More Government Brilliance

[klunderbunker]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...-mass-middle-schoolers-were-denied-lunch?lite

The focus of this article is on a school district withholding lunch over a lack of money in prepaid accounts. That however isn't what I want to talk about. There's a portion of this which made me shake my head yet again.

Fifth-grader Victoria Greaves, 11, said she and other students who had already been served their lunch were told to throw it in the trash when they reached the checkout. The school has students in fifth through eighth grades.

So yeah, instead of just charging say $2 and letting her pay later, we need to throw it away and let the kid go hungry. Once she's already gotten the food they still need to throw it out? Seriously? In a school district apparently this strapped for cash, they're throwing out perfectly good food?

 

[The Butcher]

That's just ridiculous, and if I were John Greaves I'd be in jail right now for aggravated assault because I would've walked right up to the cashier and punched him/her in the fucking throat.

It's getting to the point where Bengal Tigers and Giant Pandas* are more prevalent than common sense and decency. Where's the giant solar flare or alien invasion?




*And I'm none too happy about the tigers and pandas going extinct either, lemme tell ya.

 

[Dirk]

Rather than throwing it away, send it over here. Children in Africa go without lunch, dinner and breakfast.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I don't know if "perfectly" and "good" should be used to describe school lunches. If nothing else, throwing away that "food" probably saved those students from an uncomfortable dump later on.

 

[Shocky]

Maybe the parents should put money in their children's account?

 

[LSN80]

Maybe the parents should put money in their children's account?

They should, but is that really the point?

Again, this is punishing the child for a parent's mistake. It's not the child's responsibility to ensure a parent has put money into their account, is it?
It's witholding food from a child, one who doesn't have the means or opportunity to earn or pay themselves. It's not as if an 11 year has the ability to pay on their own, so the onus here is completely on the parent. It's one thing if they don't sign for a field trip, and the school doesn't let the child go.

It's another to withhold freakin nourishment from an 11 year old because of something that is entirely the fault of the parent.

Further, if the school was so concerned about the money, why let the child get the food, only to throw it away? It's the same money if the food goes to the child or in the trash, is it not.

The school is trying to "make an example", obviously but to the wrong person. I'm sure it will serve as a deterrent and (hopefully) the parent won't make the same mistake again, but what if they do? It's rediculous, really.

 

[justinsayne]

Maybe the parents should put money in their children's account?

Or, IDK, maybe send them to school with a cold lunch

 

[Shocky]

If you keep giving the child a free meal, what incentive is there for the parent to put money in the account. The child isn't going to die from not eating a lunch.

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

OR the RESPONSIBLE thing is to not punish the kids for a lack of their parents responsibility....

 

[Shocky]

Again, the child isn't going to starve to death. If the kid goes home and complains, maybe the parent will put some money into the account.

I have children, and they don't deny you food the first time the account is empty. In my experience it gets up to about five times before someone has enough and denies food.

What's the alternative? If someone refuses to pay why should you give the child food. Instead of placing blame where it needs to go (the parent) you want to blame the school. Ultimately it's the parents responsibility their child is fed.

 

[The Butcher]

The child isn't going to go hungry, just like the school district isn't going to go broke. Give the kid the lunch. Deal with the parent later.

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

Again, the child isn't going to starve to death. If the kid goes home and complains, maybe the parent will put some money into the account.

I have children, and they don't deny you food the first time the account is empty. In my experience it gets up to about five times before someone has enough and denies food.

What's the alternative? If someone refuses to pay why should you give the child food. Instead of placing blame where it needs to go (the parent) you want to blame the school. Ultimately it's the parents responsibility their child is fed.

And you would deny the child the basic nessesity of food? That's a human rights violation in any other part of the world.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

School at that age is miserable enough for most. Old enough to not have recess, but not old enough to go all day without some sort of break. Throwing away perfectly good food is not only a waste, and not only completely defying any sense of logic, but it's going to make that day just THAT much harder. Like pre-teens need another excuse to get kicked when their down.

I know when I was in that grade, we didn't really have the money to spend on hot lunches. And I'd be at school so early for extra-curricular, I'd usually just eat my lunch for breakfast. The lunch lady, being that I was also around the school, got to know me and basically gave me free lunch every day for helping to collect trays and wash down tables. I remember getting picked on sometimes by the "cool kids", but I learned from a very young age that practicality was much better than being a douchebag with a lunch he never had to work for.