When it comes to student lunches, there are a lot of different opinions.
Some people think the schools should only serve healthy options, while others think they should serve foods that kids like. Most people agree that no child should go hungry at lunch, even if they canโt afford lunch money.
A student was recently denied a lunch at a Texas middle school for owing less than a dollar to the school cafeteria.
The studentโs mom claims that her 12-year-old son had to go hungry all day because his account was negative 50 cents. As usual, everyone had something to say about it.
When the story was shared on Reddit, it seemed like most people felt that the school wasnโt to blame and the mother should have paid better attention to her childโs cafeteria balance. Some of the comments included:
โLetโs hold parents accountable for things instead of shifting the blame where it doesnโt belong. Missing lunch wonโt kill the kid. Negligent parents might.โ
And:
โSounds like bad parents who canโt be bothered to ensure their kidโs lunch is taken care of.โ
Some people even doubted that the story was true.
โI donโt buy it. Schools offer cheap alternative lunches for just this situation. I donโt doubt they wouldnโt let him buy a regular lunch โ which is a reasonable thing when the would be purchaser doesnโt have money. There is no way the kid went involuntarily hungry though.โ
The story was also shared on Facebook, where people seemed to be a little more understanding of the mother and sonโs situation. Some of the supportive Facebook comments included:
โRidiculous. Matters like this should be taken up with the school administrators and the parents, NOT the student. Lunch shaming them in front of their peers is bullying and isnโt there some sort of no tolerance policy for that?โ
And:
โAll kids should eat for free, breakfast and lunch no matter who you are or how much money you make. Just feed our children.โ
One mom even shared a story about a similar situation involving her children at a different school.
She posted:
โThis happened to my kids last year in Hilliard, more than once. But the worst part was their account wasnโt truly negative. I deposited money in the morning online. I could see the money in their account, but at the school they didnโt show it. They were told to put the food back. I was furious!!โ
While itโs not likely that anyone will agree on who is to blame in this situation, it sure isnโt the student. Some schools have special programs to help kids who canโt afford lunch eat for free. Many schools also allow students to charge their lunches up to a certain amount or a certain amount of times.
There are also many schools that provide lunch to students for free.
For many students, school lunch is the only time they get to enjoy a warm meal. Many kids go to school hungry and go to bed without dinner. When gets donโt eat right, they canโt perform well in class. It makes sense for schools to want to help their students eat breakfast and lunch.
No student should ever be turned away from a meal at lunchtime.
Schools that donโt offer free lunch to their students should still have a better program set up to help those who need it or even those who simply forgot their lunch money one day. Every student should get to enjoy lunch.
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