Child Benefit and School Meals

[mumtotwo]

Well my son should have been on diet milk when he came into the world..........A healthy 10ld 2oz
He is now 3 and tall and slim.And hes eaten three meals a day since he was 2mths old lock me up quick for being a bad mum and not following the rules
xx

[cashman]

Originally Posted by hedman2003

thanks for all your feedback. the intention would not be to make anybody worse off but simply that an element of the child benefit say £8.75 (the weekly cost of a school meal) would be deducted from child benefit for parents who have to pay. Parents in receipt of free school meals would have no reduction in their child benefit. All school age pupils would have a nutritious meal at lunchtime.

Several respondents are seeing the bigger picture regarding creation of part time jobs for parents, greater income would create better menus and varieity.

as you aint responded since the 28th feb, that says to me in yer last paragraph- you are right n everyone else can get knotted.

[hedman2003]

Cashman

Didn't realise there was a deadline to respond and if you read the original post I didn't say it was my idea but that there seemed some merit in the suggestion, it was posted to prompt some discussion. Many of the responses were about caring parents who give their children all the love and attention they possibly can even if they are on a limited income and I fully understand the arguments that people have put forward.

The point that was being made is there are pupils in many if not all schools who because of ineffective parenting do not get a hot meal each day.

If I saw a homeless person in the street I would prefer to give them a hot drink than money at least on that basis the money is not going on drink or drugs and for me the idea of a mandatory meal would ensure that child benefit was being spent on the neglected child and not frittered away by parents

I do not think I was right and everybody else was wrong but asked for peoples opinions after all its called free speech so thanks to everybody for their contributions

[slinky]

Originally Posted by cashman

as you aint responded since the 28th feb, that says to me in yer last paragraph- you are right n everyone else can get knotted.

maybe he has just realised that, it's not all cut and dry and isn't really the top notch idea.

like I said, my children are my children.......I will decide what is best for them, and to a point, they can decide what they like to eat and what they don't like to eat..... I'm not having any government telling me my kids ARE having a school dinner, I would bring them home for dinner rather than do that.


By the way, something else I was meaning to ask. When I started infant school, cos my birthday is in July, i was the youngest in the class ( only just gone 4) and I HAD to go home for dinner, something about Insurance or something I think my mum said. Did anyone else have to do this??

[onlyme]

Originally Posted by hedman2003

Cashman

Didn't realise there was a deadline to respond and if you read the original post I didn't say it was my idea but that there seemed some merit in the suggestion, it was posted to prompt some discussion. Many of the responses were about caring parents who give their children all the love and attention they possibly can even if they are on a limited income and I fully understand the arguments that people have put forward.

The point that was being made is there are pupils in many if not all schools who because of ineffective parenting do not get a hot meal each day.

If I saw a homeless person in the street I would prefer to give them a hot drink than money at least on that basis the money is not going on drink or drugs and for me the idea of a mandatory meal would ensure that child benefit was being spent on the neglected child and not frittered away by parents

I do not think I was right and everybody else was wrong but asked for peoples opinions after all its called free speech so thanks to everybody for their contributions

So why punish the majority of good parents to help the bad? Why are we rewarding people for their bad behaviour and choices, at the cost of good parents?

Theres plenty of other ways to achieve what you are trying to do. Did ration books not do this to some extent?

I was brought up on school dinners of rice pudding with jam, chocholate pudding with pink custard (if you could get that recipe for the pink custard, would be great btw, its just not normal custard with pink colouring despite what ppl say) and basically a load of stodge- absolutely ideal for a child who eats that, then goes raging round the playground, playing tig, or british bulldogs etc.

Its stupid to generalise families, especially to the extent that you're talking about. If you are suggesting that this idea has been put forward to help 'neglected' children, is that not what social services is there for?

And to be honest, if you class a child as neglected because of what goes into their stomach, then my son, a picky eater at the best of times, should obviously just pack his bags and wait for the knock at the front door.

And on a slightly political note, I would love to know the true cost of the meeting you attended, ie how many hours it lasted, times the hourly wage of the attendees. You would have probably fed a small to medium primary school just off that. And it makes you wonder, when the atrocities of Jersey are so highly in the media, why are people more concerned about the weight of children, rather than their physical and emotional well being

[Neil]

Originally Posted by slinky

By the way, something else I was meaning to ask. When I started infant school, cos my birthday is in July, i was the youngest in the class ( only just gone 4) and I HAD to go home for dinner, something about Insurance or something I think my mum said. Did anyone else have to do this??

That's because with your ravenous appetite they were worried you might eat the other kids


Both my boys have August burpdays and nothing was ever said about it. Kiddies in nurseries are fed so I can't see it being a problem now.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by hedman2003

Cashman

Didn't realise there was a deadline to respond and if you read the original post I didn't say it was my idea but that there seemed some merit in the suggestion, it was posted to prompt some discussion. Many of the responses were about caring parents who give their children all the love and attention they possibly can even if they are on a limited income and I fully understand the arguments that people have put forward.

The point that was being made is there are pupils in many if not all schools who because of ineffective parenting do not get a hot meal each day.

If I saw a homeless person in the street I would prefer to give them a hot drink than money at least on that basis the money is not going on drink or drugs and for me the idea of a mandatory meal would ensure that child benefit was being spent on the neglected child and not frittered away by parents

I do not think I was right and everybody else was wrong but asked for peoples opinions after all its called free speech so thanks to everybody for their contributions

the "You" i refered too,was meant as the collective body of your meeting/seminar,not you in particular, i also notice you highlighted that bit, n never mentioned, my point about most "respondents" not agreeing.

[onlyme]

Because that the way politicians and all government bodies work.

Its kind of the equivalent to put your hands over your ears and singing 'la la la I cant hear you' at the top of your lungs.

Hence Iraq, Afghanistan, referendums etc etc etc

If you pass the houses of commons during prime ministers question time, you cant hear the faint hum of the above

[cashman]

Originally Posted by onlyme

Because that the way politicians and all government bodies work.

Its kind of the equivalent to put your hands over your ears and singing 'la la la I cant hear you' at the top of your lungs.

Hence Iraq, Afghanistan, referendums etc etc etc

If you pass the houses of commons during prime ministers question time, you cant hear the faint hum of the above

i know,just letting Hedman know i do.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by onlyme

Because that the way politicians and all government bodies work.

Its kind of the equivalent to put your hands over your ears and singing 'la la la I cant hear you' at the top of your lungs.

Hence Iraq, Afghanistan, referendums etc etc etc

If you pass the houses of commons during prime ministers question time, you cant hear the faint hum of the above

Prime Ministers Question Time!!!!!!!!!!!!Your better off watching the muppet show, have you ever heard a question or reply that wasn't stag managed, I wouldn't mind that much, but none of them make good comedians

[slinky]

Originally Posted by Neil

That's because with your ravenous appetite they were worried you might eat the other kids

ewwww no, most of em were scabby

[shillelagh]

My birthday is in july as well slinks but i ended up with school dinners. Mum didnt want me coming home in the day - might have had something to do with bro's first day at school (he is older than me) he came home at dinner time and wouldnt go back - thought he'd finished for the day!!! But when i was at primary school near enough everyone stayed for school dinners, a selected few went home for dinner - i think there was 1 in my class for definate who went home for dinner and a few who brought butties in but most had school dinners. Now a few year ago i was a volunteer at the school i went to and one of the welfare assistants had an operation and had time off work so i filled in for her. Out of a school of 130 kids do you know how many had school dinners? It was 23. The rest had sandwiches brought from home. No one went home for dinner.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by panther

my son was 9lb 11oz,....LOL.....cheeky buggers, what would he have been classed at?....LMFAO

Did the doctor say "Congratulations you have a lovely baby baby baby baby baby baby baby boy boy boy boy boy boy boy "?

[emamum]

School dinners were introduced in 1906 by Margaret McMillan.. the whole idea of them was to feed the poorer children that may not be getting decent food at home. they were designed to be filling and stodgy so that they would last the children all day.....because hungry children cannot learn.....




There you go, but of pointless information for you.... enjoy!!

[joanne72_uk]

I would ask exactly how nutritious school dinners actually are, I pay for my son to have school dinners and often he comes home stating he has had a sandwich or a piece of pizza and dessert the other week was HALF an Icelands double licker ice lolly (99p for 10), is that really a substantial meal or value for money, whats wrong with good old potato pie and sponge pudding and custard, good heart meals that fill them up and cost next to nothing to make.

As for using child benefit money to provide these meals, what happens during the school holidays?

I think these 'do-godders' need to get a life and stop trying to dictact what we spend our money on. If they really want to do something, have a proper look at what children are really being fed in schools and not what we are lead to believe they are receiving !!