Throwing away a child's lunch?

24

Replies

  • WeepingAngel81
    WeepingAngel81 Posts: 2,232 Member
    They're not "throwing away a chil'd lunch" they are denying him/her a free lunch. I'm sorry there are parents out there that are irresponsible, but if they can't afford a lunch, pack a lunch. Apply for food assistance.

    If it is truly an oversight, no child is going to starve to death missing one lunch and, if it is a recurring problem, then it falls to the parents to get their act together.

    I'm sorry some people can't afford to support their children and I,m sorry the children have to suffer, but I'm not all that crazy about supporting their poor choices.

    Not a popular opinion, but the one i a agree with most.

    I agree with it ASIDE from the fact....they had already given the kids the lunches.....They then took them away and gave them the fruit/milk......and THREW AWAY the full lunch.....Yeah Throwing it away does a lot of good......And they embarrassed the kids. Let the kids have the lunch you gave them and note it to give them the fruit/milk moving forward until it is resolved.

    This is exactly why it really struck a nerve with me. The embarrassment of the kids. They also didn't give the parents a whole lot of time to reconcile the account after the notices were given. It is a power trip and not at all fair to the kids.
  • ideang
    ideang Posts: 95
    While I don't agree with taking away a lunch they already have in hand, I can see the schools side as well. My mom works for a local school district and they have families that owe over a thousand dollars in lunches. Some of the families with the highest bill are upper middle class families that should be able to pay for the lunches, but don't because they know the district won't deny the kids a hot lunch.
  • outofworkpediatrician
    outofworkpediatrician Posts: 43 Member
    i think this is just an isolated incident, one lady "from the school district" came to the school and was trying to show her power. all she showed was insensitivity and unprofessionalism. exactly the reason why even the people who do not directly work with children needed to be selected carefully.
    in many schools especially in south where a large number of students are from families below poverty limit, there are free breakfast, parents don't even need to fill out papers or show income evidence. even during summer holidays schools serve free lunch in Tennessee. so it is not like the schools try to humiliate kids on a regular basis or discriminate them based on their lunch money balance.
  • Amanda_Gx6
    Amanda_Gx6 Posts: 320 Member
    But none the less you don't give a child a tray of food and then take it away in front of all of their classmates and throw it in the garbage. If there was a problem then they shouldnt have even served the child in the first place.
  • miranda_mom
    miranda_mom Posts: 873 Member
    This is the reason I don't like the whole "credit card" system schools have adopted. There have been plenty of times that I forgot to put more funds into my kids' accounts and they got the alternative lunch instead. They are never denied and shouldn't be punished for parental oversight. However, if you don't have the money to buy lunch, pack one.

    This is true for me as well. At daughter's school they do not take lunch money in every day like we used to. You give them money and they put it in their account. It's annoying because I give her a $20 but it's hard to keep track of when that might run out. The school usually sends notes home to let you know that you've run out of money but sometimes my daughter loses them or whatever. Just the other day she came home and was like "I need lunch money". That was Friday and I forgot over the weekend (I have a two week old baby) and didn't get to it until Tuesday. At her school, you have to eat a "cold sandwich" (I'm assuming like ham and cheese or PB&J) and veggies and/or fruit if you forget for too long.
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,779 Member
    They're not "throwing away a chil'd lunch" they are denying him/her a free lunch. I'm sorry there are parents out there that are irresponsible, but if they can't afford a lunch, pack a lunch. Apply for food assistance.

    If it is truly an oversight, no child is going to starve to death missing one lunch and, if it is a recurring problem, then it falls to the parents to get their act together.

    I'm sorry some people can't afford to support their children and I,m sorry the children have to suffer, but I'm not all that crazy about supporting their poor choices.

    Not a popular opinion, but the one i a agree with most.

    I agree with it ASIDE from the fact....they had already given the kids the lunches.....They then took them away and gave them the fruit/milk......and THREW AWAY the full lunch.....Yeah Throwing it away does a lot of good......And they embarrassed the kids. Let the kids have the lunch you gave them and note it to give them the fruit/milk moving forward until it is resolved.

    This is exactly why it really struck a nerve with me. The embarrassment of the kids. They also didn't give the parents a whole lot of time to reconcile the account after the notices were given. It is a power trip and not at all fair to the kids.

    Agreed. I have no issue with trying to get payment from the parents and giving the children fruit and milk for lunch instead of a full meal as long as it was done prior to them getting a tray. I have an issue with the spectacle and the public humiliation of these kids who, for all intents and purposes, had no idea their accounts were delinquent.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    As many famillies who make more than I do, and still get free lunches. Give the damn kids a free lunch. It's not thier fault. I guess when we start making 6 year olds get a job, then this would make perfect sense. But until then...seriously.

    I agree with this. I know people who make salaries that I would call STAUNCHLY middle class whose children qualify for free lunch. If a child is starving they need to be fed. They don't need to be humiliated. But low income parents need to sign up for free lunches for their kids and those who have too much income to get free lunches need to seriously buck up and pay for their child's food. I realize I live in a low cost of living area but seriously...if you have a 2 income household, own a home, have the latest iphone, nice car, and 2 kids...you can afford to buy the kids lunch at school or from the supermarket...period
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  • SymphonynSonata
    SymphonynSonata Posts: 533 Member
    I went to an elementary and middle school where the amount of money your parents had = how 'popular' you were. This would be social suicide and seriously beyond humiliating if it happened to me or any of the children around me. We even had three lines in middle school - the left was for 'average' kids, the middle was for the wealthier/cooler kids, and the right was for the poor kids, with each line charging more. This in itself was absolutely atrocious and self esteem killing over something the children had no control over. I was blessed to be able to stand in the middle line (coincidentally, junk food, and the 'poor' line was the healthiest in hindsight) - but I always (even then) felt bad for the less fortunate kids.
  • raiderrodney
    raiderrodney Posts: 617 Member
    Anyone who would take food out of a child's hand and throw it away should not be working in a school. I don't care who gave the order to do so.

    Agreed...the level of ignorance displayed these days is incredible.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    I want to know what kind of notification they gave those parents that the accounts were overdrawn? I realized my kid's was the other day. I had received NO notice of it.
  • twiglips
    twiglips Posts: 136 Member
    This infuriates me! How dare they take lunch from a child and just throw it away. I don't care how much the parents may owe, humiliating a child in a crowded lunch room is no way to handle the situation. The administrators have no concept of the damage they have done to those kids and they have no idea what could be going on at home that would cause them not to afford to pay. I get that some parents may just be lazy and have no intent to pay for whatever reason but the school lunch could be the only hot meal some of those children may get each day. The lunch was thrown away after it was already prepared, it's not like there was some added expense to the school or the district. Those children should have been allowed to have their meal and the school personnel should have taken it up with the parents, grandparents, etc.
  • Bdde
    Bdde Posts: 133 Member
    As a high school teacher of 8 years I have always kept snacks on hand for kids who arrive hungry to school. I think that feeding a child is the bare minimum responsibility of a parent and kids should not be punished for their negligence. It breaks my heart when students are writing essays or working quietly I hear a belly grumble. I also have a 4 year-old and I hope that my son should ever be in that position someone will offer my kid food.

    I think it's ridiculous that we can't invest more money into our schools!
    Quality food, quality education, quality teachers & quality curriculum!

    As a teacher I would have advised my students to advocate for their rights! But as a parent I would have knocked someone in the face if I saw that happen to my little one!
  • Sinisterly
    Sinisterly Posts: 10,913 Member
    A lot of the times, adults can be the worst bullies a child can have.
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    Aw hell no. My husband is a school teacher and their school is about 65% free and reduced. He and his fellow teachers would be up in arms if something like that happened there.
  • Dan_Druff
    Dan_Druff Posts: 104
    Blame the parents, not the school. It's not the schools responsibility.
  • WeepingAngel81
    WeepingAngel81 Posts: 2,232 Member
    Blame the parents, not the school. It's not the schools responsibility.

    Did you read the article?
  • Dan_Druff
    Dan_Druff Posts: 104
    Blame the parents, not the school. It's not the schools responsibility.

    Did you read the article?

    This was the result of an unpaid balance was it not?
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    Blame the parents, not the school. It's not the schools responsibility.

    Someone from the school performed the action of removing a lunch from a child. It doesn't matter what the parent did or didn't do, the school is still in the wrong.
  • 19TaraLynn84
    19TaraLynn84 Posts: 739 Member
    It's awful! Plain and simple. Thankfully, I have yet to forget to send my children's lunch money. But I'm 100% sure our school wouldn't treat my children this way if I did. Those little ones were humiliated over something they had no control over. There's no excuse for the way this situation was handled. I'm sure there are plenty of parents who just refuse to send the money. But for some, it may have just been an oversight. Poor kids.
  • SymphonynSonata
    SymphonynSonata Posts: 533 Member
    Blame the parents, not the school. It's not the schools responsibility.

    Did you read the article?

    This was the result of an unpaid balance was it not?

    I see where you're coming from, I really do - but there is a right way to handle things and a wrong way. The wrong way is throwing a perfectly viable meal into the trash. The food obviously does not need to be financially accounted for if its going into the bin; so letting the child have it would not be as detrimental as it is to a child's psyche as letting them mentally equate their worth as being less than letting something go into the trash can.
  • iamspdd
    iamspdd Posts: 134 Member
    Adding insult to injury: Don't worry folks. The people in charge of this were put on paid leave. That's right. Tax payers are giving them a paid vacation for this. :mad:
  • 19TaraLynn84
    19TaraLynn84 Posts: 739 Member
    Blame the parents, not the school. It's not the schools responsibility.

    Did you read the article?

    This was the result of an unpaid balance was it not?

    Do you believe a child should be humiliated for a parent's lack of responsibility?
  • smelius22
    smelius22 Posts: 334 Member
    So sad.. Children shouldn't be punished for something their parents are supposed to take care of.. And if the school was going to waste the food by throwing it away, why didn't they just let the poor kiddo eat it?
  • Dan_Druff
    Dan_Druff Posts: 104
    Blame the parents, not the school. It's not the schools responsibility.

    Someone from the school performed the action of removing a lunch from a child. It doesn't matter what the parent did or didn't do, the school is still in the wrong.

    They handed the lunch to the kids in line before they got to the till, then exchanged it for free milk and fruit if they had no money in their account. I don't see the problem?
  • 19TaraLynn84
    19TaraLynn84 Posts: 739 Member
    I believe you would see the problem if you had been in the shoes of one of those children. They took the food from them and threw it away. But hey, first world problems, right?
  • Dan_Druff
    Dan_Druff Posts: 104
    Blame the parents, not the school. It's not the schools responsibility.

    Did you read the article?

    This was the result of an unpaid balance was it not?

    I see where you're coming from, I really do - but there is a right way to handle things and a wrong way. The wrong way is throwing a perfectly viable meal into the trash. The food obviously does not need to be financially accounted for if its going into the bin; so letting the child have it would not be as detrimental as it is to a child's psyche as letting them mentally equate their worth as being less than letting something go into the trash can.

    It got the parents attention didn't it? I bet they won't forget to pay their tab again. These parents were too lazy to make their kids lunch everyday so paid for it to be provided by the school, then were too lazy to make sure there was enough money in their accounts and now they're mad at the school. Typical.
  • Dan_Druff
    Dan_Druff Posts: 104
    I believe you would see the problem if you had been in the shoes of one of those children. They took the food from them and threw it away. But hey, first world problems, right?

    Basically, yeah, first world problems sums it up.
  • farmers_daughter
    farmers_daughter Posts: 1,632 Member
    While I don't agree with taking away a lunch they already have in hand, I can see the schools side as well. My mom works for a local school district and they have families that owe over a thousand dollars in lunches. Some of the families with the highest bill are upper middle class families that should be able to pay for the lunches, but don't because they know the district won't deny the kids a hot lunch.
    The schools are somehow affiliated with the state? Why can they not send those people a letter saying you pay or we take your tax return....becuase you know they get one.

    There's also small claims....schools I believe are able to do this.....colleges can for unpaid tuition. The school needs to get thier money. Yes. But keep feeding the kids. It's very likely that school lunch as nasty as some claim it can be, can also be the best or only meal a child gets.

    Schools need to not play a victim in ^ situation.
  • WeepingAngel81
    WeepingAngel81 Posts: 2,232 Member
    Blame the parents, not the school. It's not the schools responsibility.

    Did you read the article?

    This was the result of an unpaid balance was it not?

    I see where you're coming from, I really do - but there is a right way to handle things and a wrong way. The wrong way is throwing a perfectly viable meal into the trash. The food obviously does not need to be financially accounted for if its going into the bin; so letting the child have it would not be as detrimental as it is to a child's psyche as letting them mentally equate their worth as being less than letting something go into the trash can.

    It got the parents attention didn't it? I bet they won't forget to pay their tab again. These parents were too lazy to make their kids lunch everyday so paid for it to be provided by the school, then were too lazy to make sure there was enough money in their accounts and now they're mad at the school. Typical.

    They are upset with the way the school handled it. As stated in previous comments, sometimes the school doesn't notify about a past due account until it's a large amount (as was my case with my daughter) They only just started to call the parents to notify them. If someone called me today and said "Send me $50" I would tell me to send me a bill first. They didn't just hand the kid food then take it away. They handed the kid food then THREW it away.

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