The chewing of gum is said to be the world's most common habit, with about 100,000 tons of it being consumed every year. Most of us are familiar with the negative aspects of chewing gum, when we find it on chairs, stuck under desks or contaminating pavements and therefore our shoes. However, there are also many benefits to chewing gum. Gum can benefit many people in many ways! First of all, gum has been proved to help concentrate more. For example, if you were taking a really hard test and you just can't concentrate then chewing the gum will help you. Second of all, gum has been proven to decrease boredom, so if you get really bored in school (which most people do) then the gum will help make school lest boring. But this answers isn't enough. Let's look at the many benefits of chewing gum....With year-end exams almost upon us, students across the country are starting to feel the pressure mount. To help them deal with this stressful time, the gum experts at Wrigley have pulled together a few simple tips to help ease the tension and improve study habits. Some may find it surprising that topping the list is the act of chewing gum. You're probably wondering how chewing gum can help you with your studies. It just seems too easy! Well, there is compelling evidence to suggest that the simple act of chewing gum can help relieve stress and tension and increase focus and concentration. Research has found that chewing gum stimulates certain areas of the brain (as measured by EEG), which may have a relationship to reducing tension. In addition, one study conducted in 2002 showed that chewing gum appeared to improve people's ability to retain and retrieve information. So we say: chew away while you're studying for exams this year. So using these facts we can conclude that by giving gum to the students(as long as they promise not to do anything bad with it) they will be more cheerful, happy, bright, fresh-minded, and ready to learn! Gum is good not only the brain, emotions, and stress of a person but also for their teeth! The popular perception is that chewing gum is bad for the teeth. However, many dentists (one source says 90 %!) believe that chewing sugarless gum after meals actually has health benefits! Indeed, Wrigley's Orbit sugar-free gum was the first sugar-free chewing gum to be awarded accreditation by the British Dental Association (BDA) in recognition of its contribution to good oral health. The benefits arise from the fact that tooth decay occurs when essential minerals are dissolved from the tooth enamel by acids produced by the bacteria in plaque. Teeth are at their most vulnerable directly after meals and snacks, when plaque acid levels can rise dramatically. Normally, it can take up to two hours for these acids to be either flushed away or neutralized, during which time the teeth are under attack. This is why people are extolled to eat something crispy like an apple immediately after meals. However; chewing gum removes these acids within minutes, thus slowing down the process of tooth decay. One reason for this is that chewing can stimulate saliva production by up to ten-fold, thus flushing out oral bacteria. Furthermore, saliva contains hydrogen carbonate ions, a mild alkali, which serves to neutralize plaque acids. For this reason, hydrogen carbonate is used in some toothpaste. Saliva also contains minerals such as calcium, phosphate and fluoride - all components of tooth enamel - which can be assimilated and thus help to repair early decay and also strengthen tooth enamel. This gives only a more of a reason to give students gum! Giving gum to your students can help you in more ways than you can possibly think of! The act of chewing gum also requires some input of energy and, in fact, an extra twelve kilocalories (50kJ) per hour is burned in the process. Thus someone who chewed gum all day, every day would burn off about 5kg of weight in a year! There are some down sides though! Chewing gum when travelling on an aircraft can counteract the irritation caused by changes in air pressure. Some people say that gum is BAD for you but the fact is that it’s actually GOOD for you! Here is why: It improves concentration, eases tension, freshens breath, provides a low-calorie snack, and helps fight tooth decay. So, now that you’ve found out the truth, what do you think we should do about chewing gum in school? If you ask me, that’s an easy question; we SHOULD be allowed to chew gum in school! SO DO YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO CHEW GUM IN SCHOOL? SIGN THIS PETITION AND YOU'LL HAVE A CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR WISH COME TRUE!