Bubble Gum??

I find it interesting how this blog has influenced other people in my life, well mostly just my parents. I have told them both about having to find things to write about and how difficult it can be to come up with something interesting or original. As such, I have often received e-mails or been handed an article that might be something I could use in my blog. I think it’s great! It’s not that my parents are searching for things to help me out but if they read something that is applicable to teaching or schools, they pass it on to me. I don’t use everything they send me but some of it has made its way onto my blog. This weekend I was home visiting my parents and my dad once again handed me an article that he thought was interesting and “might be useful for your blog!” And so here it is:

Can chewing gum help people concentrate? Apparently yes! An article in the health section of Thursday’s Calgary Herald suggest that gum can have a lot more benefits than simply freshening breath. Some of these benefits include increased ability to focus, help with memory and stress relief. Not surprisingly the greatest gum use in North America is by teenagers but this large amount of gum chewing could help this age group in the classroom. “The act of chewing increases blood flow to the brain by as much as 25 percent” and increases activity of the frontoparietal brain region. I had to look up what this region of the brain is used for. This area has implications in higher-order processing like attention, decision-making and intelligence. The article stated that this is the reason some scientists believe that chewing increases cognitive skills like concentration and memory and that some schools are providing students with gum during testing periods.

I found the article quite interesting because I find that most schools have banned gum on school grounds. I definitely understand some of the concerns with the disposal of gum and the distraction that some gum chewers bring, but if gum increases concentration and memory, couldn’t we be helping students by letting them chew gum in our class? As with everything could we not teach students how to properly dispose of their gum and how to chew without causing great distractions to others? I am curious to know if there might be an increase in the allowance of gum in schools with the findings of this research. The article stated that some schools were using gum during testing situations to see if it helped students with concentration. Wouldn’t it be beneficial to allow gum in regular classrooms when the material is being taught? I have heard that having students write tests in the same space that they learned the material can help students recall the information so wouldn’t it make sense for students to chew gum while learning the material and writing tests?

I have heard that students with ADHD often need to do something to help them concentrate. Some classrooms allow these students to move around at the back of the classroom. Or provide the students with small squishy balls to squeeze. One of the classrooms that I helped with had large elastic bands around the legs of the desk so the little boy could quietly move his feet to help him concentrate. I think they also allowed him to chew gum at times to see if it would help him at school. So should we be bringing gum back into the classroom?

Would you let students chew gum in your class, if it was allowed in the school?