In my lifetime, I have seen schools go from providing a cheap lunch for students to buy, with a relatively small percentage of students (even in a fairly poor town) receiving “free or reduced” lunches... to today where the schools are feeding a large percentage of students a free lunch, free breakfast, a snack or two each day in-between, and even seeing food sent home with students (though I realize this latter is often supplied by a 3rd party or non-profit - for now, until someone decides that too is a “right”).
I have a question - what happened to parents being responsible for feeding their children? Before I exited my former position as a teacher in a public school, I knew of many families who had reasonable jobs, but their kids still qualified for the free/reduced lunch and breakfast program. Strangely enough, I also knew quite a few who “qualified”, but chose to not participate because they had no problem providing meals for their kids - and often those who made such a decision had less income than those who USED the system.
So what gives? Parents who are not parents - but only biological donors, who don’t really care about anything but themselves. Blew my mind to see kids show up to school with $100 shoes, a cell phone (often a “smartphone), parent driving a new vehicle... and lining up for the free meals in the cafeteria... Obviously, the parental mentality is - why should I pay for food if the government is gonna give it for free? Why spend money on necessities, when I can spend it on stuff I want?
But even more heart wrenching- those kids who barely had shoes or clothes, and pretty much never had materials for class - yet their parents were capable of providing...Far too often the “parents” were more concerned with getting liquored-up/stoned/etc. instead of providing for their family.
And I don’t believe anyone here on this board has an objection to helping those who really need help (not the deadbeats). But when did it become the taxpayer’s responsibility to “help” folks along - including those who make more than you do?
What gives is that the agriculture sector and the welfare pimps have been very effective at lobbying Congress. It goes on because parents take the path of least resistance.