West Virgina Lawmakers want kids to work for Free Lunch

Those recipients (be it Black/hispanic/white trash) are breeding at record rates-those they will soon be the ones that politicians pander too. As a middle class white guy with no kids because there too expensive- my voice will become muted I say within 10 years if not sooner.

Making the kids pay for something their parents have control over.

YUP! That'll do.

is it b/c they would consider the car part of the families net-worth? He could always put it in someone elses name-although I sure as shit wouldn't trust a 16yo to be on my Ins. policy.

ANY and ALL income or assets are counted as "household". He's a good, responsible kid, we're willing to help him out because it's BS!

I did when I was a kid, right here in good old California, washed pots n pans, cleaned the floors. For a lunch that cost 25 cents, if I recall correctly.

I'm all for teaching kids responsibility, but you have to be a special kind of jerk to punish a child for the situation they were born into.

Mom and dad are already living off the income of their great-grandchildren.
Think they will care if their kids do some work for them?

They'll be learning that from their parents who are, obviously, working:)

don´t you realize what is going on???
thats slavery!
kid´s are not responsible for the faults of government and politics! and parents, which are poor and unemployed are mostly also not responsible for their situation!
what is with the monsters and vampires of bankers and elites??? what are they doing for the society?
..and what are they taking and stealing from us????

children need time for education and sporting, need
time to meet friends and need time to play!
children are no workers! children are children!
this apply to every country of our sick and crazy world!

this reminds to the 3rd reich! this reminds to countries
like africa, india etc.
people be careful, this are very dangerous times!
governments and politics are fucking insane, and if
we don´t fight against their afwul ideas, laws and regulations, we are lost and losing all our rights!
it seems that shit will happens again, it seems
that the 3.rd reich is coming back again in all western
countries. these are very very dangerous times!!!

I agree, if they are children then it is their parents responsibility to feed them. Once they are working age or 18 then they can work, lets not support child labor.

This statement makes me think of a certain someone who authorized drones to kill some americans..."he should have chose better parents."

Here's a typical West Virginian for you:

[link to www.nbc.com]

for those who need a reference to this:

[link to www.politifact.com]

No. No...just NO.

Really? If we're really talking about "work ethic" in this country, it's either mooch off the govt. or mooch off your parents. A lot of working parents don't have the time to bother with instilling work ethic in their kids and just hands them everything. My son is in college, while he's working his way through, most of the kids still get an allowance from their mommy and daddy. LOL

I think its a great idea (really didn't read the article though).

A little work ethic could go a long way.

This is the most heartless, inhumane thing I have ever read. The whole point of the school lunch program is to get at least one decent meal a day in an impoverished child so he or she can have a chance at focusing on school.

Those of you who support this - you repulse me. You want to take a poor, helpless child who is already lacking in any comfort and pile more shame and hardship on them? Really?

I certainly hope none of you profess to be Christians, because you have completely shut God out of your hearts.

What a testament to the extent Satan has this country in his grips. Unbelievable!

This is why I don't even get involved with politics, it's all stupidity. They strip people of the means and right to govern themselves effectively (take it how you wanna) and then they insert asinine law and policy for us to endure merrily (while we bend over for more taxes). These are KIDS. No, you don't make a damn child work for his lunch! How insane! Why, because his parents are low income? So, what is this really? Sounds like a jab at the poor. What will follow this? All poor parents are mandated to report to the school admin building to work for the state? I need to get to work on my star ship. This place is BOGUS.

There's no way. I would fight this left and right and it doesn't even apply to my child.

I grew up with nothing and lived off free lunches at school until my jr year in high school because I started a business and had my own money.

It was difficult enough not getting ridiculed and trying to fit in for something I had no control over. My mom worked a full time job, and in some cases, 2 just to keep the bills paid.

The only thing this program would do would be to further separate the Haves from the Have-nots and making it more socially difficult for those kids.

Fuck that. Those lawmakers looking to push this need to concentrate on the parents. Kids will look to their parents as role models, either as something they want to be or someone they never want to be.

Same here, one in College, one still home schooled. Even if the parents don't actually teach them, they will learn by example. For instance, how many times have you done something and thought, gosh, I did this because I witnessed my parents doing it. Maybe it's just an odd facial expression, but I think you get my drift.

It was the Pharaoh in Egypt who called the Israelites "lazy". And you guessed it - he forced them to LABOR long hours...all so they had no time to cry out to their God.

It back fired.

Don't get off - preach! I agree my friend. In the days not so golden or so long ago school kids actually worked instead of growing obese playing video games. Kids had to gather firewood for the pot belly stove at many rural schools. Most Districts scheduled schooling around crop production out of necessity. Education now is like the current penal system. It has been hijacked by corporate amerika.

Exactly! The citizens of this country DISGUST me. How many billions and trillions of dollars does our government hand over to the military industrial complex, the bankers? How many people die so that we can support corporate interests. But we blame all our debt problems on helpless children and mothers (who are completely abandoned by our culture, by the way) who just want a sandwich and a glass of milk?

So blind people are to not see how they are being turned against each other all while the fat cats keep raking it in. We aren't far from Nazi Germany now, are we?

My older sister is a workaholic been like that since she was 15. she's 41 now, make prob. $125,000-grew up poor, her kids-19 and 11 have zero work ethic-don't even have to do chores around the house. I have no idea how she let them be like that-basically I think it was b/c she only worried about work, left the raising to my brother-in-law who is a nice guy, but I bit of a clown. he'd rather have a buddy, so he'd let his son stay up late with him watching sport, etc. then when it's time for him to lay down some discipline, re shows his father no respect.

The difference is that your mom was not proud of being on public assistance and as soon as she could pay her own way, she did. That's the way it's supposed to work.

Attitudes toward these programs have shifted in the past 20 years. Now it's like a badge of honor...the more they can milk the system the prouder they are of themselves.

Sure, I get your drift...I'm sure all those "occupy" kids got their work ethic from witnessing their working parents' example.

Yes, absolutely, it would be socially devastating, whyever would they not make ALL the kids work for their lunch, if instilling a work ethic is so important? Doesn't that apply equally to everyone, that you have to work for what you get? Terrible message to send.

We were on free lunch program at school for a while when my mother was divorced, this in a wealthy community. I was so embarrassed I would just skip lunch rather than go through the cashier line and have to announce "free lunch". Probably the root of any future eating disorder I may or may not have developed!

I respect your view, and I do agree to a point. I am a "millennial", but I came up during the end of the era of children doing school chores, school corporal punishment, etc. I must say, I think it was very useful and should make a comeback. It could help the school and also help teach the kids about responsibility and pride. However, if the school administration and lawmakers want to enforce such a policy as the one suggested in the thread title, it must apply to ALL students, not just the one accepting reduced or free lunch. That would be a serious slight to those children on meal programs. The child has no control over his/her parent's financial situation. They are the last that should be punished in any way for it. This measure would be cruel and exclusionary.

I do agree about the stigma that singling out these students to do work would have-a scarlet letter scenario for sure.

I imagine it would get better support if they asked for parental consent from all parents to allow all students to participate in a "work-study" program at their school. Sell it as a "teach responsibility" while improving the atmosphere of the school.

I know my mom would have signed me up for something like that. Idle hands are the devils workshop and all...

The only thing this teaches children is the reinforcement of social stigmas.

It's food, and these children need it due to absolutely no fault of their own.

If you want a backdoor excuse for free labor, then tie it into something that isn't a necessity and let them take out the trash for an extra ten minutes of recess.