After every summer, students, as usual, come back to North Penn amidst many changes. This year’s changes include a new cell phone policy, a new lunch procedure, and a new parking policy. Yet, the one of the most significant alterations that students will notice has been the change of study hall to lunch study on their schedules.

Lunch study, which many students call their “second lunch,” places students in the cafeteria during their free periods instead of sitting in a classroom.

These new study halls give students “ time to work with other people if they need help with homework” said sophomore Alex Stec.

Also added to lunch periods has been a designated quiet room where students have the opportunity to have a “normal” study hall, according to E-112 Assistant Principal, Mr. Neil Broxterman.

“It was primarily a staffing issue,” Broxterman said. “Study hall requires numerous staff members to run them and it gives teachers less collaboration time with their colleagues.”

Though lunch study may have its benefits to both students and staff, sitting in the cafeteria for more than one period a day cannot serve as a constructive use of time for students.

In study hall, students feel forced to actually get work done, and use the time to go see teachers for help or go to the IMC. With this new-fangled study period, students do not feel as motivated to get ahead on work or reach out for assistance when trying to understand the material they are learning in the classroom.

 “I think a lot of kids won’t do any work, and if you put them in a lunch study, they will only slack off,” said senior Chris McGuriman. “The school always tries to get students to test better, but if students don’t feel motivated to actually get work done because lunch study is considered a second lunch, they won’t.”

The concept of calling lunch study a “second lunch” also gives off a negative connotation for those students who need a period a day to be pushed to do their work. The use of the word lunch implies a time to socialize and relax. Yes, socialization stands as a major part of the school day because it exists as a place in our culture where people learn the proper way to behave with others. However, high school aged students should know how to properly socialize with others by now. The time allotted to students should be used to study, not to hang out with friends.

Additionally, many students are not using room E-6 to work. According to Broxterman, only “three or four students a day” have been utilizing the reserved quite room. Considering the size of the North Penn student population, and the large amount of students that have lunch study, that is a small number.

With the suggestion of adding a second quiet room later in the year, Broxterman said that it would be “difficult to do because we would have to move students and teachers around.”

Furthermore, the cafeteria has become overcrowded, and fewer seats have been available at tables. There also has been no restriction placed on students buying more then one lunch, which means more work for the cafeteria staff.

Only time will tell if this new system can indeed remain in place based on its meritorious intentions.