Free lunches at school

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

so most of the kids in the program come from big families? .... isn't that generalizing it a bit?... I am sure there are kids from all sorts of circumstances involved in the program...

sometimes a parent has to work 2 jobs just to keep a roof over their heads... don't they deserve a little break?..

if the parents can't feed the kid, a family of 3 is too big isn't it? so one's definition of a big family isn't set in stone. when i was in the military, my first wife and i had just one kid, not wanting to be a burden on society and all, you know? i guess that's a lost cause nowadays.

[Caladan 19]

so most of the kids in the program come from big families? .... isn't that generalizing it a bit?... I am sure there are kids from all sorts of circumstances involved in the program...

sometimes a parent has to work 2 jobs just to keep a roof over their heads... don't they deserve a little break?..

if the parents can't feed the kid, a family of 3 is too big isn't it? so one's definition of a big family isn't set in stone. when i was in the military, my first wife and i had just one kid, not wanting to be a burden on society and all, you know? i guess that's a lost cause nowadays.

But you know, that's just something we as a free society have to deal with. It's not like we're going to enforce mandatory abortion for people that can't prove income status with an I-864, you know? Or a couple that is doing well with their four kids and then the dad loses his job. We're not going to take the kids away because they can't prove their dad's net worth.

So we have one healthy meal a day for kids that otherwise can't afford to eat well. Is this really the kind of program that needs to be on the chopping block?

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

This is not about parents though is it? It's about making sure that kids get lunch at school whether their parents can afford it or not. Kids aren't to blame for their parent's circumstances.

[Tinker 0]

One day your holier then thou attitudes towards low income families will come back and bite you all in the AZZ!!!!

A family that is broken apart by divorce or death never happens, a parent who becomes disabled and can't work never happens, a hard working parent never gets laid . These are long term problems so what if there's a high school team's worth of kids, out of HOW MANY??

And how many of the ones that don't go to the lunch program actually have a good lunch? Those whose parents are running around and don't have enough time to make sure they have a lunch, here's some money, go buy a bag of chips? How many of them do you think are too proud to ask for help, because self centered people would turn their noses down at them??

This just fries my butt. These children are our future, our hopes....GIVE them a break

Edited August 25, 2007 by Tinker

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

yes, let's not have any personal responsibility anymore. just ask for a handout

[Caladan 19]

yes, let's not have any personal responsibility anymore. just ask for a handout

Circumstances in even two-parent, middle-class, suburban, college-educated responsible homes can change. People lose jobs, or get cancer, or get in car crashes. My aunt's family qualified for the program for one school year because my uncle lost his job. They're not exactly irresponsible people: after that year, they got back on their feet, and my three cousin all got into top caliber schools for which their parents paid cash.

If they needed a free lunch for their three kids at one point in time, and they paid cash for a Princeton education, then it stands to reason that probably quite a lot of people who are well-off and generally good with money sometimes fall on hard times.

It seems like people are imagining here that the only kids that use this program are the offspring of someone single with fifteen kids who just keeps popping them out.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

a hard working parent never gets laid .

[Tinker 0]

a hard working parent never gets laid .

shaddup

LAID OFF......omg..... tis true though specially when your going through all this immigration stuff.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

yes, let's not have any personal responsibility anymore. just ask for a handout

Circumstances in even two-parent, middle-class, suburban, college-educated responsible homes can change. People lose jobs, or get cancer, or get in car crashes. My aunt's family qualified for the program for one school year because my uncle lost his job. They're not exactly irresponsible people: after that year, they got back on their feet, and my three cousin all got into top caliber schools for which their parents paid cash.

If they needed a free lunch for their three kids at one point in time, and they paid cash for a Princeton education, then it stands to reason that probably quite a lot of people who are well-off and generally good with money sometimes fall on hard times.

It seems like people are imagining here that the only kids that use this program are the offspring of someone single with fifteen kids who just keeps popping them out.

and how do you know that isn't the case?

here's the guidelines btw.

a family of 3 at 22321 gets free lunches, 31765 for reduced meal price

[Tinker 0]

Should we keep supporting this program? If so why?

*nudge*

[Marilyn. 340]

yes, let's not have any personal responsibility anymore. just ask for a handout

Circumstances in even two-parent, middle-class, suburban, college-educated responsible homes can change. People lose jobs, or get cancer, or get in car crashes. My aunt's family qualified for the program for one school year because my uncle lost his job. They're not exactly irresponsible people: after that year, they got back on their feet, and my three cousin all got into top caliber schools for which their parents paid cash.

If they needed a free lunch for their three kids at one point in time, and they paid cash for a Princeton education, then it stands to reason that probably quite a lot of people who are well-off and generally good with money sometimes fall on hard times.

It seems like people are imagining here that the only kids that use this program are the offspring of someone single with fifteen kids who just keeps popping them out.

and how do you know that isn't the case?

here's the guidelines btw.

a family of 3 at 22321 gets free lunches, 31765 for reduced meal price

I am sure there are some kids that come from families like that but you can't say that all the kids on the program come from families like that...

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

here's the guidelines btw.

a family of 3 at 22321 gets free lunches, 31765 for reduced meal price

I'd hate having to support my family of three on 32K gross a year much less on 22K.

[Disco 0]

Ok. I work at a school with a program called "Free Lunch". This program means the parents pay no extra fees: buses, graduation fees, sports, drivers ed...

You want to know about the good and bad of free lunch talk to the treasurer at my school around registration time. In my state anyone below a certain line can get Free Lunch. The problem is they only check 1% of the applicants. So yes lots of people sign-up who are not illegible. But she can't stop them.

What's interesting is she will be the first person in line to defend the program. She believes there are people this program helps. What she complains about is the mother with freshly manicured nails, child standing by listening to an iPod, signs-up for free lunch.

I hate the ones who cheat like this because they are stealing from everyone else. I work in the AV department and now I can't buy new software and equipment because I have no budget. All of it goes to "free lunch".

I want to help the young people who need it. The one caught in the middle. But when little Tommy is talking on his cell phone as he walks out of the cafe with his "free lunch" it angers me and my students.

Don't fight to eliminated this program. Fight to get it better regulated.

[KarenCee 3]

we have been over this a couple of times already...... sometimes stuff happens that is beyond a person's control and they might need some help....

yes we have. whereas that about something happening out of someone's control and might need help isn't what the free lunch program is basically about. it's subsidizing families that in general, don't need to be having a basketball or football team's worth of kids.

oh ... I get it ....

free condoms are cheaper than free lunches

along with birth control pills.

yes, let's not have any personal responsibility anymore. just ask for a handout

Yes Charles, let's. Hows about you coming to volunteer for a week or so at my school. Observe. Let's watch all those freeloaders take those handouts you so freely blather on about. Sit and watch a child try to concentrate when his or her belly is empty. Do you actually know for a bloody fact that most families that benefit from the free lunch system actually have a baker's dozen of kids? As for your income limits, how many families actually MAKE that much money? In the rural area where I live, not many.

You people are still on the freeloader/lazy idea here. These kids...the ones that Carol'sMarc doesn't think deserve to have a hot free lunch at school...are the discussion here. These kids aren't responsible for them yet a lot of you want to punish them. Somebody wanna tell me what's wrong with this picture?

[rebeccajo 14]

I once considered going to work for our local Board of Education as a school cook. I took the training for the position and was hired, but in the end decided not to make a career change in that direction.

Here's a little known fact about the program (from FRAC.org):

"Congress created the NSLP after an investigation into the health of young men rejected in the World War II draft showed a connection between physical deficiencies and childhood malnutrition. In response, Congress enacted the 1946 National School Lunch Act as a "measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation's children."