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​ Student First and Last Name 

Mrs. Carmen Jones & Ms. Brittany Harris 

7th Grade English 

10 May 2018 

To Chew or Not to Chew 

1  Is it right to ban gum in school? Most schools have a policy that forbids 

chewing gum in class. Kids are forced to spit their gum out and into the trash at 

the start of class and it negatively affects their focus for the rest of the period. 

Research shows that chewing gum actually improves learning by increasing brain 

activity and keeping you focused for longer periods of time. 

2  ​Chewing gum promotes learning by increasing brain activity which helps 

students improve their grades.​ ​“Research found that students who chewed gum 

during class over a 14-week period had a significant increase in test scores and 

received a better final grade compared to those who had not chewed gum” 

(American Society for Nutrition 2016).​ ​Improved test scores and grades make it 

clear that chewing gum has real benefits for students because it helps them focus. 
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“Research has shown that insulin, which enhances learning and memory, is released 

to the brain and helps it to concentrate for longer periods of time”​ ​(Medical News 

Today 2013).​ ​Chewing gum increases brain power and the ability to concentrate. 

The medical evidence clearly shows us that chewing gum may help all students 

increase brain activity while in school and it even can help students stay focused.  

3  ​ Gum chewing while in school can improve your focus.​ ​The Wrigley Company, 

which has produced chewing gum for decades, claims that “soldiers have chewed 

gum since World War I to improve concentration during stressful situations” 

(William Wrigley 2016).​ ​It is no secret that school can be like a war zone and 

always stressful; why not ease the stress by allowing students to chew?​ ​A study 

done in 2013, with two groups of students challenging each other, one group of 

gum chewers and the other not chewing, had interesting results. Of the 38 

participants, “those who didn't chew gum performed slightly better at the 

beginning of the task but were overtaken by the end”​ ​(British Psychological 

Society 2013)​. ​This suggests that chewing gum helps us focus on tasks that require 

continuous thought over a longer amount of time.​ ​The research is clear, gum 

chewing while in class has major benefits.  

4  ​ Even with all of these benefits to chewing gum, many people would agree 

that gum should 
be banned. Nasty gum stuck in unlikely places is a nuisance for 
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both teachers 
and students. Teachers and administrators alike say it is distracting 

when students snap their gum or blow bubbles. It creates
 a janitorial nightmare 

when students stick gum under the desk. Other people think that gum is an 

unhealthy habit because sweet gum causes tooth decay.​ ​These reasons are minor 

when compared to the benefits of gum chewing. “​The medical results certainly 

proved to a T: Brain activity in the hippocampus, an area important for 

concentration and reaction times, was significantly sparked and delivery of 

oxygen to the brain was increased by as much as 25 to 40 percent”​ ​(Reader’s 

Digest 2018).​ ​So from head to toe, body and brain function improves with 

gum.  

5  Students do not have to chew gum to do well in school, but the evidence 

clearly shows that chewing gum may help students do better in school. Schools 

should do all they can to support student learning. Please urge our school 

administration to change its thinking on banning gum in school.