Imagine a student standing in line, watching as her meal is dumped in the trash rather than served to her. Another child given a cold meal instead of the hot lunch being offered to other students. Yet another forced to have a stamp on their arm that reads “I need lunch money.”
As if not’s bad enough to face hunger every day, children now face humiliation at some schools when struggling parents fall behind on their lunch payments.
Kids who face hunger every day already worry about being singled out, and this kind of behavior only makes them feel more ashamed.
We can stop these cruel practices from happening ever again. There’s a bill before Congress that would eliminate lunch shaming once and for all. Sign our petition to Congress today and urge them to reject lunch shaming practices.
To whom it may concern:
We, the undersigned call on Congress to enact legislation to outlaw the practice of lunch shaming, whereby public schools humiliate school children whose parents have fallen behind in their lunch payments.
The Anti-Lunch shaming act of 2017 would establish requirements for the treatment of a child who is a student at a school participating in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program and is unable to pay for a meal at the school. Furthermore, should a child be unable to pay or have outstanding lunch debt, no child should would be denied a meal, be publicly humiliated or have food thrown out that would have otherwise been served to that child.
Such actions are the epitome of 'blaming the victim,' and are counterproductive and cruel. I urge you to take swift action to stop this cruelty to children and sign the Anti-lunch shaming act of 2017.
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