Barber Middle School in Dickinson, TX threw a student's breakfast away because he was thirty cents short. The student, who gets reduced price lunches, was told he would have to wait to eat unless his account was refilled.
There is already a major hunger problem all over the United States. Three quarters of teachers say that their students come to school hungry, and more than 1 in 5 students don't have a reliable source of food. Hunger makes it difficult to learn, and hungry students are behind and score lower on tests. If the hunger problem would be solved, 807,000 more students would graduate high school. Hunger can also contribute to mental illness in children. I witnessed this myself in high school -- some of my friends only were able to eat at school because their parents were so poor, and it took a toll on them.
Some school districts have solved this problem by making all school meals free to students. This saves money for families, and saves families from having to go through the complicated process of getting into free/reduced meal programs.
Please tell Dickinson ISD to make sure that no students go hungry!
Dear Dickinson ISD,
Recently a boy went hungry at Barber Middle School because his breakfast was thrown out due to his account being thirty cents short.
Hunger contributes to academic problems all over the country. Students that go hungry -- and three quarters of teachers say that their students come to school hungry -- score lower on tests and fall behind. To put it in perspective, 807,000 more students would graduate from high school if there were no hunger issues. Hunger also contributes to mental illness, which makes it even harder to participate in school.
No child deserves to go hungry. Many school districts have solved these problems by making school lunches free for all students. This also saves families money and time, as they don't have to go through the process of signing up for free/reduced lunch, and enables the district not to have to hire more employees to compensate.
Please make sure that all students are able to eat and not be hungry.
Thank you for your time.
