UK: Pupils sent to detention because their parents can't afford school meals - Polidicks

[img_thumb]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CohNOBnUsAApnj1.jpg[/img_thumb] [QUOTE]The head of a London secondary school that places pupils in “lunch isolation” if their parents don’t pay for school meals is unapologetic over the policy, arguing that parents who refuse to pay are betraying their children’s education. Katharine Birbalsingh, the head of Michaela community school in north-west London who imposed the policy, argued that the children affected were from dysfunctional homes and needed the school’s support. “Should we charge a poor single mum twice so she can pay for Jonny just because she has a sense of personal responsibility and Jonny’s mother doesn’t?” Birbalsingh said.[/QUOTE] Sources: [URL="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/pupils-detention-isolation-parents-cannot-afford-school-meals-katharine-birbalsingh-michaela-a7162226.html"]The Independent UK[/URL] [URL="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jul/29/headteacher-defends-policy-of-putting-pupils-in-lunch-isolation"]The Guardian[/URL]

Whats the alternative? Give them a free meal every day and the parents never pay? Seems better than just making them go without.

"The head of a London secondary school that places pupils in “lunch isolation” if their parents don’t pay for school meals is unapologetic over the policy, arguing that parents who refuse to pay are betraying their children’s education." So you're punishing the pupil... because? -snip this part i didn't read the artcile sorry-

How much do school meals cost in the UK? Down here they're only like $2.

You know when you look at that Deputy Head's signature that they just don't give a fuck.

[QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;50797380]Whats the alternative? Give them a free meal every day and the parents never pay? Seems better than just making them go without.[/QUOTE] A child shouldn't be punished because a parent can't/won't pay. That would be like scolding a dog because it's owner didn't pick up it's shit. If this is a common occurrence then maybe the school/council should look into taking recourse against the parents.

The clue that this school is creepy as fuck is the fact it refers to a 'family lunch'. What does this entail? Well, one of my family friends is a head of sixth form at a London school. He sometimes goes around visiting other schools to see what they might be doing right and what they could learn from them. So one of the schools they visited did this 'family lunch' and was apparently one of the top five 'value added' schools in the country. Basically, they all sit in the lunch hall in dead silence, like a 'family'. On each table, each person is assigned a role. One person gets the water, another gets the cutlery, and so on. They continue to sit in silence until the school captain comes up to speak. He then reads out all of the announcements. In addition to this, he barks out when the next exams and so on will be. He goes through people by name, saying that they 'need to improve', 'that's not good enough' or 'can aim for more'. Only after this excruciatingly long process has finished are these kids allowed to sit and eat like normal human beings, but they need to be careful lest they get a bit too rowdy and be forced to sit and eat in silence again. Just truly bizarre.

Why does a western country still make people pay for school meals? In Sweden, it has been free since 1946.

AFAIK back in highschool for me, if your parents made less than a certain income amount you qualified for free/reduced lunch.

Do public schools in the U.K. seriously lack any form of government funding to keep their kids fed? This would be such an insignificant detail to handle for any competent schools system. Also, regardless of the quality or availability of meal the students get, is it really necessary to isolate them from their peers so they end up being teased about being poor? This is just extorting the child's parents into paying something they can't afford so their kid isn't made to suffer for something that frankly shouldn't be happening. [editline]29th July 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;50797380]Whats the alternative? Give them a free meal every day and the parents never pay? Seems better than just making them go without.[/QUOTE] A ham sandwich, some milk and an orange for every kid should not break the education budget in a western nation. Furthermore, isolating the kids for an hour a day so they can be publicly ostracized for being poor is a bit too much. If their parents can't pay enough money to allow them lunch every day then there's obviously some shit at home they might have to deal with. Being the butt of jokes because you're less affluent than others has to be very discouraging to your ego at that age.

That deputy head kinda needs fired from his position. Isolating and alienating the kid because they might be just poor? Alriiightty then [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tJGk4ofc18[/media]

[QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;50797380]Whats the alternative? Give them a free meal every day and the parents never pay? Seems better than just making them go without.[/QUOTE] Its called resolving a legal matter through the proper channels.

[quote]Corridors and lesson change overs are silent. Pupils walk in single file. "You send your son or daughter to Michaela and you don’t have to worry that they’ll dread lunchtime because they’re friendless. Every child sits according to the seating plan teachers have designed." "At the end of the school day, there are lots of detentions," he added, "at lunch, there are lots of detentions".[/quote] What the fuck is this, sound more like prision than a school.

Sounds like a shit school.

a fine way to instill distrust of the state, authority figures and insecurity at a young age

This school would have me so insane with regulations i would probably burn down a bathroom

[QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;50797380]Whats the alternative? Give them a free meal every day and the parents never pay? Seems better than just making them go without.[/QUOTE] My school would give you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a milk if you couldn't afford to buy a meal.

I bet you some of these kids will become sovereign citizens when they grow up if THIS is how authority figures are treating them at this age.

[QUOTE=snapshot32;50797444]Do public schools in the U.K. seriously lack any form of government funding to keep their kids fed? This would be such an insignificant detail to handle for any competent schools system.[/QUOTE] Michaela isn't a public school, its one of these stupid academies that our government let spawn up over the last few years, it gets little to no funding from the government and acts as a non-profit body. Its a private school without an entry fee basically, its not a public school. London is full of these educational shit holes, you don't find them nearly anywhere else.

[QUOTE=MaximLaHaxim;50797628]I bet you some of these kids will become sovereign citizens when they grow up if THIS is how authority figures are treating them at this age.[/QUOTE] What??

[QUOTE=RB33;50797430]Why does a western country still make people pay for school meals? In Sweden, it has been free since 1946.[/QUOTE] Sadly, while that should be the norm for the developed countries of the world, it's not. From my experience in the U.S. public education system (and in a state with one of the worst education budgets to boot), many schools charge for lunch (and often provide low-quality lunches in turn) either to cover costs the local+state+federal funding doesn't cover, as well as because of things like not making the lunch themselves and instead hiring a low-cost food service contractor to come bring in hired lunch ladies to 'cook' the food. (As only sometimes is the food actually prepared and cooked on-site, and not just re-heated, though this varies by school district and region in the U.S.)

Dafuq did they get rid of free school meals?

[QUOTE=Chryseus;50797542]What the fuck is this, sound more like prision than a school.[/QUOTE] More like a concentration camp than a prison.

The head teacher kind of has a point with “Should we charge a poor single mum twice so she can pay for Jonny just because she has a sense of personal responsibility and Jonny’s mother doesn’t?” Birbalsingh said." It reminds me of a colleague at work who complained about not having enough money to pay for her kids school trip and that it was an outrage that the school didn't pay but then went on to boast about her £100 haircut later in the day. If people have a choice not to pay then of course they won't but unfortunately it means the rest of us will have to pick up the bill (even if we're in a much worse situation)

[QUOTE=ScriptKitt3h;50797705]Sadly, while that should be the norm for the developed countries of the world, it's not. From my experience in the U.S. public education system (and in a state with one of the worst education budgets to boot), many schools charge for lunch (and often provide low-quality lunches in turn) either to cover costs the local+state+federal funding doesn't cover, as well as because of things like not making the lunch themselves and instead hiring a low-cost food service contractor to come bring in hired lunch ladies to 'cook' the food. (As only sometimes is the food actually prepared and cooked on-site, and not just re-heated, though this varies by school district and region in the U.S.)[/QUOTE] In the US, I could expect this. But in rich European countries, it seems easier to just have it free and financed by taxes than collecting money for it from the pupils.

[QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;50797380]Whats the alternative? Give them a free meal every day and the parents never pay? Seems better than just making them go without.[/QUOTE]That's exactly what we do here in America. [editline]29th July 2016[/editline] Or at least that's how it works in Minnesota, I can't speak for other states.

[QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;50797380]Whats the alternative? Give them a free meal every day and the parents never pay? Seems better than just making them go without.[/QUOTE] Our system gives free lunches for kids whose parents make less than X amount of money per year. So basically the only reason a kid shouldn't be paying for lunch is if their parents have them bring their own lunch and not because their parents don't have the funds.

Surely school meals are a thing that taxes should be paying for?

[quote]one week over due[/quote] [quote]£75 overdue[/quote] Fucking £75 per week for lunch? What bullshit is this?

[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;50797984]That's exactly what we do here in America. [editline]29th July 2016[/editline] Or at least that's how it works in Minnesota, I can't speak for other states.[/QUOTE] You can in the UK, but it looks like it depends on which Council area you live in. This is utterly ridiculous though, I don't see how it benefits kids.