
ITS SORRY TO SAY BUT WE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS HERE WITH THE WOMEN IN THE
LUNCH ROOM. MY SON WHO IS IN 2ND GRADE TELLS
ME ALL THE TIME HOW THEY YELL AND SCREAM AT
THE KIDS FOR NO REASON. WE HAD ONE WOMEN
WHO FINALLY RETIRED AND SHE WAS BAD WHERE
THE KIDS DID NOT EVEN WANT TO GO INTO THE
LUNCHROOM SO THEY HIRE SOMEONE NEW AND I JUST
FOUND OUT SHE IS WORSE THAN THE ONE WHO RETIRED. I HAVE BEEN IN THE LUNCHROOM TO HAVE LUNCH WITH MY SON AND OFCOURSE THE YELLING IS NOT THERE BUT WHEN PARENTS AREN'T
AROUND IT HAPPENS - JUST DROPPING IN DOES NOT SEEM TO HELP - SO I HAVE DECIDED THAT A FEW OF US ARE GOING TO GET TOGETHER DURING
DIFFERENT LUNCH TIMES AND NOT GO INTO THE
LUNCHROOM AREA HANG OUTSIDE THE DOORS WHERE
WE ARE NOT SEEN AND LISTEN FROM THE OUTSIDE
THEN MAYBE WE CAN CATCH THEM IN THE ACT AND
FIANLLY OR SHOULD I SAY MAYBE PUT SOME SORT OF STOP TO THIS. THE LUNCHROOM IS FOR THEM TO EAT AND SPEAK WITH FRIENDS NOT TO BE YELLED OUT AND SCREAMED AT. I'VE EVEN SEEN IT WHERE THE KIDS RUSH TO FINISH UP BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID THEY WILL BE YELLED AT IF THEY DO NOT FINISH IN TIME. ITS AN ISSUE THAT COMES UP ALL THE TIME. IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO FIX THIS ONE BESIDES THE
IDEA I CAME UP WITH I AM ALL EARS.
ROBIN CICIARELLI
ROXBORO ROAD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
MATTYDALE, NEW YORK
Newptopres: Your school and situation sounds exactly like mine..I have addressed my concerns about the screaming and nothing has changed.So,I just continue to show up at lunch time randomly and my kids say when I am there they don't scream..so I will continue to go and ask other concerned parents to drop in too...unfortunatly this works..good luck
Our school also has a lunchtime problem, but it isn't the students. We are a very small school, K-5 with only 160 students. We have two lunch periods, K-2 and 3-5. I'll admit the talking does sometimes sound a little loud, but for the most part this is the only time of day they get to talk to their friends. Our school is a little on the "strict" side (and I'm okay with that). BUT, the problem comes in when the aides SCREAM at the kids to be quiet, and I do mean SCREAM!! They also take away recess for ALL of them at the drop of a hat. We have really good kids at our school, #1 in our part of the state on standardized tests. For the most part, they work hard and behave well, but they are children. Am a wrong to think they should be allowed to sit with their friends and talk in a reasonable tone of voice during lunch? I try not to say anything, as I don't want to cause a rift between PTO and staff, but it is VERY difficult to stand by and listen to those children being screamed at. Any advice?
We used to have a problem but our principal dealt nicely with it. She sent two teachers to observe in other area schools. Now we stagger our lunch time so that only one grade comes in at a time (we have 550 students K-5). Every 15 mins. a new grade arrives and after the first rotation one goes out to recess. This keeps lunch lines shorter and the noise down. The children sit with their class in a designated area. We use our teachers and support staff and "specials" instructors to monitor lunch plus one aide. It is on a rotating basis so a teacher is in the lunch room 1-2 week and on recess duty the same. So far it has worked wonderfully. The children are also assigned to Bucket Brigade- they wipe the tables for a week/time.
I hate the use of the loud speaker or whistles in the lunch room. The children are taught signals to be quiet in first grade and these are used by all.
Our school is kinda the same. They file in at the tables as a class as they were in line (so if you want to sit by a friend, you need to be by them in line)and are released as a class (if they are not done they can stay)but they all rush out to play. We have a very nice (but authoritarian) janitor who makes his presence known in the cafeteria at lunch time and the kids DO NOT disrespect him. Our only problem is the kids aren't eating, they are in too much of a hurry to play.
