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What is “lunch shaming?” It happens when a child can’t pay a school lunch bill.
In Alabama, a child short on funds was stamped on the arm with “I Need Lunch Money.” In some schools, children are forced to clean cafeteria tables in front of their peers to pay the debt. Other schools require cafeteria workers to take a child’s hot food and throw it in the trash if he doesn’t have the money to pay for it.
In what its supporters say is the first such legislation in the country, New Mexico has outlawed shaming children whose parents are behind on school lunch payments.
Source: The New York Times
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New Mexico Outlaws School ‘Lunch Shaming’
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
The last time I saw him he was walking down Lover's Lane holding his own hand.
-- Fred Allen
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @06:42PM (42 children)
If you're going to put a gun to my head, then you can pay for your own fucking kid; I'll do everything possible to shame you.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @06:50PM (31 children)
It's not "your kid", it's "our kids", selfish jackass. It's your sort that we can't have a decent healthcare.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @06:59PM (29 children)
Firstly, people are refusing to take on their own self-imposed responsibility (reproduction isn't an airborne disease).
Secondly, people like you are threatening me with violence unless I hand over resources to subsidize the irresponsible existence of the people.
Not only is that a recipe for disaster in terms of incentives, but that's quite possibly the most outlandishly selfish way to approach life.
It's your sort who make it impossible to have a civilized society; the very foundation of your solution is uncivilized: Robbery.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:05PM (15 children)
The kids are already born and grew up to teenage. Let's fuck them over so "they" won't have more kids.
You're the boomers' poster child.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:11PM (14 children)
How is it possible that you cannot perceive the Olympic-sized hypocrisy of your position? (see subject lines)
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:16PM (13 children)
See subject, selfish jackass. It's not "you" paying for "me", it's "we" contributing together for the greater benefit for the whole.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:37PM (12 children)
Contributions are given voluntarily.
If a mugger steals your cash, it doesn't matter that he gives it to an orphanage; that's still robbery.
Your position is based solely on religious magic: You've blessed this one robber who calls himself "government", defining his theft as being "contribution"—and then you are surprised there are so many people who are upset about it!
That "contribution" or "taxation" is actually a very ancient, barbaric, uncivilized idea: Tribute paid to the local strong man.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:58PM (3 children)
We have this thing called voting. You should try sometime.
Don't like it? Go to Somalia. You don't have to vote there, there is no government. Go there and live "free."
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @08:08PM (2 children)
Somalia is the result of a failed State, one ruled by a single-party government based on "scientific" socialism.
That culture of coercion failed; is it surprising that such a culture resulted in a bunch of warlords, which are just simple, explicit forms of government?
In short, the situation in Somalia has very little to do with freedom, libertarianism, capitalism etc., with one exception: A much freer environment for commerce actually gave way to huge gains in the quality of life for the local population, despite the coercion of warlord governments. That free trade has no produced so much more wealth, that it is becoming possible for another parasitic attempt to form a "national" government.
Try again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @08:21PM (1 child)
You are a teenager, ain't you? If so, then keep it up - I suppose we need your sorts, too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 10 2017, @03:46PM
Actually I'm pretty sure this troll is TMB. Explains why he's soon butthurt all the time, people shit on his bad ideas and he's so upset he can't even admit it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Sunday April 09 2017, @10:21PM (7 children)
Contributions are given voluntarily.
That's right. And as someone who lives within the borders of a nation-state that has determined (by the voluntary approval of its denizens [wikipedia.org]) to enter into a contract (here in the US, we call it the constitution) that delegates decision-making authority [wikipedia.org] at "multiple [wikipedia.org] levels [wikipedia.org] to folks who are periodically returned to or replaced in those positions (we call that elections, BTW). What's more, when there are things of major import to the whole of the nation-state, we require broad support (3/4 of state legislatures and 2/3 majorities in both houses of Congress) before those can be implemented. We call that amending the constitution. Or, in your parlance, negotiating changes to the contract.
The result is a broad culture and system of voluntary contractual agreements among the residents of the United States. Don't like the contracts? Make an effort to modify them or go somewhere else.
Interestingly, it was negotiated changes that imposed the "theft" you mention. What's more, 43 of the 50 states have their own version of "theft" as well. If there was a large backlash against such "theft" it would have been widely repealed long ago.
As Oliver Wendell Holmes put it:
I like paying taxes. With it, I buy civilization.
If a mugger steals your cash, it doesn't matter that he gives it to an orphanage; that's still robbery.
Your position is based solely on religious magic: You've blessed this one robber who calls himself "government", defining his theft as being "contribution"—and then you are surprised there are so many people who are upset about it!
That "contribution" or "taxation" is actually a very ancient, barbaric, uncivilized idea: Tribute paid to the local strong man.
Except the parties to the contract (the constitution) have agreed that such taxation is appropriate. If you do not wish to be party to that contract, GTFO.
Why do you hate America?
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by migz on Monday April 10 2017, @07:18AM (6 children)
I was born into apartheid South Africa. I never agreed to that.
Was it right that I was born a slave to laws I never chose? Don't tell me that government is voluntary.
I have seen with my own eyes the barbarism of government theft and oppression.
Perhaps you should not be so quick to tell others how they have voluntarily chosen to support the government of the country into which they have been born.
That contract that you so lovingly use as justification for taxation, exists because of unwanted taxation by the government at the time. Why don't you GTFO, and leave America to it's rightful government - Great Britain? (Tongue firmly in cheek - with pointing)
Btw. I agree 100% that poor kids should get free lunch, but also disagree 100% that taxpayers should foot the bill.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 10 2017, @05:06PM (2 children)
> I was born into apartheid South Africa. I never agreed to that.
You seem to still believe that apartheid is democracy.
I guess you didn't really learn your lesson there.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 10 2017, @06:53PM (1 child)
How do you explain the Japanese Internment camps in the United States, smart guy? How about Jim Crow laws, instituting racial segregation in the South?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 11 2017, @02:47AM
If you insist on perfection you will only get failure.
All of those things you list were consitutional violations.
It happens because a democratic government is necessarily composed of imperfect humans.
That doesn't invalidate the social contract of a democracy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 10 2017, @07:33PM
But frequently, we need to choose to violate one your two points. So, better that poor kids starve or taxpayers pay for them?
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Monday April 10 2017, @08:06PM (1 child)
Yeah, that's what everyone wants. Free stuff from nowhere. And if you don't think too hard about it, your friend Trump will be glad to tell you how he's going to give it to you.
It's thinking like this that lead to our current situation: tax cut after tax cut for the already wealthy, while politicians get to whine and moan about welfare being too expensive while never actually getting off their asses to do anything about it.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by migz on Tuesday April 11 2017, @06:02AM
I never said anything about free stuff from nowhere. I just said taxpayers should not pay for things. Tax is not a willing contribution. Start an NGO that provides school lunches, and I would gladly contribute. However my effective 65% tax makes me feel fairly stingy ATM. And nobody at any of my (government) schools ever received free lunches from the government nor anyone else.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by mojo chan on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:19PM (1 child)
Okay, here's the deal AC. If you don't want to pay anything towards other people's kids that's fine, but you don't get to benefit from them either. In 30 years time, no doctors under the age of 48 for you. Your pension can't be invested in any companies started by people under 48. You get the picture.
And no turning your own kids into slaves either. You don't want to contribute, you do without.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:29PM
Your entire understanding of "contributing" is "giving resources to this one organization that calls itself 'government' under threat of violence for noncompliance".
What a disgusting, uncivilized, ancient world view.
This is how you really contribute to society: You engage in voluntary interaction, exchanging resources with others according agreement, not coercion.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:37PM (9 children)
why doesn't your crowd approve of abortion and contraceptives, then?
Or is having sex for free without paying some escort, or getting a religous fucking license, also against your ethos?
Many people are forced to have children due to the laws republicans put into place; then they are punished for having them. People like you are of no help to the problem of big government where it should not have been to begin with, which causes problems like this which suddenly not a role for the government to deal with. If there is responsibility to be had, it should fall onto the shoulders of those that prevented the freedom of choice to begin with, and that they should be required to pay for the choices made for those that have the children they otherwise the 'poor and irresponsible' parents might not have opted to keep.
Yeah all kids and people are great or something that the republicans say, but they also try to destroy them as people at an early age, to get them to understand their place in a rich person's world.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:44PM (2 children)
You have no idea what my position is on that topic, and you're just trying to sink my position based on some other argument that you've both brought in from nowhere and also fabricated.
Try again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @08:19PM (1 child)
And yet you didn't actually deny that those are your positions.
You aren't fooling anyone.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @09:14PM
that's right -- it was a safe assumption to make. i dont know the position this person has on those other topics. but i didnt get my ideas from nowhere. i've seen it take place over and over to know what it looks like.
(Score: 1, Redundant) by fliptop on Sunday April 09 2017, @08:38PM (5 children)
Please, show me the law that forces people to procreate.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @09:06PM
Please, show me the law that forces people to procreate.
It's called the power law https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm?abstractid=961842 [ssrn.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @09:07PM (3 children)
Please, show me the law that forces people to procreate.
Hello?
Its a law of nature. Procreation is the single defining principle of life.
There is literally no force greater in the human experience.
Someone who thinks defying the most fundamental biological drive is a plausible option for anything is so woefully out of touch with what it means to be alive that his own humanity is in doubt.
Skynet, is that you?
(Score: 2) by fliptop on Sunday April 09 2017, @09:18PM (1 child)
And I'm pretty sure the Republicans didn't write that law.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @09:40PM
You are right. They did not.
Instead the GOP passed the punitive laws that apply to people who are the result of procreation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @10:35PM
There is literally no force greater in the human experience.
Clearly you have never spent time with a woman who is addicted to Sex In The City. Now that is a force to be reckoned with.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 10 2017, @02:37AM
Yes. Also, if you fail to hand over resources to bomb Syria and to bail out banks and many other things.
I'm pretty sure the existence of a civilization that functions like that (actually, many civilizations) disproves your "impossible" assertion.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:36PM
I'm sorry, you're right, that was an insensitive thing for me to say. I'm in a bad mood. I've been looking at pictures of Ayn Rand and Donald Trump all day, trying to get aroused and it's just not happening.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:11PM (7 children)
If you're going to put a gun to my head, then you can pay for your own fucking kid; I'll do everything possible to shame you.
Except you're not shaming the parents, you're shaming the child, who has zero control over the situation.
How about we put you in jail for your mom's unpaid parking tickets?
Better yet, let's imprison (or execute, your choice, because freedom is all about choice), you, your wife and your kids for your parents failure to pay their HOA fees on time. Given your attitude, I imagine you'd support that, no?
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:23PM (6 children)
Maybe it's important that the child learn that he's existing in a shameful way; maybe he'll grow up thinking "I'm NEVER gonna put my kid in this position."
On top of that, the stamp is a message for the parents; a parent is going to receive the message, whether by reading it or getting lip from the child—Daddy is going to have to confront the fact that he's stealing his son's money to pay for drinks at the local pub.
Hell, how do you know that the child isn't pocketing his money for weed or whatever?
Man, you people are myopic. Expand your view of human nature.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:34PM (4 children)
Hell, how do you know that the child isn't pocketing his money for weed or whatever?
And there it is.
Poor black kids in 3rd grade are smoking weed with welfare money.
And don't even try to pretend that wasn't the stereotype you were invoking.
You are so transparent everybody can see your shit before you even start to squat.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:40PM (3 children)
Also, it's a straw man; it doesn't attack the principle in general.
Try again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @09:36PM (2 children)
Funny how its ok for YOU to get all emotional, screaming about enforcing welfare at a point of a gun and invoking the ugliest racial stereotypes.
When someone points out how emotional and vapid your arguments are, all you can do is whine that they are being emotional.
Silly little hypocrite, tricks are for kids!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @10:20PM (1 child)
Government decides it's going to start paying for every child's lunch, and is going to do so with my money; if I don't comply, I'm going to be thrown into a cage (or worse, depending upon how well I try to defend myself).
That's not emotional; that's factual.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @10:54PM
'Bout damn time, too! A cage is too good for such treasonous freeloaders such as yourself. We are coming to take your money, and give it to "disadvantaged urban youth"! Ha! How do you like those apples! And they we are going to take money you have not even made yet, and we are going to pay for health care for veterans! Oww, that must burn! And after all that, we are going to take the rest of your money, and spend it on the Arts: you know, Opera, Sculpture, NPR. As others have said, if you don't like it, GTFO. We own you! We might just have to nationalize your ass if we find ourselves in an actually shooting war, and if you fucking die, and loose ALL your money, well, it sucks to be you. But at least the little school kids will get some hot lunch.
(Score: 2) by dry on Monday April 10 2017, @02:48AM
Or perhaps the neighbourhood bullies stole the kids lunch. Now on top of feeling like a piece of shit for being bullied, he also gets to feel like a piece of shit for no longer having lunch money.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:14PM
My fetid little friend wants to make a certain kind of tadpole soup in that rancid hole of yours.
Get it yet?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @07:25PM
"We're coming for your capital gains, Chuck!"