Breakfast: A job for families or schools?

As many of us know, breakfast is a crucial meal in our lives. It starts the metabolism in the morning and tends to start the day on a better foot. Breakfast is something some don't even think twice about consuming, it is just a normal part of the everyday routine; however, some may not be as fortunate due to family circumstances. This has become a topic of debate in schools, especially in New York City.

Michael Howard Saul wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal discussing this very topic. The debate is centered on whether or not schools should offer breakfast in the classroom, as opposed to just having it available in the cafeteria for kids if they are interested. According to this article, New York City already offers free breakfast to 1.1 million students via the cafeteria, but many are arguing that they would be more effective in reaching hungry children if the breakfast was actually in the classroom. However, the other side of the debate is concerned with worsening the problem of obesity by bringing kids food in their respective classrooms. The decision has not yet been reached, but the council will vote on it on Wednesday.

I think that this is such a difficult topic to make such a definite decision on, because either way the state honestly cannot win. It is obvious that the state of New York is concerned about children who may come from less fortunate families where their only meals may come from school, and this is already being addressed by offering food in the cafeteria. Obesity has become such a hot topic lately, especially in younger generations because, I believe, fast food is more readily available and acceptable as means of nutrition. Saul solidifies this opinion when he quotes Thomas Farley, commissioner of the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

"We have a problem in obesity in children," Dr. Farley testified. "I am concerned that if we have breakfast in every classroom, that that could contribute to the problem and possibly make it worse."

This resolution could be a contributing factor to the increase of laziness in children, if food is just readily available for them right from their seat. Sometimes if food is given as a gift or a free handout, people tend to eat it whether they are hungry or not and I am not sure if that is the goal that the New York school system is wanting to achieve. I understand that it takes a little more time to go to the cafeteria before school begins and that might mean losing a little extra sleep, but I am not sure if that is worth the public school's system extra effort to deliver the breakfast to each classroom.