Second Essay

Jerome Aiken

English

Professor: Jennifer Guarino

03/23/13

Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus

After reading a New York Times article, “How to start a good school day”, the anonymous author points out a huge amount of underprivileged students in New York City that do not receive the free breakfast that is served every weekday morning to the other 12 million students across the country. The author has included the mayor of the city’s argument; Mayor Michael Bloomberg argues “Providing free breakfast in the classroom might increase childhood obesity”. With this said the school’s in this city are “losing more than $50 million a year in federal money by failing to provide breakfast to needy students. The writer’s article has realistic evidence to back up their information by the use of percentages in the school system and comparing it to other cities. The article illustrates the person behind’s perspective of the situation, but the author fails to include what could be done to the situation; making the piece lack information for the reader to gain in this situation.

            With this in mind, this article implies that there needs to be a change in the cities school system. Without a change in the schools, most students will not get the well-balanced breakfast that is needed to keep their brains thinking and functioning throughout the day. “Free breakfast reduces hunger and can improve academic performance, but in New York City, too many students do not get the meals they need”. The author includes that having breakfast will improve academic performance but lacks to go into depth about the benefits of having breakfast. As I read this article, I wondered how having breakfast could have been beneficial with improving academic performance. The author does not go into depth with the benefits of breakfast. The author should have included information explaining how eating a healthy breakfast could be beneficial academically. Having information that eating breakfast provides energy to start a day, having breakfast improves concentration and boost short-term memory. The brain needs glucose from food in order to work well, without brain energy it will be slump. Stating this information in my opinion would give the article strength because it informs readers that the writer knows what he is talking about, giving the author creditably.

            However in the article, the writer states “Mr. Bloomberg has given principal’s the authority to decide whether to serve free breakfast in the classrooms of the more than 1,700 schools in the city, about 345 provide free breakfast in some classroom, and 70 allow it in all classrooms”. The writer responds with “That is not enough. The best way to ensure that more students start the day with a nutritious meal is to put free breakfast in all classrooms”. In this quote the author clarifies his view on the situation, that the principals in the schools are not doing enough. Students should be able to receive nourishment in order to be successful in their academic studies. Nourishment is essential for learning, which the article lacked to show it focused more on the cost effective problems that breakfast provided the school. With this being said he doesn’t include how the reader can help put free breakfast in all classrooms. Having the problem still unsolved.

            In my opinion the author didn’t give any enlightenment in how to solve the problem that the New York City school systems are facing so the problem would remain to go unsolved. Instead of focusing on the problem the author should have came out with different resolutions into fixing the problem. For instance, the schools should provide a healthy nourishing breakfast in order for their students to be well equipped for a rigorous learning experience. As the article stated before the school actually looses money when not providing breakfast. So in actuality the students and the financial aspects of the school would be benefiting by providing breakfast. The article spoke about students not being able to come on time in order to receive breakfast; the school should time the buses in appropriate times so that the students can have an equal opportunity to eat breakfast. Lastly, instead of only 350 schools being provided with free breakfast all 1700 schools in the district should receive the same privileges.

            In closing, no child should be left behind in their learning. Every student deserves the right to learn at an equal pace. The advantage of one student shouldn’t be a disadvantage to another; every student deserves an equal start. It shouldn’t be based on whether you can come to school early or the financial aspect of your family. Education doesn’t come with a price it comes with a goal to provide students with an opportunity to be strong standing individuals. I will always remember my principal Timothy Sullivan saying, “Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus”, meaning, “We learn not for school but for life”.