School Lunch Shaming and Paying Off Children's Lunchs

[PepperPeanut]

Stamping a kids hand so all the other kids know that he's poor and his parents can't pay for lunch? The kid already knows he/she is poor. The parents already know that they are poor. It's for everyone else to see.

In theory it's supposed to get the parent to prioritize the child's lunch higher, but then they're using the child's shame as a motivator for the parent.

It's just really twisted.

[happysock]

Ain't the kids fault. Give'em the fucking free lunch.

[Tim_Kerr]

stealing from reddit

I hate the school system sometimes. I'm a firefighter and our department went to the local elementary school one day for fire prevention week to show the kids our trucks. We decided we would eat with the kids, because what a cool experience right? Anyways we get in and sit at the table with the kids and we notice a couple of students sitting at desks with large dividers up on the opposite side of the cafeteria so they can have no interaction. I asked one of the teachers why that was to which he replied "that student didn't have enough money for lunch, so he gets a cheese sandwich and has to sit by himself". I responded with "the kid looks like he is maybe 6 or 7 years old, why is he being punished for lack of funds? Get on to the parents". They stated "It's not the parents responsibility, it's the child's".
Am I missing something here? What if the kid comes from a family that literally can not afford to feed him right now? We punish the kid for that? Now this, a student trying to help a student who doesn't have food.... Ridiculous...

the american way

[almostapathetic]

^
That is fucked up. I do wonder if the segregation part was for another reason though.
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It sounds like a scene out of Oliver Twist — except it's happening in Pennsylvania, in 2016.

Earlier this month, Canon-McMillan school district cafeteria worker Stacy Koltiska was ordered to take away a hot lunch she served to a hungry Grade One student because he couldn't pay for it.

So she quit on the spot.

"He just looked like a deer in headlights, like 'What is happening here?' And then his little eyes just welled up with tears."

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as- ... -1.3772568

New Mexico has passed a first-of-its-kind piece of legislation banning so-called "lunch-shaming." Titled the Hunger-Free Students' Bill of Rights, it ensures that kids are served proper meals — even if their parents haven't paid the school meal fees.

"If you're six years old, you don't hold a job to be able to pay that lunchroom debt. So, let's take that off of the child, place the responsibility where it belongs, and let's move New Mexico forward."

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as- ... -1.4064555

[Concerno]

Poor people are gross.