Posted on 10/11/2007 7:15:55 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner
MAHWAH, N.J. (CBS) ― Bergen County parents are floored by a new school lunch policy. Their children were forced to eat their lunch on the floor.
Mahwah School Superintendent Charles Montesano won't let CBS 2 HD in his high school, specifically anywhere near the floors inside. Yet, that's exactly where students have been eating their lunch.
That's right. Nearly 1,000 students attend classes at Mahwah High School daily, and at lunchtime, a good majority of them are on the floor, as seen in pictures obtained exclusively by CBS 2 HD.
(snip)
Renowned microbiologist Dr. Philip Tierno warns 80 percent of all infectious diseases are spread through contact. So when a child touches the floor to sit, then touches a sandwich, whatever is on the floor can then be ingested.
"I would categorize it as stupid," Tierno said. "I would characterize it as primitive, and the scourge of third world countries.
(snip)
Even the local health department decries eating on the floor. In a letter they sent to the school, they call the practice, "very unsanitary." Yet in order for Mahwah High School to lengthen its teaching time, they opted to push all 1,000 students through a single, 43-minute lunch period.
"This allows teachers to go into greater depth in their discussions," Superintendent Montesano said.
The school would not release their own specific results from bacterial swab tests, but a parent forwarded those results sent home Wednesday, confirming the presence of dangerous pathogens like E. coli and enterococcus found in feces.
Since our interview, the school says it forbids the floor dining, opting instead for gym bleachers and other seating.
(Excerpt) Read more at wcbstv.com ...
Wouldn’t it be better to allow the students to get lunch and take it back to their desks? Or to set up tables outside?
Dana Carvey had a serious heart problem, had to get surgery, and they botched it, and he almost died. Then he had to get another heart surgery right away. He convalesced for a long time. At least that’s how I remember it.
Wow! Thanks for the info. Hope he’s doing OK now.
My friend owns a restaurant in that town, and I can personally attest to the fact that the health inspector’s office there is quite efficient. I’m surprised the school got away with this for so long.
There is a lesson here, for these students, if they choose to accept it. There are far worse things in this world than occasionally eating off the floor.
Well, not eating off the floor like my dog’s do, but eating while sitting on the floor.
Thanks...
or, the kids could look at it as good training for becoming “snake eaters”...
Freep On.
(At least we didn’t lose to Stanford)
I LOL’D
^_^
Boo Hoo... have to sit on the floor. Tell them to join the Army like me and you’ll be happy to eat in the rain and in the mud sometimes.
Good Lord, how on earth does making them eat at once "lengthen teaching time"? If 500 kids take 43 minutes to eat, then go to class whn the next 500 students take 43 minutes out of their daily schedule to eat... how exactly is any teaching time "lost"???? It's 43 minutes, either way!
*sigh*
Morons.
lol.... You are so smug its funny. You must be soooo flexible, dexterous, and physically marvelous.... There, feel better? I guess it hadn't occurred to you that most kids couldn't care less about whether or not they touch the floor with their hands. It's easier for them to do so, so they will, and just because you used to sit on the floor to eat doesn't make it smart or healthy. People used to drive around without seat belts or car seats for children too. That doesn't make the practice safe or smart.
er no..... they are saying that there aren’t enough tables for 1000 students to eat at, all at the same time.
“Wow! Thanks for the info. Hope he’s doing OK now.”
he was on Leno last night. He seemed fine.
Frankly, I think the parents are more concerned about it, than the kids. I suppose if we want to teach our children that the world is a dirty uncomfortable place and they are lucky to have it as well as they do, not a bad lesson to learn BTW, then their might be better ways to teach it.
OTOH, Most people would look at how much they pay for property taxes and think, “With all the money I give them, why does my kid have to sit on the floor to eat lunch?” Seems stupid, but not any more stupid than most of the policies of public schools.
I think the problems with public schools can be summed up with the observation that they are administered by idiots with room temperature IQ’s.
Did I also mention that I can walk on water? However, it must be bottled water. And a lot of times I lose my balance and fall down if I try to walk on too many bottles at once.
Just teasing. :O)
I guess it helps when you read the whole story.
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