Saturday, September 20, 2014

Boy put in detention for sharing his school lunch

A 13-year-old boy from Weaverville Elementary School in California was given a detention slip for sharing his school prepared lunch on Tuesday. Kyle Bradford shared his chicken burrito with a friend who didn’t like the cheese sandwich he was given by the cafeteria. Kyle didn’t see any problem with sharing his food.



"It seemed like he couldn't get a normal lunch so I just wanted to give mine to him because I wasn't really that hungry and it was just going to go in the garbage if I didn't eat it," said Kyle. But the Trinity Alps Unified School District has regulations that prohibit students from sharing their meals. The policies set by the district say that students can have allergies that another student may not be aware of.

Tom Barnett, the Superintendent of the Trinity Alps Unified School District says that hygiene issues also come into play when banning students from sharing meals. "We have a policy that prohibits students from exchanging meals. Of course if students are concerned about other students not having enough to eat we would definitely want to consider that, but because of safety and liability we cannot allow students to actually exchange meals," said Barnett.



Kyle’s mother Sandy Bradford thinks that her son did the right thing by sharing his lunch. She also believes that it isn’t up to the school to discipline her son for good manners. “By all means the school can teach them math and the arithmetic and physical education, but when it comes to morals and manners and compassion, I believe it needs to start at home with the parent,” Sandy said. Kyle says that he would definitely share his lunch again if a friend wanted a portion of his meal.

With news video.

10 comments:

shak said...

When I was growing up, if somebody forgot their lunch the teacher would announce it so the other students would share their lunch with them. Hard to believe that a school punishes for good deeds, and rarely punishes bullies. The schools need to be concerned about education, and less concerned about this trifling stuff.

arbroath said...

I agree, Shak.

I was always taught that sharing is a good thing.

andiscandis said...

Sharing food is generally not allowed in school anymore, due to food allergies.

But, you know, explain to the kid why it's not allowed and tell him not to do it again. Don't give him detention.

Anonymous said...

I think the most important thing this kid has learned is not to trust grown-ups.

Seriously.

Lurker111

Anonymous said...

A public school in North Carolina was the closest thing to prison I ever experienced, with little boys cooped up for the first six years of their education with nothing but women teachers and girls who were several years more mature than they learning to lead them about by the nose. No civilization of the past would ever have done such a thing.

Elena said...

Wow. What have schools become? Surely there are better ways to deal with things like this. I am glad Kyle's mother said morals, manners and compassion start with the parent.

Anonymous said...

This is "school prepared lunch" this young man shared. Is up to the school to prepare meals that students are not allergic to. So if that's the case, what's the school concern? The student didn't share a meal from home. He shared a meal the school have to him in the first place. These administrators are idiots. They need a serious education themselves. WW

andiscandis said...

So the schools should serve lunches that don't include any of the top eight food allergens: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat?

I think it's easier, healthier, and safer for everyone if they just tell the kids not to share food.

Dunex said...

*scratches ear* I understand where the rule comes from but we are talking about someone who is 13 years old, kids at that age know if they are allergic or not

andiscandis said...

Sure. My neighbor's older kid is allergic to egg and she knows it. But if you put a cookie in front of her, she's going to eat it and her face is going to swell up and she's going to the nurse's office for Benedryl and a possible trip to the hospital.

This girl is, admittedly, not too bright. But these are the kids that the rules are made to keep safe.

Instead of arguing about the methods schools use to keep kids safe, why isn't everyone asking, "why the hell are there so many food allergies now? What is causing this and why aren't we stopping it?"