(Cissy's Note: This story is painful to read. Kids at school who are shamed or denied lunch are not going to perform or focus better at school. They will feel shame after lunch and probably worry before as lunch time approaches. And after school have some conflict with parents. It's shame spreading and multiplying but that won't pay the bills. Reading this story gave me the creepy crawly feeling of shame remembering not having money or worrying that I didn't have enough. It made me glad almost everyone got free lunches when I was in school which made for less stigma. Kids still notice who does and doesn't bring lunch and what is in it. They are self-aware or self-conscious even when not hungry or dealing with ACEs. These punitive practices have to be changed.)
On the first day of seventh grade last fall, Caitlin Dolan lined up for lunch at her school in Canonsburg, Pa. But when the cashier discovered she had an unpaid food bill from last year, the tray of pizza, cucumber slices, an apple and chocolate milk was thrown in the trash.
“I was so embarrassed,” said Caitlin, who said other students had stared. “It’s really weird being denied food in front of everyone. They all talk about you.”
Caitlin’s mother, Merinda Durila, said that her daughter qualified for free lunch, but that a paperwork mix-up had created an outstanding balance. Ms. Durila said her child had come home in tears after being humiliated in front of her friends.
Holding children publicly accountable for unpaid school lunch bills — by throwing away their food, providing a less desirable alternative lunch or branding them with markers — is often referred to as “lunch shaming.”
[For more of this story, written by Bettina Elias Siegel, go to https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0...hool-bills.html?_r=0]
Comments (1)