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a hell of a lot of people are trying to argue that the parents of the kids relying on free schools meals are in the wrong, not the government. here's why you can't say that:
I was reliant on free school meal for a chunk of my time at school. This wasn't by any fault of my parents. When I was born, I was born into a household with a stable income, neither of my parents were irresponsible with money, and both of them worked,
however, circumstances changed. we became a single parent family, and struggled to find anywhere to live that didn't have extortionate rent. my mother held down a full time job whilst caring for 3 dependents, and acting as a carer for 1 with additional needs,
my mother did absolutely everything in her power to provide for us, worked herself to exhaustion, and guess what? we were still one missed pay check away from being homeless,
myself and my younger sibling were eligible for free school meals. this was lifesaving for my mum. not having to spend time cooking a big meal in the evenings, not having to spend money on things for packed lunches etc, had an indescribable impact
it meant my sibling and I weren't going hungry at school if my mum's boss was late with a pay check and we couldn't go shopping. if we didn't have much food in the house and we could only have a small evening meal,
it was by no means my mother's fault we were reliant on school meals. she worked her ass off with two jobs, looking after my sister with additional needs, my other siblings, looking after her ill mother. it's not a sign of neglect when a child relies on free school meals.
free school meals are there FOR A REASON.
and even if my mother had been neglectful, if she was bad with money, why does that mean my siblings and I would have deserved to go hungry? do you think children should face the consequences of their parent's poor decisions?
and even if my mother had been neglectful, if she was bad with money, why does that mean my siblings and I would have deserved to go hungry? do you think children should face the consequences of their parent's poor decisions?
so yes, I get angry when I see people blaming parents. you don't know someone's circumstances, you don't know why a child needs free school meals. no child deserves to go hungry, and the government have a duty to ensure that they don't.
thank you for reading this thread :)
thank you for reading this thread :)
one more thing i forgot to mention:
the parents of these children often go hungry too, giving what little they have to their children and not themselves. no one is choosing to starve their kids.
consider it a privilege if you don’t understand the extent of poverty in britain.
the parents of these children often go hungry too, giving what little they have to their children and not themselves. no one is choosing to starve their kids.
consider it a privilege if you don’t understand the extent of poverty in britain.
