This is a story about a policy with potentially detrimental effects on children...and it could be something your child's school is doing.
Schools Try To Keep Things Organized To A Fault
Whether it's a concert or a corporate event, moving and organizing large groups of people is a systematized process. Schools are not any different. Sure, it would be great to be able to treat each child like the unique little snowflake they are...but how? Well, most parents don't expect that, but systematized processes need to be considered with sensitivity nonetheless They should never humiliate a child.
One Policy Is Going Viral
Lunch time is one of the systematized aspects of school. You may be familiar with it. At many schools, children are given accounts so they don't have to carry cash; those accounts contain a balance. When the account gets low, schools have many ways of letting guardians know. The school in this story — and many like it — have a unique way of doing this though.
They are stamping "I need lunch money" on children who cannot pay for their lunch. All of the other kids can see this stamp, leaving the stamp-barer an open target for bullies.
They are stamping "I need lunch money" on children who cannot pay for their lunch. All of the other kids can see this stamp, leaving the stamp-barer an open target for bullies.
When Jon Bivens' Son Came Home From School...
...Jon was thinking the afternoon would go as most do: discuss what his son had learned, make dinner, help with homework and the like. He was probably already doing one of these things when he noticed something on his son's arm: a brand of sorts. It was a stamp with a smiley face that says, "I need lunch money."
Jon Was Livid
A message like this is not benign. Children are already living in a socially critical, emotionally traumatizing time in their lives with all the bullying that still goes on. Whoever came up with this idea didn't consider how it could be perceived by the rest of the kids.
To some kids, this stamp could mean you don't have money = you're a poor kid. It could mean you forgot to get your parents to load it = you're stupid. Mean kids can make something like this a real sore spot and the children aren't allowed to wash it off because it's for their parents to see.
To some kids, this stamp could mean you don't have money = you're a poor kid. It could mean you forgot to get your parents to load it = you're stupid. Mean kids can make something like this a real sore spot and the children aren't allowed to wash it off because it's for their parents to see.
Jon decided to speak out: "They herd these kids like cattle. When you start stamping a message on a child's body instead of calling ... it's not OK."
Parents are noticing the way their children are spending their days and the fact that a lot of things schools expect of kids are counter-productive and actually interfere with their education...like wearing stamps on their arms. Educators are also starting to stand up for kid's rights as people and they are often reprimanded for it...
As It Turns Out, People Have Been Fired For This...
Noelle Roni was an elementary school principle in Denver who also took great issue with the policy of stamping kid's who cannot pay for their lunch.
“The kids are humiliated. They’re branded. It’s disrespectful. Where’s the human compassion? And these are little children,” she said. She was let go after 9 years.
“The kids are humiliated. They’re branded. It’s disrespectful. Where’s the human compassion? And these are little children,” she said. She was let go after 9 years.
The School Agreed To Stop Stamping Jon's Son But Not The Others
The school where Jon's son was stamped has stated that they email parents as well as stamping the child. They say they want to communicate with parents in the way they prefer and have stopped stamping children of parents who disagree with the policy. The rest of the kids have to get their parents to complain in order to get out of the practice.
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