How can we stop silent lunches in my son's elementary school?

Question

My son's elementary school has recently begun the practice of cafeteria-wide silent lunches, after sending home a memo requesting that parents limit their visits to the cafeteria. But no memo was sent about the silent lunch policy. If children do speak, they are sent to the "time-out" table, and usually will miss recess as well.

Our PTA president is an employee of the school. Our principal is a "my way or the hiway" type. She wants to shut down the few of us who are aware of this situation. How can we get the word out to parents of 599 students? (Creativity and humor count! :-)

Thank you, thank you!

Answer 1

Report the principal to the school board. Also, call in the local newspaper to cover this. It sounds like a stupid, fascist policy. The school board will sit up and take notice if the papers get wind of this.

Answer 2

Before you start a war with this principal and school, you might want to find some information first. Find the answers to the following questions: What are the reasons the Principal has for the no talking policy? What are the reasons for limiting parents coming to the lunchroom?

If the problem is overcrowding, that is a very valid reason for limiting parents from eating lunch with their children. Would you rather be able to eat lunch with your child and have some other students not able to sit down and eat because you have taken their spot?

The no talking policy could have been enacted because the lunchroom was too loud. This can be a safety issue as well as a nuance to anyone who is in the lunchroom.

Instead of taking a 'us against the principal' stance, you might want to sit down tell the principal you have some concerns. Ask for the reasoning behind the new policies.

Most school districts see this as a 'school policy' that the principal has control over. The school board will probably not really care about this. They have other issues to handle.

Also, if the problem is the noise level, you and the other parents who are concerned about this could volunteer to monitor the students during lunch to keep the noise level down. Or talking at lunch could become a privilege that needs to be earned.

Many schools are going to a quiet lunch and many also require the students to read after they are finished eating.

Answer 3

Sometimes the cafeteria is so loud, it actually gets the kids riled up before they go out to the playground after they eat, so although 'silent lunch' seems extreme, it probably results in less agression outside afterwards. Also, the kids seem to lose their minds during lunch, and I've seen lots of cafeterias that looked like a warzone afterwards, with kids not picking up after themselves, even kids that normally would.

You could teach the kids some basic sign language,and that way they can still be social at lunch, yet still be silent. Maybe even have a deaf interpreter at the next PTA meeting and hand out copies of the Americal Sign Language Alphabet. Maybe on the other side of the ASL handout, have someone write the rationale behind your drive to promote sign language and finger spelling. Be sure to throw in the phrases "whole language", "multi-disciplinary approach to language arts", and see if you can work in the hot button words "authentic, ownership, matrix, rubrik" and any other two dollar words that can be found in the front 10 pages of the school's language arts textbooks. Oh, and don't forget 'paradigm' or even better, 'paradigmatic'. Nothing better than throwing their own educational doublespeak back at them.

The trick here is to obey, enthusiastically, the letter of the law, while completely sabotaging the rationale behind the policy. You'll know and so will everyone else what the real impetus is behind this ASL promotional push, yet you can genuinely smile and honestly support your principal and her hair-brained practice. If all else fails, how about everyone showing up to a PTA meeting with a couple of neon bandages taping their mouths shut.? It's not like that's not a sure fire attention grabber. Did I understand correctly that the principal wants the parents to visit their kids in the cafeteria, but then won't let the kids talk when their parents are on campus? That sounds to me like the principal wants the parents to stay off campus and this is one way to kill two birds with one stone.

Better than PTA meetings, the best way to communicate to the entire parent population is to attend the monthly school site council meetings. These meetings are a public forum, site centered (as opposed to speaking before the school board which addresses problems that are district wide) and where major decisions about school policy and money are discussed, voted on and enacted. There is always an agenda that has to be published and sent home with every student to inform the school population about what topics will be discussed at the upcoming meeting and every meeting has official minutes taken and these minutes are legal documents. Also school site council meetings much much smaller and more 'intimate' than a large scale PTA meeting. A large school, with more than 1000 students would only have 10-15 people at a SSC meeting, whereas a PTA meeting can have hundreds in attendance. That many people in one room quickly can escalate into a shouting match, but it's hard to ignore someone when there's only 10 people in the room. It also will give the principal a chance to 'defend' her policy without feeling like she's under siege.

Answer 4

Well in my opinion your school needs a new Principal. Man why not let kids be kids and let them do what kids their age do? you are only that age once! whats up with this no talking lunch? and what is the person thinking that put that "stupid rule" into affect? Well you could walk a picket line in front of the school? that would get her attention for sure, or get the word to all 599 parents of those kids and let them help you decide what to do about it. Just don't give up!!!!! the children are worth all the effort, keep the pressure on and you will win. Has anyone bothered to ask the children what they think?

Answer 5

More and more schools are implementing silent lunches. It's time to fight back. I would recommend going to the principal and talking to the PTA to find out why they are doing this. If you don't feel that their reasoning is valid, talk to other parents, raise your concerns at the next PTA meeting, and if they still don't listen then don't give up!

An elementary school in our area recently banned kids from running at recess. I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper with my intentions to hold a petition drive on a Saturday morning at the school. I notified every major media outlet (tv stations, radio stations, talk radio hosts), and man, it got some attention. The principal finally agreed to meet with the parents and come up with a compromise. Perhaps the last 5 minutes of lunch at your school could be silent for clean up time. Don't give up, a guy who showed up at our petition drive said, "I'm from the 60's, and if we didn't like something we shut it down." I like that spirit.

Answer 6

Well, you can try going thru the administration - like that would work!

Call the newspaper and /or radio station. Tell them about the "silencing of the lambs"

Get together with the parents that do now and go have lunch with your kids, with a gag on in silent protest!

Contact your kid's teacher and volunteer to come into the classroom to help or to organize a party/craft/outting. Ask her if she has a list of email addresses so you can contact the parents for help.

Hmmm - maybe that would work. "Volunteer" with the PTA to help organize a fund raiser and see if they have a "master" contact list for parents. If you get the list, you can have a change of mind about helping out! ;-)

Answer 7

You have a right to be heard at your pta.
as well as pass out handouts when parents pick or drop off their kids.if that dont work get the media involved, picket if you have to.
then make sure you vote the next time school board elections come around.
I have had to threaten to picket several public orginisations in several instances, and it seems that when they hear you are willing take the time to make it public they will either change their mind or get thrown out.
most of these people have let their ego's grow way too large and sometimes they need to be put in their place, but that isnt easy.

Answer 8

We grant dictatorial powers to our teachers and school administrators. Having done so, it is up to us to see that these powers are not abused.

By all means, get the media involved. If you live in a small town, go to the nearest city with one or more TV stations. Don't forget the newspapers. E-mail your story to the cable news channels. Contact your school board (every individual) and demand action. If all else fails, sue the school board for the removal of the principal.

Answer 9

That's so not ethical! How can you make kids be silent on their lunch break? It's inhumane, really...

You and other parents could picket the school's office with signs! Or maybe, you can put an article in the city paper? That might turn a few heads :P

Answer 10

Since lunches with the kids are limited but still allowed, dress up as a mime or a clown and get them all to laugh. Laughing isn't talking!!!!