Come morning recess, it seems as though half of our students turn into Oliver Twist. I’ll paint a picture: one kid has a generously filled baggie of Cheez Its. Almost immediately, that student is swarmed by another five or so students, and these five or so students hold out their open, empty hands and say, “Can I have one?” Add an English accent and a “please sir” and the bit would be complete.
A side note: this behavior is not indicative of starving students by any means; it is unusual that a student does not have their own snack. This is a normal, daily occurrence, a staple in kid culture.
Next, now that they are facing the row of open palms, the student in possession of Cheez Its will usually place one in each of their friends’ hands. The beggars toss them in their mouths, wipe their hands on their pants, and move on to the next lucky possessor of a delicious snack food. Hence the feeling of Industrial Revolution London and its panhandlers. This migration from one snack owner to the next lasts the entirety of recess, sometimes the sole activity, sometimes punctuating their sports and games.
We all know snack foods are the original commodity among our young friends, the introduction to barter and trade. Socioeconomic status is determined by the desirability of a snack, and most often, the wealth is directly proportionate to how junky it is. If only all of the intricacies of capitalism could be neatly packed into a tupperware or sandwich baggie.
When I watch these snack interactions on the schoolyard I always have this thought: who wants to eat just one Cheez It?? Who enjoys this tease of beg-worthy snacks? I think it sounds just awful. It’s like only ever reading the first chapter of a book.
But then, I realized maybe there’s something to this piece of kid culture.
Personally, I love a good buffet, especially a good breakfast buffet. Who doesn’t? It’s the ultimate freedom to have exactly what you want, plus seconds, and avoid what you don’t want. The only thing that beats a good breakfast buffet is a free good breakfast buffet, and isn’t that what morning recess really is? A Cheez It here, a fruit gummy there, a pretzel, a blueberry, a Skittle. A single sunflower seed (seriously, I’ve seen it). Recess is a bite-size buffet, perfect for a snack, and, at least to them, it’s totally free.
Sometimes your children are absolute geniuses.
However, this buffet aspect also applies to the fact that, like any good buffet-goer, many of them will quickly shove snacks they didn’t finish in their pockets when the bell rings. Later on, while doing a truly terrible job being discreet, they pull them out, bite by bite, to eat them when they’re not supposed to. Some weird stuff comes out of those pockets, undoubtedly leaving crumbs, flavor dust, or melted smears in their wakes.
Sometimes their genius accomplishments are immediately undercut by how gross they can be.
Singing off, Schoolyard Eagle Eye