Free lunches at school

[Aymerlu 3]

So what's the solution, let the kids starve because of the bad decisions made by their parents?

No the parents should suffer for their decisions and not everyone else. If your poor and not prepared to do the extra work; don't have kids..

Everyone goes on and on about their 'rights' and their 'right to choose' but conveniently, when they ###### up, someone else has to deal with it and pay for it. Welcome to the 21century where we are supposed to be intelligent and advanced.

I just have to laugh when some seem to think that everyone that has to use this program are just poor uneducation folk.

1. I had a dayum good income and because of a dead ### ex I had to pay for it. Don't say I was not prepared to do the extra work.

2. I have a dayum good education

3. F----'d up? I don't think so

4. What I had to use the whole year I was on this program is only a fraction of what I have paid into the system.

I used be one that would preach that everyone that had to use this program were free-loaders. Never will I do that again.

[Aymerlu 3]

If you've never been in the position where you have to look for help where you can you will never understand what some government programs exist and what they are worth to those that need them.

Last year as a family we experienced that for the first time. Our son just turned 9 and I was 3 months pregnant. Our income was cut in half by a labor dispute and even though DH had looked for work it was hard to gain employment in the area because the company he had worked for had so many people without jobs. We got good unemployment compensation but as I said it was nowhere near what he normally made. We went down to one car, DH had to work out of state and was away alot, working a job that paid a fraction more than unemployment. We didn't qualify for food stamps but we did get WIC which helped tremendously. Unfortunately when I miscarried we lost that too. That and the fact that we had thousands of dollars in medical bills from my miscarriage. We barely held onto our home and remaining car all because corporate wanted to make more profit and cut hours and wages.

13 months we struggled and even though DS qualified for free lunches we didn't take up the offer. It was still a relief to know those programs were in place in case we needed it. No one plans for their husband to be locked out of a job he has held for 12 years. No one plans on having a miscarriage. Our savings are depleted but slowly we are rebuilding our lives again.

Rewind over 13 mpmths ago. Two cars a beautiful home, money in savings and I was able to only need to to work p/t for 'fun' money. Some might say we had it made. How things can change literally overnight. Today we are a lot more frugal. I work from home more now to reduce childcare costs. We don't take anything for granted and my husband and I both are looking at ways to start a business, work for ourselves so we're never at the mercy of corporate America.

Thanks for posting this MissB. There are some things no one will ever understand unless they have lived through it.

[trailmix 77]

No the parents should suffer for their decisions and not everyone else. If your poor and not prepared to do the extra work; don't have kids..

Everyone goes on and on about their 'rights' and their 'right to choose' but conveniently, when they ###### up, someone else has to deal with it and pay for it. Welcome to the 21century where we are supposed to be intelligent and advanced.

Sorry to disappoint, but "their" rights are also "your" rights and mine -. if you and I have the choice of having or not children, so does everyone else.

Quick question: What about being pro-eugenics is intelligent or advanced?

It is quite simple really. If you cannot afford to have a child, don't.

And if you do (or rather, if you fall on hard times after you have the kid) then.... what.....?

waiting for Boo Yah to answer this question

[Fandango 1,439]

I don't want to call you a liar.....BUT do you know what WIC is? I have a hard time believing someone asked if they could pay for nails with WIC. WIC recipients get a check, on that check it is printed 1 Gallon of Milk, eggs, and cheese or something of the sort. Only the person with the folder can use the check and only in places where the Government has approved it. I kept my mouth shut but since you KEEP repeating it.. IF you make something up to make people look bad, please make it plausible..Like she used food stamps, or offered you her child or something.

You don't wanna call me a liar BUT you will, eh? I keep repeating it cos it was THAT OUTRAGEOUS.

Yeah, lemme lie about my experiences

Believe me or not, S&C, but I'd think twice really before publicly calling someone a liar. Bit low form if you ask me.

[Heracles 417]

No the parents should suffer for their decisions and not everyone else. If your poor and not prepared to do the extra work; don't have kids..

Everyone goes on and on about their 'rights' and their 'right to choose' but conveniently, when they ###### up, someone else has to deal with it and pay for it. Welcome to the 21century where we are supposed to be intelligent and advanced.

Sorry to disappoint, but "their" rights are also "your" rights and mine -. if you and I have the choice of having or not children, so does everyone else.

Quick question: What about being pro-eugenics is intelligent or advanced?

It is quite simple really. If you cannot afford to have a child, don't.

And if you do (or rather, if you fall on hard times after you have the kid) then.... what.....?

waiting for Boo Yah to answer this question

Now you are talking about extremes. How many kids on free lunch are due to parents, all of a sudden, going through 'rough times'?

I would like to see what you say about mothers who are on the 2nd or 3rd of 4th kid, from different fathers, and their kids being provided free lunch? Why should the tax payer be forced to pay for 'their' choices?????

PS Whenever something is available for free, it is always abused.

Edited August 27, 2007 by Boo-Yah!

[Peikko 1,575]

They should be 'forced' to pay for their choices because in a democracy we do have not, do not and will not judge people by the choices that they make, however misguided these 'choices' may be, when it comes to deciding who recieves welfare and who doesn't.

You may try to change this, but it's unlikely that you will find a main stream politician who will support this kind of issue. What it boils down to is that there is no power to dictate who should have children and how they should have them and poverty is not sufficient reason to deny people the right to make these choices.

As for the 'whenever something is free it's bound to be abused aside, you may be right, but again, the abuses of the system are not sufficient to warrent abandoning the system.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

No the parents should suffer for their decisions and not everyone else. If your poor and not prepared to do the extra work; don't have kids..

Everyone goes on and on about their 'rights' and their 'right to choose' but conveniently, when they ###### up, someone else has to deal with it and pay for it. Welcome to the 21century where we are supposed to be intelligent and advanced.

Sorry to disappoint, but "their" rights are also "your" rights and mine -. if you and I have the choice of having or not children, so does everyone else.

Quick question: What about being pro-eugenics is intelligent or advanced?

It is quite simple really. If you cannot afford to have a child, don't.

And if you do (or rather, if you fall on hard times after you have the kid) then.... what.....?

waiting for Boo Yah to answer this question

Now you are talking about extremes. How many kids on free lunch are due to parents, all of a sudden, going through 'rough times'?

I would like to see what you say about mothers who are on the 2nd or 3rd of 4th kid, from different fathers, and their kids being provided free lunch? Why should the tax payer be forced to pay for 'their' choices?????

PS Whenever something is available for free, it is always abused.

Sure its an extreme example - but then so was your response. I think the point therefore is that making these sorts of sweeping judgements about people when you don't know their habits, situation or circumstances is always asking for trouble.

[trailmix 77]

I would like to see what you say about mothers who are on the 2nd or 3rd of 4th kid, from different fathers, and their kids being provided free lunch?

Well said Purple.

As to your question above Boo-Yah - I say give the kids lunch

[Scott & Lai 12]

They should be 'forced' to pay for their choices

Uh...yeah...they should be forced to because this is a free society, as you keep saying.... am I the only one to see a problem here?

[Peikko 1,575]

'forced' to was in quotes because we are, as a society, obliged to follow the rules that society has deemed fit to impose. One of those 'rules' is that poverty will not be used as a yard stick by which we judge how people run their lives.

[KarenCee 3]

Who feeds these poor kids during the summer? Its a bullshite program. If the parents have the ability to feed the kids during summer break and all other holidays then they obviously can feed them year round. Answer it!

Some of these kids barely eat during the summer...plain and simple. I've been teaching for 13 years and I've seen a lot. I've seen kids wolf down their food cause they're so darn hungry. I've seen those same kids quite hungry when they come to school the next day. Ever see a child that's hungry Marc? Look at his or her eyes, that tells it all. WHY are you so opposed to this?????

I think they call this child neglect, if I'm not mistaken.

....and taking away a program that helps these children eat a hot meal at least ONCE a day isn't furthering the neglect in some way? Could you look in the eyes of a hungry child and tell him/her "Sorry, but I don't want you to have a free meal 'cause I think your parents are lazy deadbeats"?

[Peikko 1,575]

Should you hosestly wish to join a society that doesn't want to take care of the poor and underprivelaged, then so be it. Of course you can always try to change this one to fit with what you believe it should be like. As I said before though, you will be hard pushed to find a main stream politician who'll put this forward as a policy though.

Edited August 27, 2007 by Purple_Hibiscus

[natty bumppo 293]

wild guess is that most people who qualify for free school lunches don't have health insurance for birth control (and many, many plans don't cover it)

visit to Planned Parenthood? .... anyone ?

[KarenCee 3]

Public health departments offer services to the disadvantaged as well. But ya know, birth control isn't 100% as Marilyn pointed out. Then what...make her have an abortion against her will 'cause she's too poor to be havin' babies? This point can be (and probably will be) debated on and on and on and on.... just as this "discussion" that Marc decided to start will go on and on and on and on and on.....

kinda like the energizer bunny...

[Ban Hammer 13,306]

'forced' to was in quotes because we are, as a society, obliged to follow the rules that society has deemed fit to impose. One of those 'rules' is that poverty will not be used as a yard stick by which we judge how people run their lives.

kinda like society being forced to pay for this "free lunch program" too.