Lunch-shaming is an all-too-common practice by schools intended to shame students or their parents for not being able to pay for school lunches, or having a debt built up.
States like California and New Mexico have either taken steps to ensure that all students get lunch, or created laws that prevent lunch-shaming, but the problem still exists nationwide and has existed since I was a kid on the reduced-price lunch program.
Let's face it: Students deserve to eat regardless of their financial circumstance, period. And shaming children for circumstances beyond their control is not a step in the right direction. So to put light on this issue, I want to know: Were you ever shamed by your school for either not being able to pay for your lunch or racking up a debt?
Perhaps you had your tray of food ready to go, and when you got to the front of the line, workers were forced to throw it out in front of everyone because you were in the red.
Maybe they placed a stamp on your arm that was supposed to inform your parents that you owed money or were low on lunch funds.
This is the stamp. On his wrist.
The above stamp says "Lunch Money" and was put on a second-grader in 2017.
Or maybe, like me, you had to "pay off" your lunch by doing cafeteria work, such as wiping tables, or putting on an apron and helping the cafeteria staff with their duties.
Hell, perhaps you're a parent whose child came home crying because the staff took measures to make your kid feel like an outcast during lunch.
