WV Proposes Making Kids Work For Food

[RosyDaisy]

WTF?? Seriously, WTF? Just read this: West Virginia Republican Proposes Making Kids Work For Food

"I think it would be a good idea if perhaps we had the kids work for their lunches: trash to be taken out, hallways to be swept, lawns to be mowed, make them earn it," Del. Ray Canterbury (R-Greenbrier) said during floor debate. "If they miss a lunch or they miss a meal they might not, in that class that afternoon, learn to add, they may not learn to diagram a sentence, but they'll learn a more important lesson."

Canterbury argued that providing students with free lunches would destroy their work ethic and show them "there's an easy way," the Charleston Gazette reported.

This sounds like child slave labor, and it's reprehensible! Canterbury, you are a sadistic son of bitch for wanting to make children go hungry! :angry-cussingblack: :angry-screaming:

[happy atheist]

They might not learn to add. No biggie. It's not like addition is the foundation for anything important that they'll be taught throughout their educational careers. It's not like they'll need that education to get a good job and, you know, support themselves. :shifty-kitty:

[FJismyheadship]

Doesn't school itself teach work ethic? To get ahead you have to do the work. If you are properly motivated and you understand what you are doing and taught properly, you can do the work. If you don't do the work, you fail, get letters sent home to parents, go visit with the counselor, etc... or has school really changed so much in the 7 years I have been out that this is not applicable?

[dairyfreelife]

I'm not from Greenbrier County so I don't know about Canterbury (though it's a common surname in WV). WV has high rates of children on free and reduced meals. I knew people who were on free meals as well. It is well known that hungry children perform worse hence why free and reduced meals came about. Screw him and he won't get anywhere with his stupid proposal.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Can someone send this guy the complete works of Charles Dickens?

[rward]

Okay, Canterbury, we'll start with your children. Lazy ass bastards, getting food from you for free. You are a terrible parent, not making them sweep and empty garbage instead of learning to read and do math.

[2xx1xy1JD]

According to the article, 79% of West Virginia students are below grade level in math. I'd suggest that these are kids who desperately need their classes, and they need full stomachs so that they can actually learn.

If you really want to teach kids a work ethic, teach it to ALL students. What message would it send if only the poor kids were taking out the trash while the richer kids sat on their butts?

[Sola]

Way to stigmatise the poor kids too. "Oh look at the poor kid sweeping the halls for his lunch"

Because that isn't going to cause any bullying at all. /sarcasm

[ILoveJellybeans]

Thats terrible :( All kids need food, this shouldnt be a conditional thing, they need to know that they are looked after and that nomatter what happens, their needs will be met.

[formergothardite]

Let me guess, he's "pro-life"? He thinks children are a "blessing"?

Call me a bleeding heart liberal, but I don't think children should go hungry. I don't think we should go back to the times of child labor and children not learning because they are trying to work so they won't starve.

[skrmom]

I don't agree with this proposal at all. The children can not help the fact that their parents can not afford their lunches. Sure, there are some deadbeats, but there are also single mothers trying to support their families on minimum wage jobs. There are parents who are too ill or too disabled to work.

Why not use older students (middle school and high school) that are in 'In school suspension/detention' to do these tasks. if a student is fighting, disrespecting a teacher, etc-let him or her spend the day cleaning school toilets, mopping floors, mowing lawns etc.

[lilah]

I've heard this atittude from GOP politicians who seem to believe that poor children have no work ethic. It's so wrong headed and infuriating.

It is wrong because children who have had to skip meals or have had a breakfast of chips and candy are going to have a really hard time focusing and learning.

It is wrong to assume that poor children don't have as good a work ethic as richer children. I work in a high poverty school (we give 100% of students a free breakfast and lunch). My students don't always excel at academic work but they will always fight over who gets to do menial taskes like sharpening pencils, sweeping the floor. I suspect that they really like physical taskes becuase they can take pride in being sucessful at something if they are struggling with academic work.

It is wrong that we prioritize menial labor over education, especially since without a decent education that is likely the only form of work available to them, and often menial/physiscal labor doesn't pay very well.

I will tell you something interesting. I had my 4th and 5th grade students participate in a a county-wide essay competition for students to write about something that mattered to them deeply. About 80-90% of the students said the most important thing in the world to them was their family. They said they were greatful to their parents for providing them with food, clothing, shelter.

[mlady]

Perhaps he's going for a 2fer: free child labor = no need to keep those custodians and lawn maintenance personnel on the district payroll.

[dairyfreelife]

I think he is responding to the recent proposal to give all children free lunch regardless of income.

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/WVa- ... 67021.html

Not breaking cause news site.

[lilah]

I think he is responding to the recent proposal to give all children free lunch regardless of income.

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/WVa- ... 67021.html

Not breaking cause news site.

Given the poverty levels in West Virginia this would be very beneficial to children. My school has about 90-95% rate of children qualifying for free breakfast lunches so logistically it's just easier to give every kid a free lunch. Families can chose to send their w/lunch if they want to.

I maintain that prioritizing janitorial duties over educaiton in the name of teaching children responsiblity sends a very bad message and sets them up on a path where menial labor is the only job option availible to them.

The irony is that the GOP wants companies to create jobs for workers so they don't qualify for social services but the workforce doesn't have the education to qualify for higher paying jobs.

[snarkyjan]

Can someone send this guy the complete works of Charles Dickens?

I'd settle for sending him the first half of "Nicholas Nickleby". If they ever revive the musical, he could audition for the role of Wackford Squeers.

[Burris]

Canterbury should have realized this was a bad idea long before introducing it to the public.

1) The deck is already stacked against kids who face food insecurity. Instead of adding another burden, Canterbury should be supporting the idea that school is work, and that kids in all strata should attend regularly and turn in their assignments on time. It costs the state a lot more than lunch money to educate any child who attends. All students should be encouraged to make the most of their access to educational facilities.

2) School exists to teach academics, such as sentence diagramming. If the primary lesson at school is that poor kids mop floors while kids with bag lunches or lunch money don’t, and that a focus on academics is for the privileged only, then a lot of the kids drawing sponsored meals may conclude there’s nothing useful for them at school and so they’ll drop out and end up mopping floors for minimum wage.

3) If a lot of kids in a district are drawing sponsored meals, then it would cost more in the time it takes to monitor, train, and correct the children than would ever be saved by having the kids “pay for†their lunches through labor.

If Canterbury really wants to encourage work ethics, then he should support funding for vocational programs that allow older kids to start training for a skilled trade, for credits and in place of some other elective, while they’re still in school.

[jenny_islander]

I think he is responding to the recent proposal to give all children free lunch regardless of income.

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/WVa- ... 67021.html

Not breaking cause news site.

My school district's income requirements for subsidized and free lunch are so liberal--yes, I said it--that you can make $50,000 a year and still pay little or nothing for your child's school meals. Because the point is not to determine who deserves to have school meals (which are miserably inadequate due to recent USDA so-called reforms, but that's a whole other rant). The point is that hungry children can't study. (Again, USDA "reforms" have shot this program right through the heart, but again, other rant.)

[Arete]

Elected officials like him are the reason that West Virginia is going to remain West Virginia for the foreseeable future. :hand:

[dairyfreelife]

Elected officials like him are the reason that West Virginia is going to remain West Virginia for the foreseeable future. :hand:

He's the minority. I live in WV, grew up here as well and poverty is very high for many reasons. WV was in a recession before the current recession came about. He's just trying to be a jackass cause how dare we use tax money to feed children.

Will say those making over $50K/year are the minority here.

[docmom]

Let me guess, he's "pro-life"? He thinks children are a "blessing"?

Call me a bleeding heart liberal, but I don't think children should go hungry. I don't think we should go back to the times of child labor and children not learning because they are trying to work so they won't starve.

But those were wonderful times! Women stayed home and knew their place. Everyone worshipped the same god. There were tea dances and long dresses. (and children worked and died in the mills).

Aint nothing wrong in being a bleeding heart. There's a lot wrong with this guy!

[Maggie Mae]

It sounds like a nice way to cut the cost of the janitorial staff. What an asshole.

[Arete]

He's the minority. I live in WV, grew up here as well and poverty is very high for many reasons. WV was in a recession before the current recession came about. He's just trying to be a jackass cause how dare we use tax money to feed children.

Will say those making over $50K/year are the minority here.

It is genuinely good to hear that this cretin is in the minority. I still cannot believe any elected official in a state with higher than average child poverty thought that was a braintrust idea. Not to mention, how very Christ like of him.

[GolightlyGrrl]

Why is it when it come to charity (I guess in some way free school lunches can be considered charity), conservatives always make so conditional? Like a poor kid can't get a decent meal without sweeping a floor. Or a homeless person can't get shelter unless he or she prays first. Why not give because it's the decent thing to do?

[bananacat]

Why is it when it come to charity (I guess in some way free school lunches can be considered charity), conservatives always make so conditional? Like a poor kid can't get a decent meal without sweeping a floor. Or a homeless person can't get shelter unless he or she prays first. Why not give because it's the decent thing to do?

Conservatives only use charity as a cudgel to exert their power over others. This is why I will never donate to a religious charity, especially ones that do "missions" or anything in other countries where there is likely to be no oversight. They know they have power over others, and they only want to use that to convert people and control them.