As someone who hails from a low income family who couldn't always afford the required amount for school lunches and used a Free School Meals Program, a story about children who are not only in the same boat but are being humiliated for being in the same situation I found myself in only a few short years ago really hits home.
Lets start with the positives, New Mexico Appleseed, which is a non-partisan, non-profit organization who, in their own words, are trying "to bring forward systemic change that yields permanent or long term improvement for the poor and underserved", announced a bill called The Hunger-Free Students Bill of Rights (SB374), that will shield children from unnecessary punishment because their family has been unable to pay their school meal debt in the state of New Mexico.
The Bill was co-sponsored by Democratic State Senators Linda Lopez and Michael Padilla and passed a 30-7 vote in the Senate at the beginning of March, having passed the House of Representatives 60-0.
New Mexico Appleseed executive director Jennifer Ramo said of the Bill, "Children whose parents or caregivers owe money for school lunch will no longer have to miss meals or face public embarrassment in front of their peers, no child should be forced to wipe down cafeteria tables or throw away a meal because of a debt." A statement I personally agree with from beginning to end, each and every child should be able to count on school lunches and not have to worry about going hungry throughout the school day. Jennifer continued, "many children count on school meals for the nutrition they need to be able to learn and thrive in the classroom."
Being in this situation for the totality of my time in school, I agree 100% with Mrs. Ramo, a child should never go hungry, especially when in a school environment which is presumed to be an area in which he/she is allowed to grow and develop without worrying about going hungry throughout the school day. There are social problems that come along with this also, being known as the child or family who cannot afford to eat is soul destroying, making them feel worthless is never the answer and could result in said children becoming withdrawn and less engrossed in their work.
Now for the negatives, there are several schools which have previously "Lunch Shamed" children for not being able to afford school lunches, for example, Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City, Utah came under fire as around 40 children were picking up their lunches, only to be seized and thrown away because of an overdue debt on their accounts. Instead of their chosen meal, the kids were given milk and fruit instead because as Jason Olsen, a Salt Lake City District Spokesman said "the workers took those lunches from the students and threw them away, because once food is served to one student it can't be served to another." Pathetic.
So, not only are they literally starving children due to the economic situation of their parents, the food is also being thrown away because of a needless rule? Doing this is extremely counterintuitive as you're punishing children because of lack of payment, but you throw the food away which is essentially throwing money in the garbage, just feed the children.
Perhaps the most outrageous treatment of children deemed too poor to eat school lunches occurred at Gardendale Elementary School in Alabama, where children were having their embarrassment imprinted onto their bodies. In the case Jon Bivens' son, staff at Gardendale Elementary used a stamp which read, "I need lunch money" - disgraceful. Jon Bivens said that he or his wife usually receive an email or notification when their son's account in starting to run out and that his son, among the other children at the school were being treated like cattle and saw the stamp as being "branded."
In a country where roughly $2 TRILLION has been spent on the Iraq War, and retail chain Walmart is given $3-$6 billion in corporate welfare subsidies, children are publicly shamed for being a few dollars down on their lunch payments, you really have to question where the governments priorities lie.
Written by, Josh Stead.
Lets start with the positives, New Mexico Appleseed, which is a non-partisan, non-profit organization who, in their own words, are trying "to bring forward systemic change that yields permanent or long term improvement for the poor and underserved", announced a bill called The Hunger-Free Students Bill of Rights (SB374), that will shield children from unnecessary punishment because their family has been unable to pay their school meal debt in the state of New Mexico.
The Bill was co-sponsored by Democratic State Senators Linda Lopez and Michael Padilla and passed a 30-7 vote in the Senate at the beginning of March, having passed the House of Representatives 60-0.
New Mexico Appleseed executive director Jennifer Ramo said of the Bill, "Children whose parents or caregivers owe money for school lunch will no longer have to miss meals or face public embarrassment in front of their peers, no child should be forced to wipe down cafeteria tables or throw away a meal because of a debt." A statement I personally agree with from beginning to end, each and every child should be able to count on school lunches and not have to worry about going hungry throughout the school day. Jennifer continued, "many children count on school meals for the nutrition they need to be able to learn and thrive in the classroom."
Being in this situation for the totality of my time in school, I agree 100% with Mrs. Ramo, a child should never go hungry, especially when in a school environment which is presumed to be an area in which he/she is allowed to grow and develop without worrying about going hungry throughout the school day. There are social problems that come along with this also, being known as the child or family who cannot afford to eat is soul destroying, making them feel worthless is never the answer and could result in said children becoming withdrawn and less engrossed in their work.
Now for the negatives, there are several schools which have previously "Lunch Shamed" children for not being able to afford school lunches, for example, Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City, Utah came under fire as around 40 children were picking up their lunches, only to be seized and thrown away because of an overdue debt on their accounts. Instead of their chosen meal, the kids were given milk and fruit instead because as Jason Olsen, a Salt Lake City District Spokesman said "the workers took those lunches from the students and threw them away, because once food is served to one student it can't be served to another." Pathetic.
So, not only are they literally starving children due to the economic situation of their parents, the food is also being thrown away because of a needless rule? Doing this is extremely counterintuitive as you're punishing children because of lack of payment, but you throw the food away which is essentially throwing money in the garbage, just feed the children.
Perhaps the most outrageous treatment of children deemed too poor to eat school lunches occurred at Gardendale Elementary School in Alabama, where children were having their embarrassment imprinted onto their bodies. In the case Jon Bivens' son, staff at Gardendale Elementary used a stamp which read, "I need lunch money" - disgraceful. Jon Bivens said that he or his wife usually receive an email or notification when their son's account in starting to run out and that his son, among the other children at the school were being treated like cattle and saw the stamp as being "branded."
In a country where roughly $2 TRILLION has been spent on the Iraq War, and retail chain Walmart is given $3-$6 billion in corporate welfare subsidies, children are publicly shamed for being a few dollars down on their lunch payments, you really have to question where the governments priorities lie.
Written by, Josh Stead.
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