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

I have had absolutely no help from the government during this pandemic - because I have been unbelievably lucky not to need that help. I am more than happy for my tax money to be used to help people who have been blindsided by the economic impacts of the pandemic.

And I am always happy for children to have free school meals not just during term time but during holidays too. Children cannot succeed if they are hungry. Children deserve to be fed. It is a basic human right isn't It? If their parents cannot or will not feed their children then of course the government should help.

I doubt that "most" parents who rely on FSM are feckless and spend their last divers on fags and flat screen tvs. Even of there are, does that mean kids should starve? No.

Have a fucking heart OP.

And fuck the Tories.

I know of a couple of people who were entitled to free school dinners and received the supermarket vouchers, £15 per week per child and were selling them at a reduced rate, one of them was advertising them on fb 🙄

Yeah, I know someone who did that too. They sold each £15 voucher for £12.

They then spent that £12 on food in the local shop that wasn't an £11 bus ride away (£5 for the adult and £3 each for two children not old enough to be left home alone).

It was the only way they could actually use the vouchers.

I agree with you. It is a basic responsibility to feed your own kids. And the problem with " it's a pandemic stupid " is that it quickly becomes politicised and then you have the shouty left vandalising Churchill's statue , again, when it goes back school time meals.

@Pyewhacket

I agree with you. It is a basic responsibility to feed your own kids. And the problem with " it's a pandemic stupid " is that it quickly becomes politicised and then you have the shouty left vandalising Churchill's statue , again, when it goes back school time meals.

So if the parents can’t/won’t feed their children, the children should just go unfed then, yes?

agree to an extent. If you are truly in need of extra help right now then you should claim and show proof you are struggling.

How can a child show proof they are hungry? Should we see how many ribs we can see before they're eligible for lunch. Free meals would stop hungry children, it's as simple as that. We can afford it, I dont need to list the ridiculous things tax payers pay for to prove that. If someone is against that, it shows you what kind of person they are.

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

Yes OP, you are the only person who thinks this. Well done you for being such a special individual.

Some people shouldn't have kids, you are right.

Some people fall on seriously hard times after having kids.

Whatever the reason for the kids not being fed. It's not the kids fault. A hungry child deserves to be fed. Whether it's because they have lazy parents, abusive parents or poor parents. It's doesn't matter.

A child going hungry is a child going hungry. Doesn't matter which way you spin it.

The impact of going hungry is life-long.

I was removed from my parents at the age of 7. I never went hungry with my grandparents again. Yet I still have, despite two extensive periods of counselling, massive issues over it.

My family could avoid the shops in lockdown because ever since I could afford it I always keep large stocks of food. It calms my panic.

I was massively fat for a very long time because my diet was awful. I feared going hungry so much that I ate a lot of the wrong foods because they were cheaper. It felt safer to me to have a cupboard full of super noodles and processed foods because you can buy much more of them for the same money as fresh veg and meat.

These are children who are going hungry ffs. We can afford eat out schemes, we can afford MP pay rises, we can afford HS2 and tracking app that don't work. We cannot afford to let children go hungry in the midst of a pandemic.

Just depends what you think 'your own kids' means doesn't it.

I think a country has a basic responsibility to feed its own kids. I don't think kids can be responsible for feeding themselves.

Does no one else find it odd that people who've actually worked with vulnerable families are able to say that the vast majority are trying to do the best for their children whereas all the people who seem to think that benefit claimants would sell their children for a PS4 of they could get away with it are basing it on their neighbor/SIL/ person on Facebook?

lyralalala that’s so sad

If I knew someone locally who was having to do that for the reason you say I’d buy the vouchers for full price (or more!)

You have to put yourself in the child's position. Most will have loving parents who are genuinely struggling. There are many children from wealthy families that are basically just left to fend for themselves, poor doesn't mean irresponsible and can't be bothered.

I saw a post of my local Facebook page. Mother was sent a voucher for £15 for Asda, to cover lunches over half term. She SOLD the voucher. Opinions on that? In school you know the kids are getting the food. Vouchers sent home doesn't mean the kids are getting fed!

Of course parents should feed their children but here's the thing, some parents don't.

The OP has gone back under their bridge. Aw...

U OK hun?

Spoke too soon. Still...

U OK hun?

It’s pennies compared to the £12billion they’ve spaffed up the wall for a track and trace system that’s not fit for purpose.

A decent mobile phone with a data plan is now essential, more so for a low income family that may not have a laptop or access to WiFi. For school work, access to social care, applying for benefits, banking. There are some.government departments with no phone lines or phone lines are so understaffed that you cannot get through. Libraries are closed so no free access. Children need to do research for schoolwork. A smartphone is no longer a luxury it is a necessity. Most people who dont have smartphones or pretty basic ones (and complain about poor people having them) have decent WiFi and other electronic devices like tablets or laptops so they can afford to be smug.

Being poor is expensive.

And maybe we should be outraged why people working full time are struggling to feed their children and asking for change in policies from our government. If working people are struggling what more those working part time or on benefits or excluded from the system? There is something inherently wrong with a country this wealthy having so many children living in poverty

@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone

I saw a post of my local Facebook page. Mother was sent a voucher for £15 for Asda, to cover lunches over half term. She SOLD the voucher. Opinions on that? In school you know the kids are getting the food. Vouchers sent home doesn't mean the kids are getting fed!

I'll bite.

I don't think anything of it. Because I don't know anything about the circumstances or existence of a Mother who starred in a post on your local Facebook page.

I'm hiding the thread now. Can't deal with this shit. If it's not just goady it's really, really ignorant. And if it's neither it's just plain morally corrupt.

@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone

I saw a post of my local Facebook page. Mother was sent a voucher for £15 for Asda, to cover lunches over half term. She SOLD the voucher. Opinions on that? In school you know the kids are getting the food. Vouchers sent home doesn't mean the kids are getting fed!

If you read the posts above she might have had a v good reason for doing that.

You're just being judgemental and mean op.

I am lucky enough to not need fsm although my child is 4 so gets them anyway, but if I thought any of his class were going hungry I'd be devastated.

I don't really know any of their parents, I don't know what they spend their money on and I don't care, frankly. If their children were going hungry I wouldn't hesitate to send them some food round, because I'm not a massive fucking twat. And I am MUCH less well off than all the government arseholes who voted no to this.

@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone

I saw a post of my local Facebook page. Mother was sent a voucher for £15 for Asda, to cover lunches over half term. She SOLD the voucher. Opinions on that? In school you know the kids are getting the food. Vouchers sent home doesn't mean the kids are getting fed!

Does she live near an Asda or would a bus fare for her and her children eat into that £15? If there's somewhere else nearby where she can buy food then of course it makes sense to sell the vouchers to someone who could use them more efficiently. What do you think she spent it on, OP? Because you seem to have made up your mind that it's not her kids.

@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone

I saw a post of my local Facebook page. Mother was sent a voucher for £15 for Asda, to cover lunches over half term. She SOLD the voucher. Opinions on that? In school you know the kids are getting the food. Vouchers sent home doesn't mean the kids are getting fed!

Any opinion I could have on that would only be relevant to that particular person. Not to the situation as a whole. Although as I don’t know that person or their situation, I don’t actually have an opinion on it.

agree to an extent. If you are truly in need of extra help right now then you should claim and show proof you are struggling.
Have you ever had to ask for help? Do you know how humiliating and demeaning it is to ask for help and have to walk an unsympathetic condescending stranger through everything you have done in your life and why you need help? Nobody puts themselves through that for shits and giggles. If someone says they need help I'm inclined to believe them.

I actually agree with you OP that it isn't the government's responsibility to feed people's children. That being said many people have lost their jobs/are unpaid at the moment due to covid lockdowns etc. These are unique economic times so some support should be available and it should have a time limit on it

I fully understand people's circumstances can change.
I don't have sky. My phone contract is £18 a month.
I wasn't furloughed. I was on £0 maternity during this period.
We only go on £9.50 sun holidays.

I don't like an extravagant life. I don't have a lot of expendable income. I just believe people should pay to feed their children outside of school.