"title"=>"Why are kids being forced to eat lunch in silence?",
"summary"=>"
Saving their social time – and their emotional lives – is more important than ‘achievement’ activities
When my son started kindergarten, I wondered how he would adjust to a seven-hour school day without an afternoon nap and how quickly he would make new friends. I never imagined lunch would be the worst part of his day.
I was horrified to learn that his A-rated public school in one of North Carolina’s best school systems forced my five-year-old and his schoolmates to endure 15-minute silent lunches. Talking in a whisper would lead to a swift reprimand by the lunch monitor. He could even lose precious play time for excessive talking.
Continue reading...","content"=>nil,
"author"=>"April McGreger",
"link"=>"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/04/silent-school-lunch-kids-mental-health",
"published_date"=>Thu, 04 Apr 2024 14:00:41.000000000 UTC +00:00,
"image_url"=>"https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6a9041def4837bdc6eacda02de23bc851e91c76b/0_82_3000_1799/master/3000.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=bf76a6cdef95230d5577294fcc1ac524",
"feed_url"=>"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/04/silent-school-lunch-kids-mental-health",
"language"=>nil,
"active"=>true,
"ricc_source"=>"feedjira::v1",
"created_at"=>Fri, 05 Apr 2024 08:04:39.825928000 UTC +00:00,
"updated_at"=>Tue, 14 May 2024 05:26:52.796446000 UTC +00:00,
"newspaper"=>"US general21",
"macro_region"=>"USA"}