School officials decided to crack down on parents with unpaid tabs by cutting off kids from the hot lunch line and giving them an alternative lunch – a cheese sandwich, a fruit or vegetable and milk.
The school board said the policy has been effective in getting delinquent parents to pay, but many parents are outraged, saying it stigmatizes their kids.
While I agree this is problematic, it also highlights another problem. A cheese sandwich, banana, and a glass of milk is quite nutritional. If it’s anything like my school, where the hot dinner line meant pizza, burgers, and chips, forcing kids to have the option that isn’t deep fried isn’t terrible. The penal aspect of it is fucked up. Not only does it target poor kids and stigmatise them, it’s also going to contribute to eating disorders.
Using peer pressure among children to force the parents to cough up the dough is fucked no matter what
