Michelle Obama began her public health campaign “Let’s Move” in 2010, transforming school cafeterias and vending machines to provide healthier options and improve students’ diet, in order to provide a better learning environment for children throughout the U.S. Although she was trying to improve children’s learning through their diets, she left out a key ingredient that would substantially benefit students all throughout the country. The addition of gum to school vending machines would be a highly beneficial factor to schools and to a student’s education.

Many a times when a  student pulls out a pack of gum, suddenly there’s a live reenactment of “Finding Nemo” when the birds see the fish in the dentist office,”Mine, mine, mine!” but instead of mine it’s “Can I have a piece?” Gum is undoubtedly a hot topic at schools. With the addition of gum in the vending machines this would raise a lot more money than chips or Pop-Tarts do. 56 percent of the U.S. chews gum on a regular basis according to Statista. If more than half of the U.S. is chewing gum, then a large portion of a student body would be more than interested in purchasing gum from a vending machine.

Students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have the need to fidget or move in a way to assist in focus. Those with ADHD often work best when they’re doing something else, for example tapping a foot, fiddling with hair or doodling. Chewing gum is a repetitive and constant movement that can help focus the brain while still letting out little bit of extra energy that those with attention deficiency obtain.

Not only would chewing gum help people with an attention discrepancy, but also all students as a whole. Chewing gum is scientifically proven help focus and direct attention as well as help with memory recollection and reduces the stress hormone, cortisol. All of these benefits are extremely helpful to the common student, so it only makes sense that schools would be providing students with this great product.

The common reason of the absence of gum in vending machines is the possibility of an increase in chewed gum on hall floors, under desks or gum wrappers littering the school. Although the clutter could be an issue, it would be slight at best. In order to combat this small issue to ensure the decrease of students’ litter in the halls is making each classroom have at least two trash cans so that kids have more outlets to dispose of their trash. Additionally, if chewing gum were allowed without consequence, getting up to dispose of the gum would be encouraged and students would not feel tempted to stick it other places.

In comparison, the positives completely outweigh the little to no negatives of adding gum to school vending machines. Gum should not only be sold but encouraged by schools to help students strive with a little extra help in focus, memory recollection, and a reduce in stress while the schools make a little extra money on the side.