over the past couple of weeks there have been articles and op ed letters about a lunch situation at a local school district. the district instilled new protocol about lunch accounts and payment. basically, when a student's lunch account got too low, the parents were notified to fill it lest the child couldn't buy lunch.
on the first day of the change, a middle school student was found to have a very low account. his lunch was taken away from him (and supposedly thrown away) and the child was to go hungry. none of the student's friends had money to lend him and one kid gave him a LONE POTATO CHIP.
naturally the parents were outraged that the child had their lunch taken away and left to starve. the parents made a huge stink over the situation which was noted in the paper. soon after, the school administration loosened up on the protocol, but not without getting an ass reaming by both the parents and the public (via letters to the editor).
now, i obviously don't believe in letting a child go without a meal at school. i'm sure the lunch staff could have handled the situation a little better. perhaps letting him have the meal but making note that he had to have money the next day or no more meals, or even giving the kid a peanut butter sandwich. i'm astonished the kid's friends didn't have enough money between them to scrape up enough for the kid to even have a carton of milk. i don't know all the details, but that was what i was guessing.
but on the other hand, the kid was in middle school. at that age, they should have some responsibility for their meals. if they knew they didn't have enough money in the account, why didn't they tell their parents? if the parents didn't have the money to put in the account, why didn't they appeal to the administration for free meals? why didn't the parents keep tabs on the account? the kid complained that they didn't have breakfast - how hard is it to make a piece of toast, have a baggie of cereal, heck, even grab a couple of cookies! again, i don't know the circumstances of the situation. i just think it's rank that the parents are placing the entire blame on the school. and while i can understand why the school developed the policy (i wonder how many other deadbeat lunch accounts are out there and the cafe is hemorrhaging money in owed lunches), i'm sure they could have handled the situation in a better way.
i guess lunch times have changed since i was a kid. back then, we used lunch tickets that we bought on mondays. there was a program for low income families so kids could get free lunches. sometimes i took my lunch to school (mom made it when i was little, i made my own when i was older). i don't remember a time that i didn't have money. i always had a buck or two with me that i could always buy a sandwich or something. even my friends had spare change - in junior and senior high schools, we had juice machines and soda and lance machines for snacks. even the poor kids had money. i guess times have changed since then.
i guess the point of this post is that too few people take accountability for their actions. they are so quick to point the blame onto someone else. they blame the schools, they blame the government, they blame the President, they blame the rich, the poor, the educated and stupid, the young and the old, the christians and the non believers. when are people going to realize that the things that go wrong in their lives are usually their own doing, not someone else's? people cry becos they are losing their homes due to the mortgage crisis. how many of those homes were way out of their means? how many people lost their jobs due to upper level selfishness and greed?
there was an interesting question today in sunday school about whether or not you agreed that God was gracious during periods of prosperity and peace, and when things were going bad he turned his back. quite a few said they didn't think he did that, but i begged to differ. personally, when we give more (whether it's tithe, or time and talent), it seems that we prosper more. and when i'm selfish, life goes to shit. but maybe it's me.
our country is in a lot of trouble. i sure hope that the government and others can find a way to pull us out of the mess we are in. and i think it'll will start when people start taking accountability for their lives.
on the first day of the change, a middle school student was found to have a very low account. his lunch was taken away from him (and supposedly thrown away) and the child was to go hungry. none of the student's friends had money to lend him and one kid gave him a LONE POTATO CHIP.
naturally the parents were outraged that the child had their lunch taken away and left to starve. the parents made a huge stink over the situation which was noted in the paper. soon after, the school administration loosened up on the protocol, but not without getting an ass reaming by both the parents and the public (via letters to the editor).
now, i obviously don't believe in letting a child go without a meal at school. i'm sure the lunch staff could have handled the situation a little better. perhaps letting him have the meal but making note that he had to have money the next day or no more meals, or even giving the kid a peanut butter sandwich. i'm astonished the kid's friends didn't have enough money between them to scrape up enough for the kid to even have a carton of milk. i don't know all the details, but that was what i was guessing.
but on the other hand, the kid was in middle school. at that age, they should have some responsibility for their meals. if they knew they didn't have enough money in the account, why didn't they tell their parents? if the parents didn't have the money to put in the account, why didn't they appeal to the administration for free meals? why didn't the parents keep tabs on the account? the kid complained that they didn't have breakfast - how hard is it to make a piece of toast, have a baggie of cereal, heck, even grab a couple of cookies! again, i don't know the circumstances of the situation. i just think it's rank that the parents are placing the entire blame on the school. and while i can understand why the school developed the policy (i wonder how many other deadbeat lunch accounts are out there and the cafe is hemorrhaging money in owed lunches), i'm sure they could have handled the situation in a better way.
i guess lunch times have changed since i was a kid. back then, we used lunch tickets that we bought on mondays. there was a program for low income families so kids could get free lunches. sometimes i took my lunch to school (mom made it when i was little, i made my own when i was older). i don't remember a time that i didn't have money. i always had a buck or two with me that i could always buy a sandwich or something. even my friends had spare change - in junior and senior high schools, we had juice machines and soda and lance machines for snacks. even the poor kids had money. i guess times have changed since then.
i guess the point of this post is that too few people take accountability for their actions. they are so quick to point the blame onto someone else. they blame the schools, they blame the government, they blame the President, they blame the rich, the poor, the educated and stupid, the young and the old, the christians and the non believers. when are people going to realize that the things that go wrong in their lives are usually their own doing, not someone else's? people cry becos they are losing their homes due to the mortgage crisis. how many of those homes were way out of their means? how many people lost their jobs due to upper level selfishness and greed?
there was an interesting question today in sunday school about whether or not you agreed that God was gracious during periods of prosperity and peace, and when things were going bad he turned his back. quite a few said they didn't think he did that, but i begged to differ. personally, when we give more (whether it's tithe, or time and talent), it seems that we prosper more. and when i'm selfish, life goes to shit. but maybe it's me.
our country is in a lot of trouble. i sure hope that the government and others can find a way to pull us out of the mess we are in. and i think it'll will start when people start taking accountability for their lives.
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