[erkelly]

My mother was a teacher, began teaching during WW2. She was horrified at the thought of a child in her classroom ever going hungry, and she would always pay for any child's meal and/or milk break. She said it happened because the parents had no money, or it because the child lost her lunch money or forgot it. If it was the latter, a sheep-faced parent would show up and reimburse her. If the former, she would usually get a thank you note. She said all of her colleagues always felt the same way. How things have changed!

[HiTech RedNeck]

Parents have become distanced from kids and the social norms have encouraged, not discouraged this.

[radiohead]

My mother taught in an inner city elementary school. She had a student who came to school in worn clothing, dirty, etc. It was so bad, my mother decided to take over some clothes that my sister and I could do without. Being by herself, she was afraid to go up into the girl’s apartment in the projects and asked the girl to get her father to come down and pick up the clothes.

‘Dad’ showed up wearing a full length fur coat.