Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Lunch room shaming is a practice that has recently come under fire in America. When a child’s lunch account balance drops into the negative, the cafeteria workers will mark the child in some way to let the parent know they need money. Some of the ways the workers do this are by stamping a child’s hand with a statement like “I need lunch money”, placing a brightly colored bracelet on the child, or giving them a lunch consisting of only a sandwich and milk. These practices are done in an attempt to collect unpaid lunch debts, however critics say the practice “leaves students stigmatized, embarrassed, shamed, and maybe even hungry” (Knoernschild). These practices have prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees public school lunches, to begin requiring school districts to establish and provide families with a written meal charge policy, which will include how unpaid balances are to be handled to avoid lunch shaming starting on July 1, 2017 (Knoernschild). …show more content…
This article was written to inform the general public about the practice of lunch room shaming, what happens to the children when they owe money, some of the reasons why children have school lunch debts, and how some states, along with the United States Congress, have gotten involved. Heather Long is using her article to bring to light a practice that has been referred to as “barbaric” (Long). The article is a follow-up to an earlier article Heather Long also wrote for CNNMoney entitled “School lunch shaming: Inside America’s hidden debt crisis” on May 10, 2017. This article moved me because I work in a school district and have seen the reactions of children when they are given a “lesser” lunch than their
Lunch room shaming is a practice that has recently come under fire in America. When a child’s lunch account balance drops into the negative, the cafeteria workers will mark the child in some way to let the parent know they need money. Some of the ways the workers do this are by stamping a child’s hand with a statement like “I need lunch money”, placing a brightly colored bracelet on the child, or giving them a lunch consisting of only a sandwich and milk. These practices are done in an attempt to collect unpaid lunch debts, however critics say the practice “leaves students stigmatized, embarrassed, shamed, and maybe even hungry” (Knoernschild). These practices have prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees public school lunches, to begin requiring school districts to establish and provide families with a written meal charge policy, which will include how unpaid balances are to be handled to avoid lunch shaming starting on July 1, 2017 (Knoernschild). …show more content…
This article was written to inform the general public about the practice of lunch room shaming, what happens to the children when they owe money, some of the reasons why children have school lunch debts, and how some states, along with the United States Congress, have gotten involved. Heather Long is using her article to bring to light a practice that has been referred to as “barbaric” (Long). The article is a follow-up to an earlier article Heather Long also wrote for CNNMoney entitled “School lunch shaming: Inside America’s hidden debt crisis” on May 10, 2017. This article moved me because I work in a school district and have seen the reactions of children when they are given a “lesser” lunch than their