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

@Eileithyiaa re the school uniforms - if there’s a uniform bank in your area then please consider contacting them if you are happy to make donations.

The uniform (& baby) bank here have had their referral numbers go through the roof recently. They have less donations, because people have less, but more referrals because more families are in need.

The point about Ramadan is that most muslims fast during this period. Children don't have to fast, but I can understand why muslims might not want to collect food from non-muslim organisations at a sensitive time.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

FWIW I agree with every word about MPs lunches, £12billion wasted on track and trace, the fact that children shouldn't suffer for parental choices and all the rest - I agree too that times are exceptional right now

But when Covid's over there'll still be parents who won't prioritise meals (that's won't, not can't) and many will have come to see paid-for holiday meals as normal. What do we do about it then, and why stop at meals anyway? Should the taxpayer also clothe the children and goodness knows what else?

We need properly funded social services and intervention teams to deal with the parents that won’t.

The vast majority of people helped won’t fall into that category so it’s not an excuse uo not bother.

I don't care if my taxes pay for 100,000 piss takers as long as it means one child who is genuinely starving gets fed.

And in reality most people aren't piss takers.

^^
I agree with both of these comments. And also the PPs who said we should stop punching down and look to the tax avoiding corporations, and government waste of money, first and foremost. The right wing media and sound bites have done a real number on people.

Ffs. Of course you're not the only person who thinks parents should take good care of their own kids and provide basic necessities like food.

Everyone has different circumstances and honestly I couldn't give a shiny shite about them when it comes down to supporting children.

Whether it be through neglect or a family who are having an unprecedented period of struggle, children are not the ones who should be penalised or punished.

The circumstances they find themselves in are not under their control.

Put your outrage elsewhere, like her.

you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/end-subsidised-food-and-alcohol-in-parliament-and-the-lords?bucket&fbclid=IwAR2OVMKeMFJmkC38bCST-uNRQWebuxskdNpV2J6aBLeEjZAzxDfrniV_eg4

Here

secure.tesco.com/clubcard/donate-to-charity

This seems good for anyone interested!

But when Covid's over there'll still be parents who won't prioritise meals (that's won't, not can't) and many will have come to see paid-for holiday meals as normal. What do we do about it then, and why stop at meals anyway? Should the taxpayer also clothe the children and goodness knows what else?

Yes, the state does have to look after children if parents don't.

That is a fundamental truth.

We used to have Sure Start centres and workers who helped with things such as budgeting and basic cooking skills for those who needed it (am aware this is not the majority of fsm parents). My friends worker used to take her shopping because it was something practical that she needed. But the funding was cut and they don't exist anymore.

I like @Eileithyiaa's idea of donating your CB if you don't need it and are happy to do so. That extra £30 would make a massive difference to me some families. I'll add it to my manifesto for when I'm PM.

@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander

It's true! I think it could work provided people can be guaranteed the money would go directly to a family in need and not just absorbed back into the system where nobody really sees any benefit from it.

It's ridiculous, if you earn over 50k you pay deductions on the benefit but could have two parents on 49k each and still receive the £80 a month, which let's be honest doesn't make a piss in the wind difference to somebody on that level of income.

I'm in the middle of the road in terms of household income, and I wouldn't miss it if it didn't land in the bank. If I knew that money was going in the pocket of somebody who was going hungry and helping to fill their bellies I would push that button right now.

Yes, TheFormerPorpentinaScamander , you are right. These sort of services were cut to the bone, or entirely, with predictable results.

The Tories might be accurate in saying Labour didn’t provide vouchers in the holidays but a. That’s not reason not to do it now, and be the better party in this instance, and b. They at least provided services such as this, which were very important. The toddler sure start centres we went to also provided healthy snacks, included varied fruit, to those who wanted.

@Bumfuzzled

I think it really shows the success of the right wing media that people see poor families as the enemy stealing their taxes, when huge global companies like Amazon and Google are actually stealing millions from our services by paying barely any tax

This... along with subsidising Houses of Parliament canteen, wasting millions on test and trace they’ve had to do a u turn on, the list goes on

THIS!

As always the right wing media have got so many of you frothing at the mouth over the wrong thing. Every. Single. Fucking. Time.

And please don’t think your frothing goes unnoticed, as always it will be used to good effect. They throw you these juicy tidbits to get you all riled up, blaming the small guy and fighting with each other for a few days. Meanwhile in Parliament...

Agreed, the people who are really doing things wrong never get pulled up on it or any comeback. Tax evasion on a massive scale is ignored whilst those who are most vulnerable are blamed. MPs are well paid and particularly the Conservative ones tend to be very wealthy and it isn't seen as being a problem.

But how do we change this? It's a shame so much of the media is run in this way, anywhere that has Murdoch is in a crap position politically (UK, US, Australia). New Zealand doesn't have that kind of media and there is much more political consensus, and much less division. I think we need to start teaching critical thinking in schools, and we all need to start dissecting these arguments and thinking them through. I guess whilst everyone is fighting, they can get away with whatever they want.

The government raised benefits, I'd rather they didn't tell people what to spend their money on. Even if you say they should force people to feed their kids a (well off) friend used the vouchers to buy beer, in his case they had plenty of food. I'd stick with raised benefits not micro managing people's lives.

@PamDemic

Are you for real?

They do all have sky tv you're right. They smoke, they drink and (according to the other thread on this), they have low IQ too. They choose deliberately to have children with feckless men, and they scrounge so they get a council flat. Oh and they can't cook either. They have takeaways. All of them.

Or maybe you could educate yourself.

This.

A few PPs on this and the other threads on similar subjects have suggested donating to the Trussell Trust or Fareshare, it's a great idea.

Some of the bigger supermarkets do collections (Tesco?).

There's a regular local foodbank collection near me that I contribute to so I'm going to make sure I get few extra items in as we go into the winter and the need gets greater than ever.

.....our business is on the verge of collapse, and I could be made bankrupt.

Now i am going to be poor, better see if I can stuff my 7 Yr old DC back up into my vagina, see if I can save some money?

Hes just too expensive. I should have never have had him.

Stupid hiccupiscal. Should have seen this coming.

Properly funded social services and food for hungry kids - that's the dream, isn't it? Even from a Tory perspective, imagine how cost effective it would be to proactively lift children out of misery rather than spend ten times the money on the costly economic fall out of leaving them to languish, just imagine how many garden bridges you could build with that? Huh?

PS in posting that Tesco link I’m really not agreeing that individual charity is any substitute for proper state investment!

@Hiccupiscal

.....our business is on the verge of collapse, and I could be made bankrupt.

Now i am going to be poor, better see if I can stuff my 7 Yr old DC back up into my vagina, see if I can save some money?

Hes just too expensive. I should have never have had him.

Stupid hiccupiscal. Should have seen this coming.

Maybe you could rent him out for 6 months til things are better? Maybe OP has a chimney he'll fit up

The only person I knew well in my life on benefits was a single person with no dc. No car, no big TV, No Sky, no tech like tablets, no Wi-Fi etc etc.
As other have said don't believe the right wing propaganda and divide and rule so prevalent in society today.

I'm maybe going to be slaughtered, however and I've not read the full thread, free meals are subsidised not free . I work in an area that involves free /subsidised meals . 70% of parents have mobile phone contacts , sky/ broadband tv . And even better luxuries than I can afford.

@Madonnawiththebigboobies

I'm maybe going to be slaughtered, however and I've not read the full thread, free meals are subsidised not free . I work in an area that involves free /subsidised meals . 70% of parents have mobile phone contacts , sky/ broadband tv . And even better luxuries than I can afford.

I can’t be arsed taking the time to see where the discussion has gone before I barrel in spouting the absolute shite that’s already been spouted.

There you go. Fixed it for you.

parents have mobile phone contacts , sky/ broadband tv . And even better luxuries than I can afford

Which of those things can hungry children eat?