Am I the only person who thinks parents should feed their kids outside of school?

[HalloweenDoughnutAnyone]

Obviously it goes without saying I don't want any child to go hungry. But. Am I the only person who thinks parents should feed their kids outside of school?

Just that really.. it's free school dinners. Not free lunch all year round.

I don't understand why people think the tax payer should be paying even more? Maybe, if you can't afford to cover the basics (food and clothing) you should think twice before having a child?

Or should we extend free school dinners, to cover all the food a child needs inside and outside of school ?

I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush but I know people who rely on free school dinners. But have sky tv, expensive mobile contracts etc

Maybe, if you can't afford to cover the basics (food and clothing) you should think twice before having a child?

I'm sure my mum didn't think my dad was going to die of cancer aged 38 leaving her with 3 kids to feed. Your ignorance is astounding OP

@Lostandlonely2020

I think there needs to be a better system. Not all children on free school meals will go hungry and not all children who are not entitled will have food every day at the moment. I think schools should be given a small pot for holiday meals and that it should go on family basis and it should not be vouchers etc. It should be meals provided.

How will you provide those meals though?

If they are to be given in school then there needs to be staffing and the issue of getting children to the school affordably. Staffing and transport will add considerably to the cost of food.

@OldEvilOwl - sorry for your loss. A friend of mine recently died suddenly aged 38 leaving his wife and a four year old. I hope the weather stays fine for all the people who don't appreciate that circumstances can change in a split second.

Yeah, I mean who on earth would want to make sure that vulnerable children don’t go hungry.... 🙄😬

You’re getting a pasting OP, so let me say of course children are the responsibility of their parents to feed, and then their extended families before it is any responsibility of the state.

But, for lots of reasons there are families where the parents can’t or won’t feed their kids, and children going hungry is unacceptable, so eventually the state has to step in and feed them. It’s a sticking plaster though.

Yes.

Child benefit on its own should be paying for childrens' food and a priority use case for it - stop expecting others to foot the bill.

As I posted on the other thread suggesting hungry children shouldn’t be fed, eligibility for FSM attracts Pupil Premium, extra funding for the school to enable them to support disadvantaged children.

So if you just told people whose children are eligible for FSM that the must use their child benefit to buy food for their children, not o only would they fall into poverty but there would be less money for schools to narrow the attainment gap for those children.

Still think it’s a good idea?

Have a bloody biscuit. I don’t know where to start with your stupid post, OP. Have 💓 too since yours appears to be missing.

The bitterness doesn't surprise me on here. The begruding Christmas bonus threads over the years over a £10 bonus would turn your stomach.

@MrsDoylesTea with the cost of rent and bills these days many people have to use their child benefit to cover these. Housing benefit does not cover the cost of private rent in pretty much any area. In my area, housing benefit for a 2 bed house is capped at about £440 per month, most private rents here are at least £100pm more than that, often more.

You’re being a shit about this OP. I can’t believe grown adults begrudge children a meal. Fucks sake.

I bet some of you posting that the poorest and most vulnerable children shouldn’t receive food vouchers during the holidays were posting about your desperation to keep school open for the most vulnerable children, like you give a fuck and it shows now. Many in the past couple of months have used the excuse of vulnerable children to push their own agenda to keep their own well fed kids (all organic diet no doubt) schools open.

@EmeraldShamrock

The bitterness doesn't surprise me on here. The begruding Christmas bonus threads over the years over a £10 bonus would turn your stomach.

Can you imagine the ire if that had kept it's original point and was an extra week of payment? Some people would combust.

@Brefugee

I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush but I know people who rely on free school dinners. But have sky tv, expensive mobile contracts etc

I have unexpectedly just lost my job due to Covid.
I have a mobile phone contract that has 18 months to run and cannot be cancelled. i am liable for the payments until it is up
I have a large screen TV (it's 5 years old) and a Sky contract with about 8 months left to run - cannot be cancelled (like the mobile phone)
Likewise my insurance contracts, gym contract and several other things that don't just fuck off into the distance because i'm not being paid.
So with the greatest respect, OP, get your head out of your arse and stop flapping your lips about things you know nothing about.

and have a

@Brefugee

Sorry you have lost your job. I do think there should be some help available for people who through no fault of their own suddenly find themselves out of work, whether due to redundancy or illness etc.

However, to be able to have all of the above things like gym, sky , contract mobile etc you must have had a decent job. Did you not think of saving any money in case this happened? Did you not qualify for any redundancy payment?

I’m probably old fashioned, but I’m always paranoid about signing up for anything non essential which needs monthly payments unless I know I can afford to pay it off if an emergency happens.

Oh do fuck of, dear, up there in your ivory tower with your incredibly truncated imagination

@HermioneWeasley

You’re getting a pasting OP, so let me say of course children are the responsibility of their parents to feed, and then their extended families before it is any responsibility of the state.

But, for lots of reasons there are families where the parents can’t or won’t feed their kids, and children going hungry is unacceptable, so eventually the state has to step in and feed them. It’s a sticking plaster though.

@HermioneWeasley

I agree with everything you say.

The only thing I worry about is that those who “won’t” feed their kids still won’t be arsed even if they’re given a voucher. There’s no guarantee the kids will get fed. I wish there was a better way.

I’m perfectly happy to pick up their slack but the only way to do that is for the governor stop behaving as if it was running a Victorian workhouse.

well @MrsDoylesTea and @Watermelon999
luckily i have 1) savings because i was lucky enough to have a good job and b) i live in a country with a decent support system.

But my example was just how it can happen - one minute you're ok the next you're out.

but the replies are telling, aren't they?

Because even if i was the most feckless fucker in the world and prioritised my shoe addiction, smoking and eating caviar and foie gras every day (and lived in the UK) instead of feeding my kids

who the fuck thinks it's ok to let those kids go hungry?

I see pp echoed that utter twunt in parliament who said "but there have always been hungry children" THERE SHOULD NEVER BE HUNGRY CHILDREN

What a fucking delight you are Op. Out of all things that tax payers money goes towards, feeding innocent hungry children is what upset you the most. Shameful. The thought that any child is hungry or suffering in poverty is heartbreaking but I guess you have to have a heart to begin with OP.

@Brefugee

well *@MrsDoylesTea and @Watermelon999* luckily i have 1) savings because i was lucky enough to have a good job and b) i live in a country with a decent support system.

But my example was just how it can happen - one minute you're ok the next you're out.

but the replies are telling, aren't they?

Because even if i was the most feckless fucker in the world and prioritised my shoe addiction, smoking and eating caviar and foie gras every day (and lived in the UK) instead of feeding my kids

who the fuck thinks it's ok to let those kids go hungry?

I see pp echoed that utter twunt in parliament who said "but there have always been hungry children" THERE SHOULD NEVER BE HUNGRY CHILDREN

@Brefugee

On that I completely agree, I can’t imagine anyone who’d think it is ok....

Ps, I re-read my post when I quoted you and sorry, it sounded really patronising, it wasn’t how I meant it to come across.

I'm so offended by your thread

I actually have no words

Back to your privileged little bubble

The taxpayers should absolutely fund the support of the vulnerable. It’s how you judge the civility of a society. My privilege owes those struggling a reasonable standard of living.
It is abhorrent that in one of the richest nations on the globe we need food banks and that people are homeless. Our taxes should probably be increased. Certainly corporate taxes should be chased effectively and legal loopholes to allow clever accounting should be reviewed.
Keeping people in poverty is counterproductive. Children suffer disadvantage that goes beyond a hungry belly. If children suffer, society as a whole suffers. We need healthy, we’ll educated, successful children to provide the essential services we will all need as we age. What a pity if children were suffering ill health and couldn’t access learning because we felt H2S was more important, if we felt MPs deserved a pay rise above the child needing food, if we felt Dyson needed 10million more than hungry children did.

It is a parental responsibility. People should provide for their children. They do, however, need the resources to do so.

What a very nast post. You should hang your head in shame.

I read a story a few years ago about a 4 year old boy who was abused and killed by his mother and stepfather. What sticks out in my mind until this day was that a teacher saw him rummaging through other kids lunchboxes and the waste paper bin looking for food.
I am not sure that meals in school holidays would have made a difference (was the abuse related to poverty or just pure evil, god only knows) but I do believe any support that can be given to these children should be.