Jessica Spoto

Have you ever heard that dreaded apple being eaten so loudly in class that you’re internally screaming? Or that hated bag of chips that with every crunch makes you want to pull your hair out? When you’re harmlessly paying attention and just trying to listen to a lecture and someone has to eat carrots? With every snap of those carrots, you die a little inside and your attention span for the lecture decreases.

The worst part is when you start a new class and the teacher introduces themselves with a big, “Hello, you can all eat in class, I don’t mind.” Well, teacher, your students may mind a lot — a lot to the point where they have to leave the room if they hear someone crunching, snacking and smacking their food.

Some people may think, what’s so wrong with eating in class? Well, that’s the issue: those people. The people who don’t understand and just think about themselves. They don’t understand why some people get anxious, irritated and unhappy when eating is done in a classroom, a quiet learning space.

If you get annoyed and anxious from chewing, you are not alone, and you may actually have a real medical condition, called misophonia. Misophonia not only pertains to chewing but to any sounds that are highly intensified for people that may trigger them. So if you are that person who doesn’t have misophonia, just remember that some people do have it, and just be more considerate when chewing in class. Chewing in class could genuinely hurt someone’s focus and increase their anxiety.