Gum is very beneficial because it helps lots of students in school focus. When students focus it helps them concentrate during tests and even when they are learning. But schools are not allowing gum chewing. Students don’t know how to handle gum when they are given permission to chew it. This is why only a small amount of students who really need gum are allowed to chew it. These students have a 504 plan, meaning they really need gum to focus. The 504 Plan is a plan developed to ensure that a child who has a disability identified under the law and is attending an elementary or secondary educational institution receives accommodations that will ensure their academic success and access to the learning environment. Students with a 504 plan get distracted very easily and gum helps them not do that. This also includes extended time for work and assignments and preferential seating.

Some disadvantage of the 504 plan is that this can affect how you are doing in school. Your grades might be falling apart and you need the 504 plan to succeed in school. By the time people realize the 504 plan alone is not enough, there can be huge problems for students. But this can be a problem for other students without a 504 plan. Students chewing gum during a test are recorded to do 3% better than other students that weren’t chewing gum. Gum does not only help students with a 504 plan but other students, because gum overall helps everyone focus because it increases the flow of oxygen in your brain which is responsible for helping you focus.

Students are not allowed to chew gum because of people putting it in places it shouldn’t be going such as under desks, carpets, and sometimes on the walls! But why can’t others have gum because of what others did? If gum helps everyone focus, they should allow it because it increases the probability of students succeeding in school and other activities.