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

@FourTeaFallOut

I think you’re right to a certain extent, it would be interesting to see if it would make a difference long-term. The problem is that most politicians think and act mainly in the short-term and make reactive rather than proactive decisions.

The other problem is what level/type of support would proactively lift children out of misery? Eg what would you need to have to not be classed as “living in misery”?

Obviously most of us would agree on the basics of food, warmth, a bed, healthcare and education. But other things like a supportive and loving family is harder to provide, and many children of wealthy parents will feel they don’t have this. It’s not always lack of money or lack of material possessions which causes misery, although obviously it could be one factor.

Also, unless anyone has been living under a rock, children need wifi and tech to do homework/school. It's no longer a luxury.

TVs are also pretty cheap, and the cost of a basic NOW TV subscription for a month is the equivalent of a couple of bus fares.

Given the amount of very low cost entertainment and education available on TV, it's difficult to understand why its considered irresponsible to own one.

The other problem is what level/type of support would proactively lift children out of misery?

I think you would start with food, shelter and safety and work your way up Maslow's hierarchy of needs - eventually you'll get to the mnetters who feel aggrieved because they never got a puppy.

The original poster of this thread had made me hate people and the bloody rag newspapers they get their ideas from even more

@FourTeaFallOut

The other problem is what level/type of support would proactively lift children out of misery?

I think you would start with food, shelter and safety and work your way up Maslow's hierarchy of needs - eventually you'll get to the mnetters who feel aggrieved because they never got a puppy.

I agree with this. Start with the basics.

And the younger the help starts the better. It's no co-incidence of my siblings that I'm the most well adjusted ,and whilst there is damage that took a long time to sort I'm the happiest. I'm the youngest by a way.

A child cant eat broadband, sky , phone contracts which is exactly my point. I struggle as a single parent family. Like I say I work with people who think they can have luxuries and then demand food for their children. I prioritize.

@Madonnawiththebigboobies

A child cant eat broadband, sky , phone contracts which is exactly my point. I struggle as a single parent family. Like I say I work with people who think they can have luxuries and then demand food for their children. I prioritize.

Surely if you work with people then you'll realise that a phone/device and internet connection is vital for applying for benefits? And applying for jobs.

Especially over the last few months when job centres and libraries have been closed.

Surely you must also realise that people are committed to contracts, that they can't get out of easily (and not without causing spiralling debt) before their circumstances change?

Good, of course you do. Children need food, a child who is hungry because they have feckless parents are disadvantaged on two counts, aren't they? Their stomachs growl just as much as the children of the worthy poor.

@OhCaptain

“Barrel in shouting absolute shite”

I know it is not remotely funny and sadly you are spot on but this phrase did make me laugh

This sort of grim baseless anecdotal resentment you rightly describe as absolute shite is precisely why we have a morally bankrupt and economically inept government in power right now: a grinding juggernaut of contempt and hatred for the poor. They get away with it because the cretins that voted for them are dumb enough to somehow believe endorsing or turning a blind eye to this makes them superior and part of the haves as opposed to the have nots.

The reality is you’re just being fucked over differently in a insidious way.

@lyralalala
👏🏻

Oh good you started the thread for me so I didn't have to and get the most of the abuse.

(YANBU)

I seriously hope those posters moaning about people having sky tv/phone contracts don't have anything similar themselves. I mean yes you can afford them now. So could I when I took them out. And then shit happened and I couldn't. You can't cancel them early without financial penalties so you're kind of stuck.
Thank fuck I had devices and WiFi the last few months though! Homeschooling 2 secondary aged children would have been bloody hard without them!

@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.

Hold the phone, they have mobile phone contracts?

Good god whatever next? They should be at home writing letters to people they want to be in touch with and then hand delivering them on foot instead of availing themselves of these modern fripperies.

@flaviaritt

I think the bottom line is that the children whose parents aren’t feeding them adequately, whether that’s because they can’t or won’t, aren’t able to fend for themselves. They’re pretty much helpless. So while I have some sympathy with the point you’re making, I don’t believe in letting kids go hungry for the sake of a few million quid.

This.

I'm heartened to see Marcus Rashford's twitter feed which shows that numerous local businesses and councils are stepping up. Have a look - twitter.com/MarcusRashford

I also remind myself there are far more good people in this world than bad which even this thread demonstrates.

And I wouldn’t want to be without Sky TV, a mobile phone or broadband when we are in the midst of a pandemic so I certainly wouldn’t begrudge another parent having it, however hard up they are. It’s like those with massive gardens wanting to report families who dared to use the park for anything other that a daily walk during lockdown.

The problem is that most politicians think and act mainly in the short-term and make reactive rather than proactive decisions

Ain't that the truth
We might all be better off if they thought less of the next headline and more of the next generation, but it takes a statesman rather than a politician to do that, and we don't seem to have any

As we've seen, most decent people agree it's never a neglected child's fault and that they should be prioritised, but some of us just aren't sure that flinging around effectively condition-free money is the way to do it. There has to be a better way - maybe involving disincentives to behave destructively in the first place? - but whatever's done we can be quite sure that it'll be met by howls of "unfair!!!"

maybe involving disincentives to behave destructively in the first place?

I have no idea what this means?

You can't cancel (sky TV / phone contracts) early without financial penalties so you're kind of stuck

Not really; such things aren't priority debts and anyway you can't retrieve money if someone simply doesn't have any

Obviously the providers won't like it, but in cases of real deprivation there's little they can do but write it off ... and adverse credit reports are hardly going to affect those who aren't in a position to apply for it in the first place

So we are what we can afford? Yes or no? I really really do not agree with why we should support families with different priorities .beer fags etc And for those of you that do good luck .

@Madonnawiththebigboobies

So we are what we can afford? Yes or no? I really really do not agree with why we should support families with different priorities .beer fags etc And for those of you that do good luck .

The unanimous misunderstanding of everyone posting in the same vein as this on this thread is that even if some parents do this (and I'd bet it's a minuscule percentage that do) it is not the children spending money on fags. You're advocating punishing hungry children for the actions of their parents.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

You can't cancel (sky TV / phone contracts) early without financial penalties so you're kind of stuck

Not really; such things aren't priority debts and anyway you can't retrieve money if someone simply doesn't have any

Obviously the providers won't like it, but in cases of real deprivation there's little they can do but write it off ... and adverse credit reports are hardly going to affect those who aren't in a position to apply for it in the first place

Adverse credit reports have a massive impact on people who have unstable living situations and may need to move to new rentals.

Not to mention the accumulative effect of bank charges and interest charges from companies and debt collectors that get people into a cycle of debt they cannot claw their way back out of.