Public school lunches have been provided for students in America since 1946. These lunches were initially aimed at making sure America’s future soldiers were nutritionally fit. They were designed to be both affordable and fulfilling to the children’s needs.
When the National School Lunch Act was passed, it demanded that all public schools in the country provide lunch at a reasonable cost for all students attending. In the following years, programs like the School Breakfast or Special Milk organizations, both of which were aimed at adding to students’ nutrition, expanded the offerings.
The National School Lunch Program was instituted by President Truman to ensure all growing citizens of the country were provided with proper nutrients from agricultural farms across the country. It has since been amended many times over the years to fit the needs of students. However, it has never been changed to allow tax dollars to provide free meals to all students in all schools.
Even with all of these programs and their good intentions for students’ well being, other countries do it better. Nations like Sweden and France provide hot breakfast and lunch for free–on real dishes– to all public school students.
These countries see lunch and breakfast as not only a break from the stress and exhaustion of school but also a chance to become revitalized. They see meal times as advantageous because they create connections between students, by giving them time to communicate during this down time.
I think America could benefit from changing our school lunch system to resemble these, for many reasons. One of the reasons being, it would make schools feel more homey, especially at lunch time.
Many students in America feel rushed at lunch time. If schools took an approach like these other countries do, children would accept the time period as more of a break and not a time period before they have to quickly get to the next class.
Another reason is because their food is much more nutritious for the children. Even though there are laws and programs here that mandate regulations are met, corners are often cut at the cost of children’s nutrition suffering. Compared to French school meals, the food American children are receiving on a daily basis, is a joke.
Nutrition is a key factor in education. If a student is not receiving the proper nutrition they are more likely to not learn as efficiently, not be motivated, and not be in control of their emotions.
Students who don’t eat regularly or have poor nutrition are more apt to have behavior issues in school, as well as have poorer grades, attendance and even lower graduation rates, as compared to students who receive proper nutrition daily. Children who are properly fed not only live longer, but are more willing to learn as well.
If schools provided lunches for free, many difficulties within the school day would be overcome. Less children would have behavioral problems, so the focus of teachers would be on teaching the students. More children would be willing and ready to learn, which helps them retain information and helps teachers retain their patience throughout the day.
Students would also be more motivated to come to school with the promise of a free meal that they might not even receive at home. Overall, everyone involved would benefit from the government providing free lunches to schools.
I think that it is important that schools, and the governments in charge of those schools, provide lunches to the students that attend these schools free of charge. If this does not happen, students who do not have the resources to bring their own lunch will suffer mentally and physically.
If students are suffering in any way, the schools are not doing what they were created to do. The students fall short everyday when a student goes hungry and fails a test, or falls asleep in class. Schools were created to educate America’s future, as well as provide a safe place for children during the day.
If students cannot afford food, they are not going to learn and they are not being properly cared for. So both of the main targets for schools have been missed. This would be solved if lunches were provided for free.
Many people will say that parents could just ask for accommodations for their child. However, this alternative comes with many conflicts. It can be extremely embarrassing for a parent to sign up for free or lower cost meals for their child, it tells them they cannot afford for their child to eat. This solution can also affect the student.
According to the Anti-Bullying Alliance, children who are known to be in poverty by their peers are at higher risk of being bullied. This can include taunt. So, not only do schools not provide free lunches for students in need deprive them of proper nutrition, but it also puts them at risk for mental or even physical abuse by their peers.
The government and school system should prioritize the health and safety of their students over anything else. This means using tax dollars the parents of these students must pay, to give back to their children in the form of free meals.
If lunches and other meals are being provided with tax dollars free of cost to the students and their families, less food is bought at home. This means that those families will be able to become more economically stable and able to support their children.
By making meals provided at schools free for everyone, every party involved would benefit. The parents would be relieved of the stress of providing for their children. All children would have food provided to them and not have to worry about bullying. The government and school system would take another step closer to achieving their initial goal of having a more educated society, because healthy and not hungry kids are better at learning.
I think that providing free meals to all students in the country is important for many reasons. One of which being it is a good use of tax dollars. This is because it is providing for human beings in a way that they cannot live without, and many children are currently living without nutritious or any meals at all.
Another reason is that it would lessen the amount of bad behavior in schools. When a child isn’t nutritionally stable or going hungry, it is much more likely that they will act out in class or have behavioral issues.
Finally, the country as a whole would benefit because if children are properly taken care of they will learn better and therefore be more ready to go out into the world educated and ready to make it a better place
