dagblog - Comments for "Woman in Colo Fired For Serving a First Grader Lunch"

It just depends on the

trkingmomoe — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 21:52:22 +0000

In reply to I'll admit to my ignorance on

It just depends on the politics of the district and state. The GOP wants public schools to be failures so they can have charter schools to skim money off the top. So much of this don't make very good sense.

I'll admit to my ignorance on

Verified Atheist — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:52:59 +0000

In reply to Most schools have a

I'll admit to my ignorance on the topic and appreciate the lesson. Things have changed quite a bit since I was a kid.

Exactly. They're kids, just

ocean-kat — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 19:42:41 +0000

In reply to Baltimore Maryland has just

Exactly. They're kids, just give them some food.

Baltimore Maryland has just

trkingmomoe — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 19:29:12 +0000

In reply to Dear Lord ... How do the

Baltimore Maryland has just started offering free school lunches for everyone. That is the way it should be for all schools in this country. Good nutrition should be part of education. The school lunch program should not be used as a whipping post.

Dear Lord ... How do the

MrSmith1 — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 17:03:07 +0000

In reply to Most schools have a

Dear Lord ... How do the children learn responsibility and how to handle money if not through the lessons of carrying lunch money and paying for their lunches themselves? Putting it all on the parent's heads makes kids dependent and has created a generation of Lazy Lunchers. I think it's a safe bet to say that all Welfare Queens and Societal Slackers started out as Lazy Lunchers. .

Most schools have a

trkingmomoe — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 14:30:34 +0000

In reply to Right. I'm definitely not

Most schools have a computerized school lunch payment system. Parents pay in advance and a balance is kept. Very few children take lunch money to school. In this area the child's ID that they wear around their neck is swiped into the computer at the register. If you get assisted lunch it will come up or if there is money in the child's account it will come up. You can go on line and pay it just like any other bill. Parents of children who bring their lunch are told to keep a small amount of money in an account in case the child ends up with out it. The suburban schools that don't make the kids wear their ID's keep them in a file and pull them to swipe into the system when the child is in line for lunch.

The schools here do not have kitchens. Frozen dinners are delivered to the schools from a private food service and contract employees warm the meals up in portable warming ovens. The food is low quality and as the kids get older there isn't enough to eat. I live in Kochastand and they love sticking it to the poor kids on assisted lunch and let their brother-in-law make money from the program. They claim it is cost effective but I am sure it is not.

There are rules about sharing and trading. You cannot put a piece of candy in their lunches or canned soda. They don't want anything that will spill so little fruit cups that are not in jello is discouraged. They want you to use only juice packs that have straws or small bottled water. They will actually take it away from the child and send a note home.

I feed the kids breakfast before they leave the house even though they have free breakfast and lunch. If they want to eat at school again when they get there they can. I do this to make sure they have enough to eat to start the day. There are days that lunch is so bad that they beg to take lunch. I have never seen it this bad. My own children were in school when I moved to Florida. My oldest grand son who is an adult says they had better lunches then what is now being served and he was also on free lunch.

You cannot send in home made cookies or cupcakes for parties. We are told they have to come to school in sealed bakery boxes. I fake it. I go to Michaels' Crafts and buy bakery boxes. My cup cakes are just as pretty as bakery ones. I stick a white name tag on it to seal it and write a price with a magic marker on the box. It cost $24 dollars to buy the class room cup cakes. I do it for $6. This is a poor community so the kids don't see cup cakes often at school. This is a state law that JEB signed.

All this has trickled down from the ruling class of the John Birch Society.

Right. I'm definitely not

Verified Atheist — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 11:52:39 +0000

In reply to I think it's interesting to

Right. I'm definitely not assuming that the parents couldn't afford it in this case. However, if the child doesn't have the money, whether it's because the parents can't afford it, the child is frequently losing his money, the child is frequently having it taken away from him/her by bullies, or they gave it away for something else, shouldn't we address the deeper issue?

I think it's interesting to

MrSmith1 — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 11:48:07 +0000

In reply to I like Dick's suggestion

I think it's interesting to see how many people leap to the assumption that the child doesn't not have their lunch money because the parents are unable to afford it. I tend to assume the explanation is usually more basic; the kid lost it, had it taken from them by bullies or, without thinking of the consequences, foolishly and impulsively, gave it away to pay for something they wanted. Why does the argument go to the unafford-ability issue and not the basic question of whether or not the child deserves to be treated with kindness, forgiveness and decency? Whatever the reason for it, feed the child first; not a penalty meal, a regular meal. Take care of the need, don't make excuses as to why not providing kindness is justified. The lesson taught through kindness and compassion will have a much more positive and lasting impact

I like Dick's suggestion

Verified Atheist — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 11:22:34 +0000

In reply to VA, the parents may not

I like Dick's suggestion above. I sympathize with your position, but if the parents are that overwhelmed, I think that having a counseling session with them is a better solution than just giving the child a free meal (not that I'm against giving the child a free meal).

If there are lunch issues,

Verified Atheist — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 11:21:08 +0000

In reply to Look, if a child acts up he

If there are lunch issues, the school must demand a week's worth of lunch tickets or a month's worth or whatever.

I like this approach, and I applaud the lunch lady for standing her ground and making people aware of the issue.