In my most recent letter (#38), I summarized evidence from both informal observations and published research that lunch period in many, maybe most, U.S. elementary schools today is so short that kids don’t have time to eat their lunch, let alone socialize or play.. At many schools it is just 20 minutes long, so by the time they have visited the washroom and stood on a long line to get lunch, there is little or no time to eat it. Consequently, much of the food gets tossed.
Based on the many comments on that letter, it appears that prior to the mid 1990s, “lunch hour” was actually an hour or so, and after about 2010 it was much less. I’m trying to pinpoint when the change occurred.
Please, if you have knowledge of how long the lunch period was in any years since 1990 at an elementary school you or your child or someone you know attended, tell me about it in the comments here. What year are you referring to, where was the school, and how long was the lunch period? Feel free to add any additional information that could be of interest. At least one commenter on Letter #38 noted that children were not even allowed to talk during the lunch period they observed. I’m wondering how common that is. Another commented that the kids had so much pent-up need to talk and so little time to do it that the noise was almost unbearable.
With best wishes,
Peter
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U.K. here — elementary school is primary? Age 4/5—11? In the 1980s our dinnertime was an hour (which included eating and playing). I found it far too long though, especially when I moved from infants to juniors (so age 7). I struggled to communicate with other children, ended up badly bullied, and preferred to be around adults where possible. Dinner times and breaks were a nightmare the older I got. In secondary school at least I could spend my dinner hour in the library or even go home. Years later I was diagnosed with autism spectrum condition. But in the 1980s and early 90s I was just the nerdy weirdo, ripe for cruelty. Unstructured time away from adults was my hell.
I know you’re very fond of wanting kids to have lots of free play and I *totally* get that. But for some kids in a school setting free play is hellish — even outside of a school setting (my youngest is also autistic and I home educate her, but she still prefers to play with other kids when parents are nearby on hand to help with the communication issues that arise). She doesn’t encounter bullying in home ed circles but still needs support from an adult in order to play with other kids. It’s not unusual for neurodivergent children to need adults to step in, or even to prepare a structure to the play sometimes. Not *all* ND kids but deffo some.
My eldest (who isn’t autistic) went to school (started in 2011) and his dinner hour was an hour when he started and was 50mins by the end of primary. So often he used to leave his dinner uneaten so he could spend the whole time playing, usually footie (soccer) with his mates in the school playground. He loved the unstructured play. I just used to give him a big breakfast and a snack as soon as he came in as I knew he’d skipped dinner and understood why. Not ideal but you have to work with your kid.
Kids are all different. Some will actually quite like dinner and break times being shorter. Though I actually think providing (optional) interest clubs at dinner time would be a better solution for kids who don’t like free play though, rather than cutting it down.
In Privas, France, I had 2 hours for lunch break, from 11.30am to 1.30pm. It was between 1992 and 1995. I always went home to eat there. I just checked their website, it appears that the kids their still have 2 hours. School starts at 8.30am and ends at 4.30pm.
My 12 yr. prison sentence ended in 1949 and I never ate 1 meal in school. It was 4 blocks from home, overlooking an ideal kids Lake Winona to 2nd through 4th gd. at the WSTC campus school and all I remember were the sad men on the freight trains during the depression and a horse drawn milk delivery wagon on it's morning route. Seventh through 12 gd were 9 blocks from home. We had 1 hr. and 20 min.. No doors were locked and no one asked or cared what we did, so I walked, ran and biked that 4,000 times. The new high school, built in 1965, overlooks beautiful Lake Winona and the, hills, but class rooms have no windows, all doors are locked coming and going and the main door is guarded. No students leave the building and I don't know how many minutes the inmates have to eat. Years ago they were let out at noon, but not allowed in a nearby Burger King, until some boys did and refused to leave when the schools guard told them to, so he pulled his pea shooter on them, which made the papers and they solved that problem.
I can't precisely recall the time allotment for lunch in elementary, but it would have been 30-45 minutes.
What I do recall more vividly: folding tables with attached, circular seats and segmented trays, both not out of place, I bet, in a prison or correctional facility (a parallel term for a school?) of the time; seemingly never-ending french fries and french bread pizza (so European!); surprisingly good rolls!
As a child (44 now) we were allowed 30 minutes for lunch in elementary, and 25 in high school. My children are unschooled now at 9 and 6, and we probably have about 5-6 meal and snack sessions daily, at their discretion outside of dinner. I did have them attend a local forest school program for a few days about a year ago, from which they reported “not enough time to even get through a sandwich” and having to eat a snack mid-morning when an adult allowed it. My kids were pretty exhausted by lunch time from not having time to re-fuel.
My local district in Utah had 50 minute lunches in the 70s. Sometime in the early 80s, it was shortened to 45 minutes, then 40 minutes. In high school, my older siblings had 45 minutes then 40 minutes. By the time I hit high school (85-89), it was down to 35 minutes, but the elementary was still at 40 minutes.
Mid-late 2000s, midwest US, elementary school lunch was 30 minutes. There was a large stoplight in the cafeteria allegedly hooked up to a sound sensor (though I think it was probably just operated by a teacher). When the light was green, volume was at an acceptable level. When the light was red, all talking was supposed to cease and any kids still found to be making an unnacceptable level of noise could be punished by having to eat their lunch alone in the office.
I'm Australian. Unfortunately I don't remember how long my lunch hour was in primary school in the 80s!
I have one child in primary school now. She gets 50 minutes for lunch play along with 30 minutes for morning recess. Neither of those include meal times. (Kids bring their own food to school and they get about 10 minutes to eat before going out to play each time. For some it's certainly a rush to eat in that time.)
Lunch play was reduced from an hour a few years ago (no idea why, they didn't inform parents about it.) The regulations in my state require a certain amount of instruction time per week, which leaves a maximum of an hour and a half of play time each day. So we're still pretty close to that, and one of the meal times still eats into the official instruction time (some teachers read or show short videos during eating time). But I'd love to see minimum play time enforced instead, to make sure we don't end up with the situation in the US!
I grew up in the midwest of USA, and attended both Catholic and public schools as a child. I was in 1st grade, 1959, a city Catholic school. Lunch was 1 hr long and began with a total silence march, all in a row where positions were assigned and maintained throughout the year - your assigned spot in line determined your assigned seat in the lunchroom. We filed in and filled the long tables and stood in our spot until everyone had entered. All eyes were on Sister as she gave the signal to be seated. An intercom then began a prayer after which eating began. There was no school lunch- everyone brought their own. After about 15 minutes of silence. A signal was given and we could talk. When you finished, you were allowed to exit to the playground and play for the remainder of time. It felt like an hour but I suppose it could have been 45 min. PUBLIC SCHOOL: Lunch bell rang, line up at random, noisily go to the lunchroom, wait your turn in line, pay $.35 and sit where you want. Could bring lunch if you wanted. Pick a seat wherever, but had to show your tray to the teacher in charge before you could dump your trash and uneaten food and go out to the playground. She might send you back to finish a vegetable or two! Pretty sure it was an hour here. Had a recess at beginning of day before school started for the kids that arrived early. Had a short mid- morning recess, then the after lunch one which encouraged you not to dawdle with your food so you would have more play time. Then one more afternoon recess- none were long, but fairly sure the lunch/recess one was an hour. And there you have some ancient history trivia! 😊😊
At school in New Zealand in the 90s I think we had an hour for lunch, although it may have been 45mins in high school. My child's primary (elementary?) school in Australia now has an hour for lunch to eat and play.
I grew up in 80s and 90s in former Czechoslovakia. The school day started at about 7.45am and finished either at 12.10pm, 1pm or 2pm depending on child's grade and amount of lessons they would have per day. Lunch time followed adterwards and you could take as long as you needed to eat your lunch. We had an elevenses break at 10.30am which was about 20 mins long and during this break children would eat a sandwich or something substantial while walking in the circle up and down the corridor (the walking was compulsory). So yes enough time to eat and because breakfast time was very early not many would have had appetite to eat much so elevenses break was much needed.
For Ontario, Canada…..back from 1968-1980 my lunch hour was a full hour from Grade one to grade 8, then 70 minutes in high school due to the semester system. My kids had a full hour in elementary school (1995-2004) and also had 70 min in high school.
I attended junior high and high school in Montana after 1990. Our lunch period was 50 minutes long. It was more than enough time for us to get our lunch, relax, and socialize with our friends. Our high school had an open campus and those who wished were allowed to leave for lunch to grab food at a store or go home to eat.
I attended elementary school in the 1980’s, also in Montana. I want to say that each class was given a half an hour in the cafeteria to eat lunch with a twenty minute recess outside. Our teachers also ate lunch with us and sat at the head of the tables. They made sure that we minded our manners and ate our lunch like we were supposed to.
I went to public school in Connecticut in the 70's and 80's. I honestly do not remember how long our lunch break was in elementary school; but it was long enough to go through the lunch line, eat your food, and then spend some time just socializing with the kids at your table. I also have a LOT of memories of recess, so we must have gotten a good amount of it.
In junior high, we didn't get recess. I don't remember exactly how long lunch was; but I remember we were allowed to go outside once we had eaten and cleaned up the table. I remember the boys playing basketball outside, and we girls usually sat on "the wall" and talked. The fact that the boys had time for a basketball game makes me think our lunch period was a reasonable length.
In high school, I remember that lunch was 30 minutes. We had three lunch shifts, and if you were lucky enough to have "lunch block" as an open block, you had 90 minutes free and that was plenty of time to go grab a slice of pizza or a McD's burger and head to the beach with your friends. I managed to have lunch block open a few days each week. Our school also allowed you to come in late or leave early if you had an open block at the beginning or end of the day. We weren't technically supposed to leave the school during lunch block, but everyone did and none of the staff seemed interested in enforcing this - I suspect it was in the Official Policy so that if we got into some sort of trouble, the school wouldn't be liable.
I’m an elementary educator. In the first school I taught (1998-2008) (an independent day school) recess and lunch were 30 minutes each for students in the primary school division, which included PreK(4)-grade 3 and were scheduled back to back. The middle school lunch and recess break for grades 4-8 might have been less than an hour (maybe 50 minutes total?) but students could go outside for recess as soon as they were finished eating. Older kids eat faster and it’s better not to have them sitting around idle in the lunchroom. Most problems between students occur during lunch and recess. Also, most student accidents and injuries. In the second school (2008-2013) (an independent day school) where I was an administrator and in charge of the schedule, recess and lunch for grades PreK(3)-5 were also 30 minutes each and scheduled back to back. Students had an hour of unstructured but supervised time. In the third school (2013-2016) a suburban public school, it was the same. Lunch and recess for grades 1-5 were 30 minutes each and scheduled back to back. Currently, I work with novice elementary school teachers in Newark, NJ as an induction coach. In Newark Public Schools, recess and lunch combined for K-grade 8 is 30 minutes: 15 for lunch and 15 for recess.
When I was in middle school, from grade 5-8, the 7th and 8th graders were allowed to leave the school at lunch time. You might walk to the nearby corner store, or walk ten minutes to downtown. This was an incredible feeling, though it quickly lost its novelty. I recall boasting to my mother in September of grade 7 that I could run errands for her in town at lunch time. A few weeks later when she asked me to get something for her at the pharmacy during my lunch break, it felt like a huge chore, and I tried to get out of it. In any event, once we were in grade 8, the privilege was revoked for the entire school. All students had to stay on the school grounds during lunch time.
I don't recall if this coincided with a shortening of our lunch time or not. This would have been the year 2000.
My kid in grade two in New Brunswick, Canada currently has lunch from 11:50 - 12:10, followed by long recess outside from 12:10 to 12:35. 45 minutes total. I happen to have my agenda and schedule from grade four at the same school in 1996-97. My "lunch hour" was 11:35 - 12:35. 60 minutes total.
The school day starts at roughly the same time on the old schedule and the current one, but now it ends a little sooner. Bus students are dismissed 10-15 minutes earlier than the used to be. Walkers are dismissed 15 minutes earlier than they used to be.
The morning "short" recess is still 15 minutes long.
We've recently discovered that supervision on the playground starts at 7:45, and they bring the kids in at 8:00. If your bus arrives after 8am, you just go straight into the school. This used to be the case for my kid, but the past few weeks, I've been driving them in for 7:45 so they can enjoy some time on the playground before school starts. They seem really happy about it, with fewer kids there early in the morning (and we haven't had any issues with missing the bus!) I see them running right for the swings after being dropped off, which I guess are usually quite busy during the short and long recesses when the whole school is there.
In any event, it seems like there's about the same amount of class time, but lunch has been shortened by 15 minutes, and the day ends 15 minutes earlier.
I went to elementary school 2001-2008 in a town in semi-rural California. I don't remember the specific time length of recess or lunch---I'm certain it wasn't an hour, though. My guess is 45 minutes. We started off in the cafeteria eating, and then at a certain point during the lunch period, we were allowed to start leaving the cafeteria to go play outside (supervised by the "yard duties"). Kids therefore had an incentive to eat very quickly or throw away some portion of their food in order to have more time to play. Occasionally I was the last person in the cafeteria (i.e. fully unsupervised) and would finish my lunch alone because of that. Despite being a slow eater, I usually still had time to find my friends and get into some kind of mischief without feeling *too* shorted on time for play. We also had both a morning and an afternoon recess.
1) Okay, I was able to find my elementary school's current bell schedule, and...it's actually relatively unchanged, I think.
Morning recess: 15 minutes for all grades
Lunch break: 45 minutes for all grades
Afternoon recess: 15 minutes up to 3rd grade; 4th and 5th don't get afternoon recess
2) In one neighboring district, the kids get 40 minutes total for lunch/recess. They have a morning "nutrition break" of 20 minutes for the younger kids and 15 minutes for 4-5th grades. No afternoon recess.
3) In the other neighboring district, the younger kids get 40 minutes, but grades 3-5 get only 35 minutes. Similarly, the younger kids' morning recess lasts 20 minutes, while grades 3-5 get 15 minutes. They don't have an afternoon recess.
In my elementary school (1980-86-ish) lunch and recess were 2 full periods but not an hour. I didn’t really think about times in hours back then so I don’t know how long it was. In my older son’s elementary, 2009 - 15-ish) lunch and recess together were one period, 25 minutes each. That included lining up to get to the cafeteria or yard and getting back to class. But the afterschool program was all free play and there was extra morning recess if you got there early. Snack was also provided once a day and breakfast for early birds. My younger son’s elementary school had 25-minute recess and lunch with no morning recess and no free play in afterschool (until the last 20 minutes). Breakfast but no snack. We moved schools and while lunch is the same, there are extra recess and play options, breakfast and snack.
1991-2005. Community Christian school in Florida. 30 min for lunch, sometimes with 30 min adjacent recess in elementary school. Otherwise, recess was 30 min non-adjacent. PreK thru about 4th grade, 15 min of lunch was “no talking”, punished with handspanking in preschool. The last 15 min was “talking”. Lunchtime itself was pretty structured and strict. Recess less so.
I was in the 6th grade in Utah in 1991 and had an hour to eat and play. The sixth graders rotated being on lunch duty assignment (where we'd help serve or wash dishes). We LOVED it! There wasn't room for everyone to work so when our class's turn came up, we jostled for a slot. It also gave us a lot of respect for the lunch workers.
I confirmed with my younger twin sisters that up through 1999 (when they were in sixth grade), the kids in that Orem, Utah school still had about an hour to eat and play.
My own children had about 20 minutes in 2013-15 in El Paso, TX (before we began homeschooling--this lunch-hour was one of the catalysts; my daughter wasn't eating so she could rush out to play).
My youngest daughter now attends an Acton School. They have 45 minutes on their lunch hour. Often they eat outside in good weather.
Interesting to hear about unbearable noise—I would guess that is behind the silence directive.
In 2019/2020 before the pandemic in western Washington state my children’s elementary school instituted a silent lunch. I attended one such lunch. It was not AS silent as the word silent would suggest, but the kids were chastised rather harshly whenever the noise level rose above a murmur. They had to stay in their seats with the class (rather than a free mix of kids) for 20 minutes, after which, well behaved groups were dismissed class by class to gather their trash, dispose of it, and then go out for recess. I think recess was around 20 minutes (but I cannot perfectly recall, if it was not 20, it was less). My 3rd grader had frequently come home from school not having eaten all her lunch, so I believe the requirement of 20 minutes seated at lunch was instituted to combat kids not eating.
My oldest started all-day kindergarten at our public elementary school in 2010 and most of the lunches I experienced with her and younger children of mine were not much different in total length of time, though they were much more free and much less depressing in regards to freedom of seating, freedom to talk and laugh, and timing of departure from the lunch room. I never sent my third grader back to elementary school after the pandemic shut downs because I knew the experience would be even more controlled and awful.
In Utah, in the 1980's, we had a long enough time to eat lunch. So much so that the sixth graders would help prepare and serve the lunch and still had time to hurry and eat after everyone was served. Then we could raise our hand to be excused for recess. The teachers would even walk around the cafeteria and make sure we were taking the time to eat. If we said we were done and we barely ate anything, they'd tell us to keep eating.
Before I pulled my kids from school, I would go meet them for lunch. This was about 2018. It was probably an hour for eating and play combined, but only those who got there first really had time. My kids preferred to take their lunch from home so they didn't have to wait in the long lines (or eat gross food). And yes, it was unbearably loud in there.
I have taught high school since 1999 in a suburb of Detroit. State governments have been increasing the number of school days, and hours of school required. So if there is a shorter lunch period today compared to 30 years ago, it is probably due to state requirements for hours of instruction.
Next year, in Ann Arbor, my 5th grader will have 24 minutes to eat lunch and 24 minutes to play afterwards. She will have two other recesses during the day. When I was in sixth grade in 1986, I remember my lunch hour being 45 minutes to an hour long. I believe that was time for eating and for playing.
I was born in 1960, the child of an enlisted navy man...I have a number of varied experiences.
In first grade, I attended the same small town school my grandmother did in rural Illinois. Lunch was served in the main entry hall and we took our trays back to our desks to eat. I had plenty of time to walk to my mother’s cousin’s house nearby on the days I didn’t eat school lunch.
I lived in California in second and third grades. I don’t remember lunch at all, but we had unsupervised playground time before school and I think, two or even three recesses...a LOT of free play.
Starting in fourth grade, around 1969, my family lived in Memphis, Tennessee...the lunchroom had each class arranged in a double row of desks. We sat next to one other student to whom we could not speak while teachers walked the room enforcing the rule with a stick/baton that would be rapped on the desk of any who dared speak 😲 it was a shocker on the heels of the relative freedom of CA. I don’t recall a recess afterward.
I finished my schooling back in Illinois in 1978. From eighth grade until graduation, we had a long enough lunch period to leave campus to eat elsewhere or eat in the cafeteria and have plenty of time to go outside to socialize. This school had nine 35-40 minute class periods which were expected to include a couple “study halls”. I had very little homework since I was able to do it at school and as a good student I earned “student lounge” privileges...when homework was done, we were able to socialize or play cards. The flexibility at this school enabled me to have all my credits by the end of my junior year. During the last couple years, I waited tables for two hours before school and two hours after school and was able to cheer basketball. I think this system helped me develop responsibility and confidence in my ability to manage myself and my time.
I can’t say for sure which way was best as I experienced them at different ages and levels of maturity, but I know the “no talking” lunches seemed punitive and the less restrictive systems were much more pleasant and even joyous.
My children were in school in the 90’s and 2000’s and had twenty minutes to line up, eat, and line up again to leave the cafeteria. I visited for lunch frequently and it was STRESSFUL. NOT joyous😞
I was born in 1982. I believe our high school lunch period was 29 minutes. This was 1997-2000, in Massachusetts. In middle school I believe it was longer (it was combined with an outdoor "recess") though not sure exactly how much longer.
I don't remember the length of my elementary school lunch recess (1990-1996) but I do remember that we had distinct periods for eating and for playing and that there was enough time for both. We all ate, and then we all played.
I don't recall feeling rushed in either part, and I always ate my meal. In early elementary school we also had a morning recess and an afternoon recess, in addition to our lunchtime recess (at around 3rd grade, we lost one of the shorter recesses). I imagine that the absence of adequate recess time outside of the lunch recess makes the lunch "hour" particularly pressured these days as kids have not yet had any time to socialize, play, or even snack.
I grew up in New Jersey and attended elementary & middle school between 1985-1995. In have zero recollection of how long lunch was, but I know by the time we were in high school, lunch was 15-20 minutes long. I rarely ate but that could have been a function of my socialization. I always remember it being too short. (But the public high school kids, during the same years, had an hour because they almost all went off campus into town for lunch-that was how my town’s lunch places survived). In elementary school, it was probably about 60 minutes long (since it was the public school). I never, ever remember feeling rushed.
I worked as a paraprofessional in an elementary school in Northeast Georgia from 2015-2022. One of my job duties was to monitor classes during lunch. Lunch for the children was 25 minutes long. 10 of which they were required to eat in silence and were disciplined (usually isolated to a table away from their peers for the remainder of lunch) if they broke the silent lunch rule. I never felt this was fair, so I refused to enforce the rule. Pre-covid, "share buckets" were placed at the head of each table so children could place any unwanted pre-packaged food or fruit at the end of lunch for other children to take with them for snack or for extra food at home. That ended after 2020 and much more food waste was the result.
This is outside the USA and probably outside all your survey parameters, but it in mixed private day and boarding prep school in the UK in the late 1970's mornings consisted of five lessons starting 9am, with a 30 minute break, snack and drink 11-11.30am, then 12.45-1pm wash hands etc. Lunch 'hour' was from 1pm to 2pm and teachers always ate alongside the kids. After that the whole school had 30 mins enforced nap time from 2.00-2.30pm when boarders had to lie on their beds and either nap or read, and day pupils stayed in their day room. After that 2.30-3.30pm+ was for season appropriate team sports, usually outside, then roughly 3.30-4.30pm was play time again, free play and usually outside weather allowing, followed by another snack and drink. Afternoon lessons (if any) were 4.30-5.45, before dinner at 6pm.
Academic outcomes were very high, possibly because of all that play time rather than despite it. I'm not sure I could survive the state school system in the UK if I was a child now, they get much less play time. Tomorrow I'll ask a 10 year old how much lunch break his UK Primary School allows and hopefully report back.
I can’t speak to the year question, but locally there is a charter school that has them watch tv during lunch a well. Many parents complain that this distraction results in even less eating but the school hasn’t wavered. I’m guessing the kids are more manageable when watching tv and so suspect this innovation will catch on.
In Ireland, I was in primary school from late 50's to 1965. Lunch was 1.25 hours (12.45 to 2pm), so there was time to go home, have food, and get back to school > I was always keen to get back as people would play great games in the yard. My children in the 80's/90's had different hours, lunch was about 30 minutes, not enough yard time.
I taught elementary school in Waco, Texas for the 2002-2003 school year. My students had a full hour for lunch. There were other paid employees that watched the kids at recess. It was glorious and for us teachers too! We could even go out to eat with our whole team if we wanted.
I was born in 1979. When I went to elementary school until 1994 I think, it lasted 1 hour. My daughters are small and although I am Spanish we live in Germany. In elementary school I know that it lasts 30 minutes maximum. I worked precisely as an educator in the school lunchroom in Spain from 1998 to 2005 in primary schools (from 3 to 12 years old children) and it lasted 1 hour maximum.
I loved to stay and eat with my colleagues. It was a fantastic moment when we had lunch together and then we had 1 hour of free play in the playground. I think it was one of the best times I had.
This subject is shocking when you see the times they have. In fact, after the krona they barely had 20 minutes and of course, within that time it includes, washing hands, getting food.
Congratulations for the channel and your articles. I am a psychologist and pedagogue and I totally agree with the topics you deal with in general.
From 1975- 1986 I would say it was always an hour's lunch break and yes, I agree about that talking thing, we were NOT allowed to talk in class it was strict and I remember talking a lot during lunch hour and also kind of getting a bit lost in naturre on the school grounds...also I walked home, a long walk home from a very young age, probably from age 5 or 6...
I was born in 1971, as far as I remember lunch was about 1 hour. We definitely had enough time to eat and then to play/chat etc. I also sometimes went home for lunch. This is in Adelaide Australia.
I was in elementary school from 1969-74, we had 3 recesses, morning, lunch and afternoon. I sometimes walked home about 5-6 blocks, for lunch , by myself.
I remember quite clearly. When I was a child I had an hour for lunch. I walked home and back (and yes, was sometimes late because I stopped to play for a few minutes). When I was 12 in 1994-1995 I started junior high and still had an hour to go home for lunch. The following year my junior high school became a middle school, my lunch break was reduced to 30 minutes and I was no longer allowed to leave the premises because something called a “closed campus” was implemented.
U.K. here — elementary school is primary? Age 4/5—11? In the 1980s our dinnertime was an hour (which included eating and playing). I found it far too long though, especially when I moved from infants to juniors (so age 7). I struggled to communicate with other children, ended up badly bullied, and preferred to be around adults where possible. Dinner times and breaks were a nightmare the older I got. In secondary school at least I could spend my dinner hour in the library or even go home. Years later I was diagnosed with autism spectrum condition. But in the 1980s and early 90s I was just the nerdy weirdo, ripe for cruelty. Unstructured time away from adults was my hell.
I know you’re very fond of wanting kids to have lots of free play and I *totally* get that. But for some kids in a school setting free play is hellish — even outside of a school setting (my youngest is also autistic and I home educate her, but she still prefers to play with other kids when parents are nearby on hand to help with the communication issues that arise). She doesn’t encounter bullying in home ed circles but still needs support from an adult in order to play with other kids. It’s not unusual for neurodivergent children to need adults to step in, or even to prepare a structure to the play sometimes. Not *all* ND kids but deffo some.
My eldest (who isn’t autistic) went to school (started in 2011) and his dinner hour was an hour when he started and was 50mins by the end of primary. So often he used to leave his dinner uneaten so he could spend the whole time playing, usually footie (soccer) with his mates in the school playground. He loved the unstructured play. I just used to give him a big breakfast and a snack as soon as he came in as I knew he’d skipped dinner and understood why. Not ideal but you have to work with your kid.
Kids are all different. Some will actually quite like dinner and break times being shorter. Though I actually think providing (optional) interest clubs at dinner time would be a better solution for kids who don’t like free play though, rather than cutting it down.
In Privas, France, I had 2 hours for lunch break, from 11.30am to 1.30pm. It was between 1992 and 1995. I always went home to eat there. I just checked their website, it appears that the kids their still have 2 hours. School starts at 8.30am and ends at 4.30pm.
My 12 yr. prison sentence ended in 1949 and I never ate 1 meal in school. It was 4 blocks from home, overlooking an ideal kids Lake Winona to 2nd through 4th gd. at the WSTC campus school and all I remember were the sad men on the freight trains during the depression and a horse drawn milk delivery wagon on it's morning route. Seventh through 12 gd were 9 blocks from home. We had 1 hr. and 20 min.. No doors were locked and no one asked or cared what we did, so I walked, ran and biked that 4,000 times. The new high school, built in 1965, overlooks beautiful Lake Winona and the, hills, but class rooms have no windows, all doors are locked coming and going and the main door is guarded. No students leave the building and I don't know how many minutes the inmates have to eat. Years ago they were let out at noon, but not allowed in a nearby Burger King, until some boys did and refused to leave when the schools guard told them to, so he pulled his pea shooter on them, which made the papers and they solved that problem.
In the mid '90s in Brazil, I had 40min of break in mid morning. School went from 7h20am until 12h30pm.
Hampton Roads region of Virginia, c 1991-1996.
I can't precisely recall the time allotment for lunch in elementary, but it would have been 30-45 minutes.
What I do recall more vividly: folding tables with attached, circular seats and segmented trays, both not out of place, I bet, in a prison or correctional facility (a parallel term for a school?) of the time; seemingly never-ending french fries and french bread pizza (so European!); surprisingly good rolls!
As a child (44 now) we were allowed 30 minutes for lunch in elementary, and 25 in high school. My children are unschooled now at 9 and 6, and we probably have about 5-6 meal and snack sessions daily, at their discretion outside of dinner. I did have them attend a local forest school program for a few days about a year ago, from which they reported “not enough time to even get through a sandwich” and having to eat a snack mid-morning when an adult allowed it. My kids were pretty exhausted by lunch time from not having time to re-fuel.
My local district in Utah had 50 minute lunches in the 70s. Sometime in the early 80s, it was shortened to 45 minutes, then 40 minutes. In high school, my older siblings had 45 minutes then 40 minutes. By the time I hit high school (85-89), it was down to 35 minutes, but the elementary was still at 40 minutes.
Mid-late 2000s, midwest US, elementary school lunch was 30 minutes. There was a large stoplight in the cafeteria allegedly hooked up to a sound sensor (though I think it was probably just operated by a teacher). When the light was green, volume was at an acceptable level. When the light was red, all talking was supposed to cease and any kids still found to be making an unnacceptable level of noise could be punished by having to eat their lunch alone in the office.
I'm Australian. Unfortunately I don't remember how long my lunch hour was in primary school in the 80s!
I have one child in primary school now. She gets 50 minutes for lunch play along with 30 minutes for morning recess. Neither of those include meal times. (Kids bring their own food to school and they get about 10 minutes to eat before going out to play each time. For some it's certainly a rush to eat in that time.)
Lunch play was reduced from an hour a few years ago (no idea why, they didn't inform parents about it.) The regulations in my state require a certain amount of instruction time per week, which leaves a maximum of an hour and a half of play time each day. So we're still pretty close to that, and one of the meal times still eats into the official instruction time (some teachers read or show short videos during eating time). But I'd love to see minimum play time enforced instead, to make sure we don't end up with the situation in the US!
I grew up in the midwest of USA, and attended both Catholic and public schools as a child. I was in 1st grade, 1959, a city Catholic school. Lunch was 1 hr long and began with a total silence march, all in a row where positions were assigned and maintained throughout the year - your assigned spot in line determined your assigned seat in the lunchroom. We filed in and filled the long tables and stood in our spot until everyone had entered. All eyes were on Sister as she gave the signal to be seated. An intercom then began a prayer after which eating began. There was no school lunch- everyone brought their own. After about 15 minutes of silence. A signal was given and we could talk. When you finished, you were allowed to exit to the playground and play for the remainder of time. It felt like an hour but I suppose it could have been 45 min. PUBLIC SCHOOL: Lunch bell rang, line up at random, noisily go to the lunchroom, wait your turn in line, pay $.35 and sit where you want. Could bring lunch if you wanted. Pick a seat wherever, but had to show your tray to the teacher in charge before you could dump your trash and uneaten food and go out to the playground. She might send you back to finish a vegetable or two! Pretty sure it was an hour here. Had a recess at beginning of day before school started for the kids that arrived early. Had a short mid- morning recess, then the after lunch one which encouraged you not to dawdle with your food so you would have more play time. Then one more afternoon recess- none were long, but fairly sure the lunch/recess one was an hour. And there you have some ancient history trivia! 😊😊
At school in New Zealand in the 90s I think we had an hour for lunch, although it may have been 45mins in high school. My child's primary (elementary?) school in Australia now has an hour for lunch to eat and play.
I grew up in 80s and 90s in former Czechoslovakia. The school day started at about 7.45am and finished either at 12.10pm, 1pm or 2pm depending on child's grade and amount of lessons they would have per day. Lunch time followed adterwards and you could take as long as you needed to eat your lunch. We had an elevenses break at 10.30am which was about 20 mins long and during this break children would eat a sandwich or something substantial while walking in the circle up and down the corridor (the walking was compulsory). So yes enough time to eat and because breakfast time was very early not many would have had appetite to eat much so elevenses break was much needed.
Age 5-11, 58-64 in Redcar UK. We had about an hour to shovel down food in the canteen then outdoor play.
For Ontario, Canada…..back from 1968-1980 my lunch hour was a full hour from Grade one to grade 8, then 70 minutes in high school due to the semester system. My kids had a full hour in elementary school (1995-2004) and also had 70 min in high school.
i think we had an hour ..... we ate and then finished the rest of the hour outdoors playing.
2000-2006 were my elementary years in rural southwest Saskatchewan. We always had an hour for lunch with most of that being time for outside play.
I attended junior high and high school in Montana after 1990. Our lunch period was 50 minutes long. It was more than enough time for us to get our lunch, relax, and socialize with our friends. Our high school had an open campus and those who wished were allowed to leave for lunch to grab food at a store or go home to eat.
I attended elementary school in the 1980’s, also in Montana. I want to say that each class was given a half an hour in the cafeteria to eat lunch with a twenty minute recess outside. Our teachers also ate lunch with us and sat at the head of the tables. They made sure that we minded our manners and ate our lunch like we were supposed to.
late 1960s-early 1970s (depending on grade), suburban NJ outside Philadelphia, a full hour
I went to public school in Connecticut in the 70's and 80's. I honestly do not remember how long our lunch break was in elementary school; but it was long enough to go through the lunch line, eat your food, and then spend some time just socializing with the kids at your table. I also have a LOT of memories of recess, so we must have gotten a good amount of it.
In junior high, we didn't get recess. I don't remember exactly how long lunch was; but I remember we were allowed to go outside once we had eaten and cleaned up the table. I remember the boys playing basketball outside, and we girls usually sat on "the wall" and talked. The fact that the boys had time for a basketball game makes me think our lunch period was a reasonable length.
In high school, I remember that lunch was 30 minutes. We had three lunch shifts, and if you were lucky enough to have "lunch block" as an open block, you had 90 minutes free and that was plenty of time to go grab a slice of pizza or a McD's burger and head to the beach with your friends. I managed to have lunch block open a few days each week. Our school also allowed you to come in late or leave early if you had an open block at the beginning or end of the day. We weren't technically supposed to leave the school during lunch block, but everyone did and none of the staff seemed interested in enforcing this - I suspect it was in the Official Policy so that if we got into some sort of trouble, the school wouldn't be liable.
I’m an elementary educator. In the first school I taught (1998-2008) (an independent day school) recess and lunch were 30 minutes each for students in the primary school division, which included PreK(4)-grade 3 and were scheduled back to back. The middle school lunch and recess break for grades 4-8 might have been less than an hour (maybe 50 minutes total?) but students could go outside for recess as soon as they were finished eating. Older kids eat faster and it’s better not to have them sitting around idle in the lunchroom. Most problems between students occur during lunch and recess. Also, most student accidents and injuries. In the second school (2008-2013) (an independent day school) where I was an administrator and in charge of the schedule, recess and lunch for grades PreK(3)-5 were also 30 minutes each and scheduled back to back. Students had an hour of unstructured but supervised time. In the third school (2013-2016) a suburban public school, it was the same. Lunch and recess for grades 1-5 were 30 minutes each and scheduled back to back. Currently, I work with novice elementary school teachers in Newark, NJ as an induction coach. In Newark Public Schools, recess and lunch combined for K-grade 8 is 30 minutes: 15 for lunch and 15 for recess.
oh, and one more data point for you:
When I was in middle school, from grade 5-8, the 7th and 8th graders were allowed to leave the school at lunch time. You might walk to the nearby corner store, or walk ten minutes to downtown. This was an incredible feeling, though it quickly lost its novelty. I recall boasting to my mother in September of grade 7 that I could run errands for her in town at lunch time. A few weeks later when she asked me to get something for her at the pharmacy during my lunch break, it felt like a huge chore, and I tried to get out of it. In any event, once we were in grade 8, the privilege was revoked for the entire school. All students had to stay on the school grounds during lunch time.
I don't recall if this coincided with a shortening of our lunch time or not. This would have been the year 2000.
My kid in grade two in New Brunswick, Canada currently has lunch from 11:50 - 12:10, followed by long recess outside from 12:10 to 12:35. 45 minutes total. I happen to have my agenda and schedule from grade four at the same school in 1996-97. My "lunch hour" was 11:35 - 12:35. 60 minutes total.
The school day starts at roughly the same time on the old schedule and the current one, but now it ends a little sooner. Bus students are dismissed 10-15 minutes earlier than the used to be. Walkers are dismissed 15 minutes earlier than they used to be.
The morning "short" recess is still 15 minutes long.
We've recently discovered that supervision on the playground starts at 7:45, and they bring the kids in at 8:00. If your bus arrives after 8am, you just go straight into the school. This used to be the case for my kid, but the past few weeks, I've been driving them in for 7:45 so they can enjoy some time on the playground before school starts. They seem really happy about it, with fewer kids there early in the morning (and we haven't had any issues with missing the bus!) I see them running right for the swings after being dropped off, which I guess are usually quite busy during the short and long recesses when the whole school is there.
In any event, it seems like there's about the same amount of class time, but lunch has been shortened by 15 minutes, and the day ends 15 minutes earlier.
I went to elementary school 2001-2008 in a town in semi-rural California. I don't remember the specific time length of recess or lunch---I'm certain it wasn't an hour, though. My guess is 45 minutes. We started off in the cafeteria eating, and then at a certain point during the lunch period, we were allowed to start leaving the cafeteria to go play outside (supervised by the "yard duties"). Kids therefore had an incentive to eat very quickly or throw away some portion of their food in order to have more time to play. Occasionally I was the last person in the cafeteria (i.e. fully unsupervised) and would finish my lunch alone because of that. Despite being a slow eater, I usually still had time to find my friends and get into some kind of mischief without feeling *too* shorted on time for play. We also had both a morning and an afternoon recess.
1) Okay, I was able to find my elementary school's current bell schedule, and...it's actually relatively unchanged, I think.
Morning recess: 15 minutes for all grades
Lunch break: 45 minutes for all grades
Afternoon recess: 15 minutes up to 3rd grade; 4th and 5th don't get afternoon recess
2) In one neighboring district, the kids get 40 minutes total for lunch/recess. They have a morning "nutrition break" of 20 minutes for the younger kids and 15 minutes for 4-5th grades. No afternoon recess.
3) In the other neighboring district, the younger kids get 40 minutes, but grades 3-5 get only 35 minutes. Similarly, the younger kids' morning recess lasts 20 minutes, while grades 3-5 get 15 minutes. They don't have an afternoon recess.
In my elementary school (1980-86-ish) lunch and recess were 2 full periods but not an hour. I didn’t really think about times in hours back then so I don’t know how long it was. In my older son’s elementary, 2009 - 15-ish) lunch and recess together were one period, 25 minutes each. That included lining up to get to the cafeteria or yard and getting back to class. But the afterschool program was all free play and there was extra morning recess if you got there early. Snack was also provided once a day and breakfast for early birds. My younger son’s elementary school had 25-minute recess and lunch with no morning recess and no free play in afterschool (until the last 20 minutes). Breakfast but no snack. We moved schools and while lunch is the same, there are extra recess and play options, breakfast and snack.
1977-89 (UK), 1 hour. My kids 2006-2011 (UK) 1 hr, then reduced to 45 mins with less PE and less break times and outside activities
1991-2005. Community Christian school in Florida. 30 min for lunch, sometimes with 30 min adjacent recess in elementary school. Otherwise, recess was 30 min non-adjacent. PreK thru about 4th grade, 15 min of lunch was “no talking”, punished with handspanking in preschool. The last 15 min was “talking”. Lunchtime itself was pretty structured and strict. Recess less so.
I was in the 6th grade in Utah in 1991 and had an hour to eat and play. The sixth graders rotated being on lunch duty assignment (where we'd help serve or wash dishes). We LOVED it! There wasn't room for everyone to work so when our class's turn came up, we jostled for a slot. It also gave us a lot of respect for the lunch workers.
I confirmed with my younger twin sisters that up through 1999 (when they were in sixth grade), the kids in that Orem, Utah school still had about an hour to eat and play.
My own children had about 20 minutes in 2013-15 in El Paso, TX (before we began homeschooling--this lunch-hour was one of the catalysts; my daughter wasn't eating so she could rush out to play).
My youngest daughter now attends an Acton School. They have 45 minutes on their lunch hour. Often they eat outside in good weather.
Interesting to hear about unbearable noise—I would guess that is behind the silence directive.
In 2019/2020 before the pandemic in western Washington state my children’s elementary school instituted a silent lunch. I attended one such lunch. It was not AS silent as the word silent would suggest, but the kids were chastised rather harshly whenever the noise level rose above a murmur. They had to stay in their seats with the class (rather than a free mix of kids) for 20 minutes, after which, well behaved groups were dismissed class by class to gather their trash, dispose of it, and then go out for recess. I think recess was around 20 minutes (but I cannot perfectly recall, if it was not 20, it was less). My 3rd grader had frequently come home from school not having eaten all her lunch, so I believe the requirement of 20 minutes seated at lunch was instituted to combat kids not eating.
My oldest started all-day kindergarten at our public elementary school in 2010 and most of the lunches I experienced with her and younger children of mine were not much different in total length of time, though they were much more free and much less depressing in regards to freedom of seating, freedom to talk and laugh, and timing of departure from the lunch room. I never sent my third grader back to elementary school after the pandemic shut downs because I knew the experience would be even more controlled and awful.
In Utah, in the 1980's, we had a long enough time to eat lunch. So much so that the sixth graders would help prepare and serve the lunch and still had time to hurry and eat after everyone was served. Then we could raise our hand to be excused for recess. The teachers would even walk around the cafeteria and make sure we were taking the time to eat. If we said we were done and we barely ate anything, they'd tell us to keep eating.
Before I pulled my kids from school, I would go meet them for lunch. This was about 2018. It was probably an hour for eating and play combined, but only those who got there first really had time. My kids preferred to take their lunch from home so they didn't have to wait in the long lines (or eat gross food). And yes, it was unbearably loud in there.
I graduated in 1991. I remember lunch periods to be 45 minutes in high school, the same as other class periods.
I have taught high school since 1999 in a suburb of Detroit. State governments have been increasing the number of school days, and hours of school required. So if there is a shorter lunch period today compared to 30 years ago, it is probably due to state requirements for hours of instruction.
Next year, in Ann Arbor, my 5th grader will have 24 minutes to eat lunch and 24 minutes to play afterwards. She will have two other recesses during the day. When I was in sixth grade in 1986, I remember my lunch hour being 45 minutes to an hour long. I believe that was time for eating and for playing.
I was born in 1960, the child of an enlisted navy man...I have a number of varied experiences.
In first grade, I attended the same small town school my grandmother did in rural Illinois. Lunch was served in the main entry hall and we took our trays back to our desks to eat. I had plenty of time to walk to my mother’s cousin’s house nearby on the days I didn’t eat school lunch.
I lived in California in second and third grades. I don’t remember lunch at all, but we had unsupervised playground time before school and I think, two or even three recesses...a LOT of free play.
Starting in fourth grade, around 1969, my family lived in Memphis, Tennessee...the lunchroom had each class arranged in a double row of desks. We sat next to one other student to whom we could not speak while teachers walked the room enforcing the rule with a stick/baton that would be rapped on the desk of any who dared speak 😲 it was a shocker on the heels of the relative freedom of CA. I don’t recall a recess afterward.
I finished my schooling back in Illinois in 1978. From eighth grade until graduation, we had a long enough lunch period to leave campus to eat elsewhere or eat in the cafeteria and have plenty of time to go outside to socialize. This school had nine 35-40 minute class periods which were expected to include a couple “study halls”. I had very little homework since I was able to do it at school and as a good student I earned “student lounge” privileges...when homework was done, we were able to socialize or play cards. The flexibility at this school enabled me to have all my credits by the end of my junior year. During the last couple years, I waited tables for two hours before school and two hours after school and was able to cheer basketball. I think this system helped me develop responsibility and confidence in my ability to manage myself and my time.
I can’t say for sure which way was best as I experienced them at different ages and levels of maturity, but I know the “no talking” lunches seemed punitive and the less restrictive systems were much more pleasant and even joyous.
My children were in school in the 90’s and 2000’s and had twenty minutes to line up, eat, and line up again to leave the cafeteria. I visited for lunch frequently and it was STRESSFUL. NOT joyous😞
My grands will be homeschooled.
I can't remember what it was in grade school, but lunches in high school were 25 minutes.
I was born in 1982. I believe our high school lunch period was 29 minutes. This was 1997-2000, in Massachusetts. In middle school I believe it was longer (it was combined with an outdoor "recess") though not sure exactly how much longer.
I don't remember the length of my elementary school lunch recess (1990-1996) but I do remember that we had distinct periods for eating and for playing and that there was enough time for both. We all ate, and then we all played.
I don't recall feeling rushed in either part, and I always ate my meal. In early elementary school we also had a morning recess and an afternoon recess, in addition to our lunchtime recess (at around 3rd grade, we lost one of the shorter recesses). I imagine that the absence of adequate recess time outside of the lunch recess makes the lunch "hour" particularly pressured these days as kids have not yet had any time to socialize, play, or even snack.
I grew up in New Jersey and attended elementary & middle school between 1985-1995. In have zero recollection of how long lunch was, but I know by the time we were in high school, lunch was 15-20 minutes long. I rarely ate but that could have been a function of my socialization. I always remember it being too short. (But the public high school kids, during the same years, had an hour because they almost all went off campus into town for lunch-that was how my town’s lunch places survived). In elementary school, it was probably about 60 minutes long (since it was the public school). I never, ever remember feeling rushed.
I worked as a paraprofessional in an elementary school in Northeast Georgia from 2015-2022. One of my job duties was to monitor classes during lunch. Lunch for the children was 25 minutes long. 10 of which they were required to eat in silence and were disciplined (usually isolated to a table away from their peers for the remainder of lunch) if they broke the silent lunch rule. I never felt this was fair, so I refused to enforce the rule. Pre-covid, "share buckets" were placed at the head of each table so children could place any unwanted pre-packaged food or fruit at the end of lunch for other children to take with them for snack or for extra food at home. That ended after 2020 and much more food waste was the result.
This is outside the USA and probably outside all your survey parameters, but it in mixed private day and boarding prep school in the UK in the late 1970's mornings consisted of five lessons starting 9am, with a 30 minute break, snack and drink 11-11.30am, then 12.45-1pm wash hands etc. Lunch 'hour' was from 1pm to 2pm and teachers always ate alongside the kids. After that the whole school had 30 mins enforced nap time from 2.00-2.30pm when boarders had to lie on their beds and either nap or read, and day pupils stayed in their day room. After that 2.30-3.30pm+ was for season appropriate team sports, usually outside, then roughly 3.30-4.30pm was play time again, free play and usually outside weather allowing, followed by another snack and drink. Afternoon lessons (if any) were 4.30-5.45, before dinner at 6pm.
Academic outcomes were very high, possibly because of all that play time rather than despite it. I'm not sure I could survive the state school system in the UK if I was a child now, they get much less play time. Tomorrow I'll ask a 10 year old how much lunch break his UK Primary School allows and hopefully report back.
I can’t speak to the year question, but locally there is a charter school that has them watch tv during lunch a well. Many parents complain that this distraction results in even less eating but the school hasn’t wavered. I’m guessing the kids are more manageable when watching tv and so suspect this innovation will catch on.
In Ireland, I was in primary school from late 50's to 1965. Lunch was 1.25 hours (12.45 to 2pm), so there was time to go home, have food, and get back to school > I was always keen to get back as people would play great games in the yard. My children in the 80's/90's had different hours, lunch was about 30 minutes, not enough yard time.
I taught elementary school in Waco, Texas for the 2002-2003 school year. My students had a full hour for lunch. There were other paid employees that watched the kids at recess. It was glorious and for us teachers too! We could even go out to eat with our whole team if we wanted.
I was born in 1979. When I went to elementary school until 1994 I think, it lasted 1 hour. My daughters are small and although I am Spanish we live in Germany. In elementary school I know that it lasts 30 minutes maximum. I worked precisely as an educator in the school lunchroom in Spain from 1998 to 2005 in primary schools (from 3 to 12 years old children) and it lasted 1 hour maximum.
I loved to stay and eat with my colleagues. It was a fantastic moment when we had lunch together and then we had 1 hour of free play in the playground. I think it was one of the best times I had.
This subject is shocking when you see the times they have. In fact, after the krona they barely had 20 minutes and of course, within that time it includes, washing hands, getting food.
Congratulations for the channel and your articles. I am a psychologist and pedagogue and I totally agree with the topics you deal with in general.
Best regards
From 1975- 1986 I would say it was always an hour's lunch break and yes, I agree about that talking thing, we were NOT allowed to talk in class it was strict and I remember talking a lot during lunch hour and also kind of getting a bit lost in naturre on the school grounds...also I walked home, a long walk home from a very young age, probably from age 5 or 6...
I was born in 1971, as far as I remember lunch was about 1 hour. We definitely had enough time to eat and then to play/chat etc. I also sometimes went home for lunch. This is in Adelaide Australia.
I was in elementary school from 1969-74, we had 3 recesses, morning, lunch and afternoon. I sometimes walked home about 5-6 blocks, for lunch , by myself.
I remember quite clearly. When I was a child I had an hour for lunch. I walked home and back (and yes, was sometimes late because I stopped to play for a few minutes). When I was 12 in 1994-1995 I started junior high and still had an hour to go home for lunch. The following year my junior high school became a middle school, my lunch break was reduced to 30 minutes and I was no longer allowed to leave the premises because something called a “closed campus” was implemented.