I really hate reading the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I hate reading the editorial page. I hate the electronic edition of the paper where "average" metro-Atlantians get to express their opinions on various issues. It never fails into turning into a retard exhibit.
Yesterday, I was perusing the AJC blogs and a somewhat interesting question was posed by the author:
Does stigma of free lunch keep kids from eating?
Across the country, students are skipping lunch so they don’t have to reveal they can’t afford it. (LINK)
I'm thinking, "It's a post about children who ignore hunger because are too embarrassed to eat, how bad could the opinions be?"
Very.
I should have known that in no time, the post comments turn into a multi-tiered tirade on paying taxes and bitching about those mythical "welfare queens".
Of course, I outlined the best of the best for you. I know it may be long, but it's funny in a sad way. Check out their veiled attempts to refer to minorities (in this case, negroes).
I know the AJC isn't the only place this happens, but I think it's readers take the cake.
Related: Paying With Pennies Land Students in Detention (How about that for a stigma?)
By Dan
March 4, 2008 7:56 AM
The problem is there is not enough stigma. There needs to be some lesson here that in life there is no free lunch, pun intended.
By Theresa [Blog Author]
March 4, 2008 8:18 AM
Yes, let the children be hungry all day. We have no responsibility to make sure our weakest and youngest have food...the best way to break the cycle of poverty (so you won’t have to provide free lunches) is through education. If the children are sitting in class starving then they are not learning. And the cycle will continue.
By Dan
March 4, 2008 8:36 AM
Pathetic, chugging the Kool Aid. One no we don’t have the responsibility to feed them, should we probably but there is a difference between respobsibility and showing concern. And in any case that is a social services issue, it should not be a school issue. And I never said don’t feed them I said the stigma will teach them something. As a matter of fact someone who is taught to have no shame when taking a handout, indeed someone who is taught that said handout is their “right” perpetuates “poverty” far more than missing a sandwhich. Oh and I know first hand about it so don’t think I am preaching from an ivory tower.
By kimmie
March 4, 2008 8:37 AM
look, you people dont understand all parents situations. my parents seperated when i was in high school and my mom could not find money for my lunch. but do to the kids making fun of other kids that had the “free lunch” many of us just didnt eat. its sad that you wont give a child a chance to nurish themselves so that they can try to better themselves. kids cant help it. it is for the children not you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Jeff
March 4, 2008 8:39 AM
Dan is correct, there isn’t enough stigma. Free lunchers are the greediest and rudest of students in school cafeteria’s. It’s not the taxpayers job to feed them, it’s to educate them, and judging from Georgia’s ranking in education they sure aren’t learning anything even though they are eating well. These same children are the offspring of Welfare recipients, most long term welfare abusers, who have no stigma about living off taxpayers—and will most likely join the tradition of a lifetime of “freebies” at the taxpayers expense. Therein lies the cycle that continues Theresa.
By Dan
March 4, 2008 9:29 AM
...too many kids on free lunch have $100 sports shoes and gold chains and most are not embarrassed by the free lunch, they revel in it.
[Kids who wear expensive sports shoes and "gold chains" (WTF?) don't eat in the school cafeteria. Where in the hell does he go to spy on kids eating lunch, Beat Street?]
By It Makes You Stronger
March 4, 2008 9:02 AM
You can’t hide everything in life -the kids need to get used to standing up for themselves. Do the kids who ride the short bus get off the bus in some isolated area so the other kids don’t see them? Of course not. Do the parents who drop their kids off at school in a Mercedes have to do it in a different place from the parents who drive a beat up Prius? Of course not. Kids will always comment about stuff - it’s a rite of passage for growing up. If they can’t handle it in school, they’ll be failures in life. And - they’ll vote for people who promise rose-colored-glasses “changes” to make it seem like everything is going to be OK.
By THESINGLEVOICE
March 4, 2008 9:32 AM
It is funny when poor kids need to learn a life lesson it is okay to be harsh and matter of factly but when affleunt kids go on burglary sprees and the chance of them having a criminal record comes into play, we should be compassionate and understand their circumstances and not do anything to impede their potential.It Makes You Stronger you are totally clueless. “Do the kids who ride the short bus get off the bus in some isolated area so the other kids don’t see them?”
Of course they do. And if you spent more time at a school observing and working and less time sitting behind your keyboard giving opinion about things you are only guessing about you would know that. And leave Obama out of this.
By Theresa
March 4, 2008 9:49 AM
It isn’t always welfare recipients on free or reduced lunches. To qualify for a free lunch a family of 4 can make up to $26,845 a year. To qualify for a reduced lunch a family of 4 can make up to $38,203. For example, when my husband was in grade-school, his father was a Green Beret for the United States Army. My husband was eligible for free or reduced lunch at various points in his childhood. He absolutely remembers the stigma of having to walk up to the front of the classroom to hand in his lunch money trying to make 35 cents sound like $1. Should he be made to feel inferior while his father was serving his country? Even today many soldiers’ children are often eligible for free or reduced lunches.
By FCM
March 4, 2008 9:51 AM
I have seen pleanty of WIC people buying steak in the grocery (not with their WIC)…then get in a Mercedes…. [Really? And not just one person "pleanty" of people this person sees buy Mercedes cars with the proceeds of WIC voucher sales.]
However, these are HS students. They should be learning to apply the teachings of how to take care of yourself…feed, dress, social, etc…..Some could get a job….Some probably choose not to eat.
Skipping one meal a day won’t hurt the kid. Now if that’s the ONLY meal a day they get, yes there is a problem.
By Angela
March 4, 2008 3:29 PM
WIC is not need based….ANYONE pregnant or that has a child under the age of 5 gets it…..
By Anyone But Hillbama
March 4, 2008 9:59 AM
Let’s just give everyone a free lunch. And - while we’re at it - free prescriptions, free gas, free housing, free clothing, free pet food, free cell phones, free bling, etc., etc., etc. All you have to do is stand in line and don’t question authority. Ask the citizens of Cuba how they like it - I’ll bet they wouldn’t mind a little embarrassment now and then in order to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
By mamaj
March 4, 2008 10:38 AM
I’m just so speechless right now that I can’t seem to find the words to express my feelings about some of the comments here. So I’ll just say, as long as some of you live in this world, may your circumstances always be so bright as to never need a handout or a hand up from another human being!
By Rusty
March 4, 2008 10:45 AM
I have no problem with giving a child a meal.The stigma and embarressment of yesteryear no longer exist.The problem I do have is the Food stamp/wic vouchers disguised as credit cards. The little black ones with the peaches on it. Watch them at wal-mart with a load of groceries that we can’t afford bejeweled in the “bling” as they swipe that card like it’s a Visa gold card and DARE you to have a problem with it. Must be freakin’ nice.
By Gus
March 4, 2008 10:49 AM
Wow, there are some mean-spirited folks on this site. Let the kids starve? Hmmm, that’s nice. Hell, why don’t we take away their health insurance too. While we are taking away their freeloader meals and insurance, why don’t we make them pay for school like other Third World countries do. These people don’t pay property taxes, shouldn’t they pay something toward the education? That will teach these kids that it sucks to be poor and toughen them up for real life later on. I am sure they will appreciate it. It will also give the good, honest, hard-working folks someone to kick around for fun.
By rj
March 4, 2008 11:04 AM
i am a former teacher…when i hear talk about free/reduced lunches, i think of two things i consistently encountered: 1.)students receiving free lunches although their parents drove pimped-out escalades; 2.)pregnant parents signing their children up for the free lunch program. why are you having another child if you cant afford to feed the ones you have?
By Nan
March 4, 2008 11:56 AM
Well, once again the majority of the comments run true to form for the AJC. I swear the most selfish, narrow-minded, and hateful people on the planet read this paper.
By Silent Running
March 4, 2008 11:57 AM
I think everyone has it backwards.
The free lunch kids who aren’t eating in the lunchroom aren’t doing it because of stigma.
They’re doing it because school lunch food is generally not good. Most lunchrooms have nutritional guidelines which makes for some non-tasty meals. Add to it that almost every child would rather have a chocolate bar than string beans or mystery meat. And that’s what Mama’s packing in those sacks. Chocolate bars and other sugary snacks. All tasty and nothing healthy.
By don imus
March 4, 2008 12:07 PM
I understand the concept of free and reduced lunches, but you have to there are PLENTY of people who take advantage of the system.
When the student is dropped off at school in a Denali or some ride sitting on dubs, you have to wonder….they can afford the car, but not lunch for their kid.
HOW THE F*** DO YOU KNOW WHAT TYPE OF LUNCH THEY RECEIVE?!!
By momof4
March 4, 2008 12:25 PM
I feel very sorry for the children and don’t think they should suffer the stupidity of their parents. If you can’t afford a couple bucks for lunch everyday, please don’t reproduce. However, when people have no pride in taking care of their own, there should be a stigma. Handouts only beget more handouts when there is no pride.
By deidre_NC
March 4, 2008 12:41 PM
you know, sometimes its not the parents fault either-i have been laid off for 2 1/2 months now and can not find a job-i had to put my teen daughter on free lunches and i thank god they are there for her. i only hope all of you holier than thou people who put down ones who are on this program never lose you job-husband-health-whatever- i guess your kids would starve to death before you lower yourselves to get any help. grrrr at you all with this judgemental attitude
By jana
March 4, 2008 2:15 PM
I’ve noticed that several people on the blog have talked about being out of work for years or months at a time. McDonalds, wal-mart, etc… are always hiring. Rather than complaining that you can’t find work and therefore can’t afford anything, (and therefore deserve things for free) why not take a minimum wage job to help out with the finances until you are able to find a better job.
By Rusty
March 4, 2008 12:44 PM
You are not going to tell these people not to reproduce. It’s what they do.Kids I can’t feed = $ from the gubment.Why spend my money to feed them when the gubment will. It is what’s owed to me for 400 years of opression. Why exercise any personal responsibility when I Can and will DEMAND someone else pay for my existence.There is no shame in soaking up what’s owed.
By Necie
March 4, 2008 12:55 PM
Momof4
WOW!!! I suppose you are independently wealthy and not at risk of EVER experiencing poverty. I make a very good living and my kids have had the luxury of not needing the free lunch program. But with the way the economy is today who knows what may happen! People are losing their homes, their jobs, their livelihood! How can you have such STUPID words to add to this blog? People like you are the reason why children feel so badly about accepting the free lunch. They have to EAT!
I’ve never had to be on the free lunch program growing up. But I knew some children who did. Their parents were not stupid. They were just less fortunate (financially) than I.
I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE BELIEVES THAT “CHARITY” IS THE EQUIVALENT OF “THEFT”!!! What ignorance!!!!!
By Kat
March 4, 2008 12:59 PM
How do some of you posters know which kids use the reduced (or free) meal tickets and which don’t? Do you follow them through the lunch line and then out to the cars in the car-driver lanes to see who gets into which type of car and whether or not it’s a lease versus a paid-in-full car? I’ve never had a free lunch, but I completely understand why some people would need this as an option, especially in today’s job-shaky environment. I think that if we can help members of our community (esp the smallest members), then we should do so without hesitation. Maybe some of you are just jealous of the rides of some folks at pick-up time.
By Producer
March 4, 2008 1:04 PM
The “mean ones” on this post are the freeloaders who insist on seizing the sweat and wealth of others to pay for their own bad choices and irresponsibility. It isn’t anyone’s job but your to pay for your kids, whether it be health care or food.
The non productive will destroy this country.
By Rusty
March 4, 2008 1:20 PM
Producer, you are preaching to the choir. They are taking whats “owed”.This is not going to stop. The free lunches is just a fraction of the “stick it to the man, i’m gettin mine” mentality that’s now epidemic. Attn freeloaders, spare us the “what about the children?” crap! Most of these parasites knew they could’t feed these kids when they had them! Self control is what seperates us from animals.
By Blind Homer
March 4, 2008 2:25 PM
Anyone applying for public assistance, ADC, food stamps, free lunch, whatever, should, at a minimum, be sterilized and forced to wear a scarlett “P” for poor or poverty so the rest of us will know who these people are.
By Ina
March 4, 2008 3:10 PM
It seems that alot of you have such a low self esteem that you have to put down others to make yourself look good. It doesn’t. So what if people need alittle help? It doesn’t make them bad people, and to be honest, I’ve always found that it’s the people with money who are rude and greedy. Money doesn’t make you a good person, and you’re all showing just what kind of people you are. This article was about kids who needed help and you turned it into a circus. No wonder the kids need help.
By Todd
March 4, 2008 3:25 PM
We need to support voluntary tube-tying and clipping of the testes. As a taxpayer, I support paying every welfare loser $20,000 tax free cash to get them tied or clipped.
That will save us fortunes. And trust me, the losers will be in line at whatever age we allow to get it done.
By jen
March 4, 2008 3:50 PM
hope you guys on here have been snipped cause if not that would make you hypocrites. its not all on the womans backs to burden all that responsbility.if yur gonna say don’t spread your legs then I’m gonna say keep it in your pants.
By nurse&mother
March 4, 2008 4:21 PM
Beware all those folks that think that you are doing so well right now and that nothing can happen to you. The economy is starting to stink and it will only get worse before it gets better. No one knows how long it will take to recover or how long it will last...
For those of you that think , “well I am not self employed. I have a great paying job” or “well I make a six figure income”. I hate to burst your bubble, but when the economy gets bad, it effects everyone. Employers tighten down and lay off people. Pride cometh before the fall.
By Tamika
March 4, 2008 5:18 PM
I think the lot of you should be damn thankful that you know nothing about real hardship.
By Rusty
March 4, 2008 5:24 PM
Tamika, tell us about “real hardship” that wasn’t of your own doing.
By JJ
March 4, 2008 5:33 PM Link to this
OMG the end must be near, I actually agree with Tamika. [Sit down, batch. It's hard to agree with common sense?]
However, we chose to lift ourselves up and be the best parent we can be and raise our kids without their deadbeat fathers help in any way...
I can’t help but think of The Pursuit of Happyness…..how hard he worked to get to where he is now, with very little help. He struggled, lived in bus stations, etc. but rose above it all and worked his butt off to get to where he is now!!! And I don’t think he EVER took a handout, except for maybe the shelters.
Chris Garner is a real MAN in my eyes….
By Will
March 4, 2008 5:36 PM
There is nothing wrong with stigma. But the point really is we have almost no children starving in this country. Our “poor” are obese.
By luvs2teach
March 4, 2008 5:48 PM
You folks all realize that ALL school lunches are subsidized, right?
As a teacher (or any adult visitor to the school) I pay $2.50 for the SAME lunch that costs $1.75 (no, I don’t get extra - unlss you count the sweet tea).
Unless your child is bringing lunch form home, they’re all eating a piece of the government pie - literally.
By Tamika
March 4, 2008 6:45 PM
Look Rusty, pump your brakes because I’m not one of your little sandbox buddies who troll the AJC for cheap thrills because I can’t pleasure anyone in real life, okay?
I’m sure your bootstraps are so strong that you can’t ever be affected by a lay off, serious illness, divorce or a death in the family…you know, hardships of your own doing.
Tell us more, Sir. I want to drink from your rusty ass well of knowledge.
By Jesse's Girl
March 4, 2008 7:16 PM
Tamika…stop making sense. You are freaking us out.
COMMENTS CLOSED right after two comments after this.
After comments were re-opened today, rusty draws accused me of name calling, although with my response I answered his question and the points I made were never rebutted.
By Rusty
March 5, 2008 9:47 AM
Tamika,Jessiegirl,It’s just funny to me that when abuse (and that’s what I’m talkin about)is called out the abusers [I haven't seen a school cafeteria in quite some time, but okay. I think he read my name and automatically assumed im a welfare princess with 4 kids and 5 babbydaddies and all of us are eating free school lunches.] resort to namecalling.Let me just say simply that if you gather nuts in the spring,you’re sure to eat in the winter. Save for a rainy day,etc,etc.Understand? Responsible people plan. Jessegirl I have the feeling your not just Jessies girl. [His little redneck way of calling her a whore, but I'm supposed to be the one doing the name calling.]
