For college students, eating snacks like Mamee, Lays, and Pringles while attending a lecture is a norm.
According to Willow Lawson in Psychology Today, eating snacks, which are high in protein helps students to study better as proteins will keep the mind working efficiently.
Lawson further explained that eating protein raises the levels of tyrosine, a kind of amino acid which drives the brain to generate norepinephrine and dopamine.
Norepinephrine and dopamine are believed to keep a person energized as they promote both alertness and activity.
As it helps the students become more alert, eating snacks would help them to absorb knowledge more readily.
 |
| Light bites to snack on |
Johnson, 20 from the
IT faculty, thinks that students should snack considerately.
“It’s okay to eat snacks like bread and sweets that does not produce much noise in class,” he said.
He remarked that his lecturers allowed students to eat in
class as long as rubbish were removed.
“Although most lecturers are not against it, students should be more understanding and not crunch too loudly,” continued U-Jen, 22, student from ADP.
This active lass says that she snacks in class to stay awake but it is always done discretely.
She emphasizes the importance to cleaning up rubbish.
“If you eat, you've got to have the sense of cleaning your own mess, or else it creates inconvenience to the next batch of students who use the classroom.
“Imagine ants running all over the table and rotten food that creates unpleasant odor - it’s disgusting,” she said.
“I enjoy munching in class,” says Suneet Pavillal, 20, a student from Nursing.
“I think it is fine to eat in class because it will keep me awake during the lecture.”
 |
| Snacking to stay awake |
“Personally, I don’t think it is appropriate eating in class,” says Vinoosiny Rajamohon, 19, from Accounting faculty asserted.
“It is annoying and irritating for those who are not eating.
“My attention goes to the food rather than to the lecturer.
“Unless they share it with me,” she laughed.
Nurhazirah Bakri, 27, an ADP lecturer does not mind her students snacking in class.
“However, I do have an issue with students leaving their trash in class.
“It devalues the moral of a student, and also leaves more work for the janitors.
“I only allow them to eat light food, not large meals such as; nasi lemak or a big breakfast which can affect the smell of the entire class.
“Even in the computer lab, I turn a blind eye when students eat, as long as it is not messy.”
 |
| No nasi lemak in class, Nurhazirah warns |
Dr Sunfa Kim, 36, a cognitive psychologist and lecturer holds a different perspective on this issue.
“Snacking in class does bring a negative impact on the students.
“It disrupts the concentration of the student when they are focusing on both eating and listening to the lecture in the class,” she says.
She emphasizes the importance of students paying attention in class.
“I need their full attention, and in turn, I will give them a 10-15 minute coffee break.
 |
| The do's and dont's |
“Discipline is very important,” says SEGi University Vice Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Dr Muhamad Awang.
“Eating and drinking in class shows a lack of discipline and disrespect towards the lecturer.”
“By eating in class, you are showing disrespect for three parties: the lecturer, the policy and the University.
The onus, he says, is on the students themselves.
“It is to cultivate in them an attitude of excellence, doing things because they are proper and good.
“As educators, they don’t just give information, but must also give nurturance, guidance and correction in other aspects of students’ life.”
Similarly, Samsiah Tun, 20, agrees.
She wonders: “Students have been warned that no food or drink is allowed in the classroom with the signage all over the class room, are they not aware of it?”
 |
| Students ignoring the sign |
“Trash has to be thrown into the dustbins, not on the table or at any corners of the classrooms.”
“You can see this clearly, how college students treat the place that they acquire for knowledge, especially in Auditorium B and C.”
“Luckily, some lecturers especially the lecturers on the fourth floor - the nursing lecturers - who would have the guts to discipline their nursing students strictly in terms of classroom cleanliness,” said Yani, 30.
