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

These threads pop up at least a few times a year - always by people who have name changed and always mentioning Sky, mobile phones and something they supposedly read on Facebook.

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.

And if they can't or won't? Should those children go hungry?

I’ve asked this a few times but haven’t got an answer.
@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone and others... if the parents can’t/won’t feed their children, are you happy for those children to remain unfed?

I understand why the vote has upset people, I really do. I wish they'd voted the other way, but I don't understand the complete vilification. There may be a sudden surge of families on the breadline and below, but there have always been hungry children as one Tory MP said. I'm not saying that's ok (and don't think he was either), I'm saying this could have been put through by Labour in the past but it wasn't. I know there wasn't a Pandemic or a footballer campaigning back then, but it's not like nobody could have thought up this idea before. It's not like nobody knew there that there were hungry children, so why suddenly the hate and anger about it? It doesn't make sense to me. It comes across like a lot of people suddenly care because it's affecting them or people close to them. I mean isn't everyone (in general) just as a guilty as the Tories are in some way for not addressing this before?

To be clear I'm not a huge Tory fan - I'd call myself a floating voter who errs on the side of Labour. Child poverty is an issue that's important to me, I was a poor child myself and grew up in a poor area. I do understand why it matters and I do care. I just think there's something wrong with the reaction to this.

I don't think any child should go hungry and if their parents aren't feeding them whether because they can't afford it, or whether due to bad spending or mismanagement of money or something else, it's never the child's fault. I understand why personal responsibility is brought up and I understand concerns on this, but the line for me always comes down to should children suffer? No of course not.

I clearly said that I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush.

I didn't say everyone claiming had sky tv etc. I just stated that some do.

But I know people who "claim" to be skint. Claim school meals. Claim and moan about how low benefits are. 1 family in particular just spent £2000 on a puppy!

Maybe it's the means testing that's wrong. Because clearly if you can afford to spend 2k on a puppy, you aren't as hard done by as you make out?

The fact that parents "should" doesn't make the children of those that don't or can't any less hungry.

If we're taking shoulds, the one that matters is that no child should go hungry.

@PamDemic some brilliant input

There aren’t deserving and undeserving poor. All children deserve good food. There are a small minority of people who would deprive their children because of selfishness. Those children are the ones who need our help the most.

No one can do anything except worry about their basic needs until they are confident they will be met.

@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone

I clearly said that I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush.

I didn't say everyone claiming had sky tv etc. I just stated that some do.

But I know people who "claim" to be skint. Claim school meals. Claim and moan about how low benefits are. 1 family in particular just spent £2000 on a puppy!

Maybe it's the means testing that's wrong. Because clearly if you can afford to spend 2k on a puppy, you aren't as hard done by as you make out?

And that minority, and it is a minority, who take the piss should define policy that affects hungry children should it?

How do you know they can actually afford it? The only family I know that fit the stereotype of big tv/fancy car while on benefits are eyewateringly up to their eyeballs in debt. Irresponsible lending is the problem with them.

Your current position is that hungry children should stay hungry because a few people waste money.

How is that fair?

OP you remind me of someone I know who was spouting about this at the weekend. When I asked what people were supposed to do if their income dried up for any reason out of their control e.g. pandemic, accident, serious ill health, she actually replied that they should do what she would and sell some assets. Because, of course, every couple has inherited a farm each.

OP, you are not answering the question. Whether it's the case that the parents can't feed their kids or won't feed them, the fact remains that the children are still hungry. What do you propose should be done about this?

Could you answer QueenofLean question

I’ve asked this a few times but haven’t got an answer.
@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone and others... if the parents can’t/won’t feed their children, are you happy for those children to remain unfed?

Plus should the children be punished if their parents are feckless?

Should kids like I was just starve?

Thank you OP, you've just reminded me to donate to the Trussell Trust (they take cash as well as food).

www.trusselltrust.org/make-a-donation/

Maybe in some cases the parents could have made better life choices, but it's not them who are going hungry (or at least it's not them the proposed scheme wanted to feed).

Are you suggesting the fetus should have researched the socioeconomic situation of the parents before agreeing to gestate.

Notice you didn’t actually do a vote ..
Yabu and you’re a pillock who clearly doesn’t have a clue .

@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!

Facebook ,you say ?! Then it must be true !..

It is an indicator of how decent a society we are by how we treat the most vulnerable. Children are some of the most vulnerable and until child poverty and hunger are eliminated then we have not done enough.
I don’t care if the vast majority of children who get fsm don’t need them, if it means that no child is hungry, so what?

No child deserves to be a pawn in a game of politics.

Oh fuck OFF OP

There will be people who are in genuine need of help, kids who are surviving on very basic, unsuitable diets as that’s all their parents can afford.
Then there’ll also be people who will milk the system and claim for the extra meals despite spending £20 a day on fags.
You just hope the powers that be suss out the ones that really need it.

@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 agree with you to a point OP.

I agree that no child should go hungry, whatever the reasons.

And I agree that some parents make bad choices. But not all. And understand that sometimes circumstances can change.

But, I wish there was a way of identifying those who are genuinely struggling, to give them maximum support, because to me it seems that some people seem to be able to play the system, whereas others seem to massively miss out.

I also would prefer it if the child was given an actual hot meal not vouchers) which may not end up being used on the child at all.

Have a @HalloweenDoughnutAnyone

In fact you deserve a whole packet

@TiersTiersTiers

Have a *@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone*

In fact you deserve a whole packet

Gosh don’t give her free biscuits, she should be able to afford to feed herself!

I can see both sides here. My dd has a couple of school friends whose parents are long term unemployed. They're both smokers and one of them was having an annual holiday to Benidorm. If you can afford to smoke, an average habit costs about £50-140 a week to maintain, you can afford basic food.