This Girl Is On Fire...with opinions

I’m feeling pretty feisty today.  I like to think I’m a woman with a lot of opinions, but not necessarily “opinionated”.   Maybe I’m contradicting myself.  The school my girls go to has implemented a “breakfast in the classroom” program.  They were rewarded with grant money and this is how they chose use that money (Or it was forced upon them, who knows.).  Every student will have the opportunity to have breakfast provided each and every morning…in their classroom.  Regardless of the parent’s income or social standing each child will have breakfast.  I’m writing this and thinking, “That doesn’t sound all that bad.”  I mean, it is not the child’s fault that their cupboards may be empty.  HOWEVER, I am so bugged by this on so many levels.  I have to write and get it out. 

1.)  We are not paying our teachers enough.  I come from a long line of educators, and I value education as well as the teachers who go to work each day.  They help a child discover talents and passions.  They are the ones who love my girls when I’m not with them during the day.  They reassure.  They feed little spirits.  They spend countless hours and weekends grading papers, creating bulletin boards and writing lesson plans.  They are undervalued and under appreciated by society.  Now we’re expecting them to feed our kids breakfast.  THAT should not be in the job description.  OH!  They also have to tally what each child takes and eats.

    2.)  Really, parents?!  You can’t pull yourself out of bed in the morning to make sure your child has something in their stomach to tide them over until snack recess?  Isn’t THAT in a parent's “job description”…make sure your kid is fed?  Now, before I am labeled judgemental, I will say there are circumstances and times when a family needs help.  I get that.  I am very supportive of that.  We already have programs in place that allows a child to eat breakfast IN the cafeteria BEFORE school for “free” I might add!  I use quotations around the word “free” because we all know, nothing is free.  This morning, I asked my mom’s class, “How many of you had breakfast before school this morning?”  ONE student raised her hand.  What is happening to society when parents cannot be responsible enough to feed their own children they brought into the world.

    3.)  As I mentioned, I was at the school volunteering this morning and witnessed firsthand how this all works.  There are some strange requirements.  First of all, the child MUST take a bread, and two fruits.  If, for example, the student only wants a milk (or just a banana), they can’t have it.  The student must take the bread and two fruits if he wants milk.  So, the student takes the bread, 2 fruits and milk.  He drinks the milk and dumps the rest of the items in the trash.  SO wasteful!!  I makes me sick to my stomach looking at all the wasted food.

    4.)  Why can’t “free” breakfast be offered in the cafeteria before school to every student.  This is what I was told today…the cafeteria isn’t equipped to handle that amount of students.  Judging by my informal survey in my mom’s class this morning, that seems fair enough.  It would be too crowded.  Someone also mentioned that a student may choose to play instead of eating then be forced to be hungry all morning.  Really??  Maybe little Joey would figure that out after a couple mornings of being hungry.  “Hmmm, I don’t like being hungry, so I guess I’ll choose breakfast tomorrow.”  Natural consequences.  What kind of adults are we bringing up?  We have to allow them to make choices then deal with the consequences.  Life is not easy, and we shouldn’t be making breakfast this easy.   

5.)  MY children are missing out on about 20 minutes of valuable learning time. 

   I think that about sums it up.  Maybe it’s a silly thing to be so fired about.  Maybe I’m looking way too into this.  The feeling I’m taking away from this is that it’s more evidence of the demise of the family.  Our morning routine consists of prayer, scriptures and breakfast.  James reads scriptures while I make breakfast…nothing fancy, nothing time consuming.  I work in the evenings so we never eat dinner as a family.  Breakfast is our one “meal” together as a family.  I feel like we make a big effort for that to happen.  I might be wrong, but I’m thinking the majority of the students don’t have any consistent family meals.  Now we’re just making that even easier since “free” food will be offered each morning by a teacher who shouldn't be doing that in the first place. 

The Family: A Proclamation to the World
"Husbands and wives have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children...parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs...mothers and fathers will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations."

              

Those are my thoughts and feelings.