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Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Does stigma of free lunch keep kids from eating?
Across the country, students are skipping lunch so they don’t have to reveal they can’t afford it. How does your school handle free lunches?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In San Francisco, only 37 percent of the high school students eligible for subsidized meals eat them. In New York City, the number is only slightly higher at 40 percent.
Why would students not take advantage of a free meal if it is available? Because it’s not cool.
A New York Times story reports, that across the country kids and teens are going without food instead of revealing to classmates their financial circumstances. Here’s the full story.
The story says, “Many districts have a dual system … : one line, in the cafeteria, for government-subsidized meals (also available to students who pay) and another line for mostly snacks and fast-food for students with cash, in another room, down the hall and around the corner. Most of the separation came into being in response to a federal requirement that food of minimal nutritional value not be sold in the same place as subsidized meals — which have to meet certain nutritional standards.”
What are some solutions?
In San Francisco, officials are looking at introducing cashless cafeterias that use debit cards or punch codes so everyone checks out the same. It would also only offer one line of food to all students so their choices wouldn’t expose them.
I don’t know what is happening at our local high school, but our elementary school already uses a debit card type system. Parents put cash into an online account and the card is swiped in the line. As far as I can tell when I’ve eaten lunch with my daughter no one knows who is paying or who is not. They also only have one line to choose from.
It’s terribly upsetting to me that these kids and teens are missing out on one or potentially two (if they are eating breakfast at school) meals a day. Besides missing the nourishment that they need, you have to think not eating would affect their learning as well. Hungry children can’t concentrate as well as full ones.
What is happening at your school? How do they handle the lunch lines? Can their peers tell if they are getting a subsidized lunch?
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