After two years of eating in silence, children in Japan are once again allowed to chat with their classmates during lunch, as the country has seen a decline in COVID-19 cases.
Primary and junior high school students in Japan were previously prohibited from speaking to their peers in dining halls to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, under a rule known as "silent eating." During the peak of COVID-19 in the Asian country, some schools also required students to avoid sitting face-to-face while eating.
However, some schools overlooked the "silent eating" rule due to concerns about its impact on children's mental health and well-being. Recently, the Education Board in Fukuoka, western Japan, approved lifting the ban on conversations among students during lunch in elementary and middle schools, provided they speak quietly.
Teachers welcomed the decision by the Education Board, with Kenji Tanaka, a primary school principal, stating, "Students have been eating in silence for a long time, and finally, happy school lunch times will return."
The board's decision has sparked division among parents; while some praised the move for restoring natural interaction among students, others argued that lifting the ban is still premature. Following Fukuoka's example, some Japanese prefectures, like Miyazaki, have also ended the silent eating rule, though schools in Chiba near Tokyo have implemented a "middle ground" solution allowing students to face each other while eating without talking, according to the British newspaper "The Guardian."
Japanese schools are facing pressure to gradually eliminate the preventive measures put in place during the pandemic, especially after the government lifted restrictions on the population in March.
