Gum. Why can't we chew it?

Gum, why can’t we chew it?

Students complain about not being able to chew one of their favorite things.

       For years, students have been fighting with the teachers about not being able to chew gum. Many have tried to get Mrs. Richey to let up on this rule, but she refuses. Many students believe that they should be allowed to chew gum. They say that it keeps them quiet and occupied. The staff tells us that they don’t like us chewing gum because it gets into the floor which makes it hard for the janitors to clean. Also, many times the students are too lazy to get up and throw their gum away when it loses its flavor so they just stick it underneath the table or chair. 

        Passing out gum is like a secret drug deal among students. Almost every kid in this school has a list in their head of which teachers are good or not good at catching you with gum. Some students believe that if there were more trash cans kept in the classrooms then they wouldn’t feel tempted to stick it under the table.

       We interviewed three people and asked them some questions about the gum policy. First we asked Jackson W. from blue 8, what his thoughts were on the policy. He told us, “ I don’t necessarily think it’s fair.”. Another person said, “ I think it’s kind of stupid.” We asked a person from red 8 if she thought we should be able to chew gum. She said, “ Yes because it isn’t fair that we can’t.”. Our last question to the students was, on a scale of one to ten how much do you like the policy with one being hate?  The answers we got were 5,2, and 1. All close to the end of the scale. All in all, the students who go to Stoller Middle School would like this policy to be diminished so they can happily chew gum without the risk of being caught and getting detention.

By: Rachel Hill