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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be a bit annoyed that my daughter didn't get any lunch?

40 replies

Frazzledmumwithsmudgedmascara · 01/12/2010 13:38

I'm usually very happy with my 12 year old DD's school. Just had a text from DD though to say she and many others in her form didn't get any lunch today.

Basically their lunch break is 30 minutes; there is a great canteen at the school and in this cold weather DD and her friends have all been taking money in each day to buy hot food rather than have sandwiches etc.

Today the teacher of the lesson before lunch decided to keep the entire class in for an extra 15 minutes into their lunchbreak. I'm not sure of the reason for this. So when they eventually got out and got to the canteen, there was no food left in the canteen and the staff were closing up.

So, she's had no lunch. She had breakfast this morning and a small snack from the tuck shop at break, which is usually a small sausage roll or a biscuit. I know it's not a big deal but knowing her she was quite hungry at lunchtime, and then for there to be nothing to eat must be annoying and not nice.

If the class or members of the class had been playing up (there are 2 particularly naughty boys in DDs form that often cause them to be kept in late at the end of the day), I think perhaps it was up to the teacher to punish them perhaps with a detention tomorrow, as I don't think that missing lunch is an appropriate punishment really. Surely the kids that didn't get anything to eat will find it hard to concentrate this afternoon if they're hungry?

Oh well, I'm sure she'll be in Tescos as soon as she's out of school spending her dinner money on crap to eat on the bus home.

OP posts:

Towatessa · 01/12/2010 13:39

YADBU - if it was me I would be one the phone/visiting the appropriate person to formally complain!

Original poster

Frazzledmumwithsmudgedmascara · 01/12/2010 13:41

I've toyed with the idea of phoning but am thinking just the once missing lunch won't do her any harm. If it happens again I will phone though

OP posts:

PerpetuallyAnnoyedByHeadlice · 01/12/2010 13:41

Thats not acceptable, but are you sure you have the full story? was there food left but not the choice she would have preferred? do most of her class have packed lunches so the staff did not notice so mnay had not yet been through (otherwise there would have been 30 dinners left?)

I would want to investigate this further

Original poster

Frazzledmumwithsmudgedmascara · 01/12/2010 13:44

No, I haven't got the full story yet Perpetually (love the username BTW, I feel the same about headlice, they are the bane of my life at the moment). She said they were shutting up the canteen and that there was nothing left, but of course as we spoke by text it was hard to find out much.

They don't have to book school dinners, basically they can just go with the money and buy it on the day, so perhaps the canteen under-cater and there are kids that end up with no dinner each day but DD has just been lucky up until now as she's there quickly each lunchtime?

OP posts:

PerpetuallyAnnoyedByHeadlice · 01/12/2010 13:44

as for not doing her any harm, what about diabetics etc, who would need to eat? what about kids on free dinners who don't have spending money to use on way home? or those going straight from school to a sports activity - they will be ravenous!

that should not be allowed to happen, and the teacher needs to ensure it does not happen again - they are not God, and even prisoners get their dinners FGS!!

PerpetuallyAnnoyedByHeadlice · 01/12/2010 13:45

there are kids going without each day? thats bad

MadamDeathstare · 01/12/2010 13:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FindingMyMojo · 01/12/2010 13:46

depriving potentially an entire class of their lunch is rubbish - what was the teacher thinking????

Original poster

Frazzledmumwithsmudgedmascara · 01/12/2010 13:49

Perpetually actually that's a really good point about diabetics, free school meals etc. I had only thought about it from my DD's viewpoint.

I'm not sure if there are kids going without each day, maybe the canteen are under catering or maybe they were just shutting and told the kids there was nothing left because they didn't want to re-open and serve them.

I'll find out the full story from DD when she gets home and if what I think happened did actually happen I'll give the school a call.

OP posts:

classydiva · 01/12/2010 13:50

If that was my kid I would be reeling off one of my sarcastic emails of complaint!

TeddyBare · 01/12/2010 13:50

YADNBU. I think you should speak to your dd's form tutor and the teacher concerned. It's never ok to punish children by preventing them from eating, and I can't believe this didn't occur to the teacher. The class must have been grumpy and hungry for the whole afternoon, so the teacher clearly wasn't thinking in advance very much either.

KERALA1 · 01/12/2010 13:53

YADNBU. I have a sort of blood sugar thing which was particularly bad when I was a teenager. If I hadnt had any lunch at that age I would have keeled over.

curlymama · 01/12/2010 13:56

The teacher does not have the right to deprive children of their dinner, and should be told that it is unacceptable. I would write a letter or email, and stipulate that you expect a response as to why this was allowed to happen.

Sounds like this teacher has gone on a power trip tbh, I bet he/she wouldn't have carried out the punishment if it meant missing his or her lunch.

TmiEdward · 01/12/2010 13:57

For some children, a school dinner is the only chance for hot food all day. I would email/phone the school.

DH is a teacher at a school with a 30 min lunchtime. Their policy is not to keep classes for more than 5 minutes at lunchtime. If a longer "punishment" is required, then it should be after-school detention.
If the whole class is being punished for the behaviour of a couple of "naughty" children repeatedly, well, I'd have a word about that too. Expecting peer pressure to change the behaviour of some children is not an exact science, and often a complete waste of everyone's time.

ilovehens · 01/12/2010 13:59

Kids need their food, especially in this weather. What about the ones who have a busride home and will be waiting at a cold bus stop with nothing in their stomaches

I would definitely complain.

tethersjinglebellend · 01/12/2010 14:03

Really bad practice from the teacher. TmiEdward just made all the points I was about to.

Complain.

sue52 · 01/12/2010 14:04

No child should go without lunch, in this weather it is especially vital. I would be on the phone to the head to see what action she/he was taking to ensure it never happens again. If I WASN'T given a satisfactory answer, I would contact the local authority to make a formal complaint.

Original poster

Frazzledmumwithsmudgedmascara · 01/12/2010 14:05

The school will probably tell me that if I'm that bothered about it I should have sent her in with a packed lunch......

OP posts:

electra · 01/12/2010 14:09

YANBU at all! I'd be livid if this was my dd. How can they be expected to learn or behave well if they are hungry for afternoon lessons? Food is a basic human right. I would be making a complaint to the school and the Local Authority (assuming it's a state school?).

whiteliesaregoodlies · 01/12/2010 14:09

TmiEdward is right. I was one of those kids who looked forward to a hot meal at school (lumpy mash and all!) - we often went without breakfast.

Ormirian · 01/12/2010 14:14

I'd advise you to find out the full facts first. Not good to go without lunch in this weather.

welshbyrd · 01/12/2010 14:17

Id be furious. No answer except your DD didnt want anything that was left, is an excuse for DD having no meal. Id be livid, if the school tells you, you should have done her a packed lunch, that would enrage me more, if I send my DD to school with dinner money, Im requesting she has school lunch.

Agreed with Sue52, speak to the school, if nothing is sorted make a formal complaint.

fedupofnamechanging · 01/12/2010 14:17

I don't think that this is really the teachers fault. I'm very doubtful that the teacher would have known that children would be missing out on food. The intention was probably to deprive them of 'play' time. I wouldn't make more of their actions than he/she intended. (That said, I hate whole class detentions and think they are very unfair, unless the whole class deserved it).

However, it is the fault of whoever is responsible for provision of school meals and I would be raising this as a concern to the school. Demand for school meals is probably a lot higher in bad weather, but the school should be prepared for this. It happens every winter, after all!

curlymama · 01/12/2010 14:23

I think it is the teachers fault. If she wanted to enforce a punishment like this she should have made sure that the canteen stayed open longer. How is the school kitchen supposed to know unless the teacher tells them. Presumably they know that by a certain time, all the children that want a lunch will have had one, they work to a system where the child can choose each day whether they want school dinner or not.

bestdaysofmylife · 01/12/2010 17:11

Teachers don't have control over how long the canteen stays open any more than an employee at any large company can affect when the works cafeteria is open. The detention was probably a response to an incident in the lesson which they would not have known about in advance. Missing lunch is not good and the situation should not have arisen but there are a large variety of reasons why it could have occurred.

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