Sharing is a Good Thing, Right?
Once upon a time, it was considered good, and moral, and right to teach our children to share. If our child saw another child doing without, and shared what he or she had with that child, it was praised, rewarded, or definitely not frowned upon. Sadly, it seems that those days are gone…at least at Weaverville, Elementary in California. That’s where thirteen year old Kyle Bradford ended up in detention…for sharing his lunch with another hungry student.
Punished for Sharing a Burrito
According to a report from USA Today, Kyle simply shared his chicken burrito with a friend who only had a cheese sandwich for lunch. Although Kyle’s lunch was prepared by the school, he had purchased the lunch himself. Unfortunately for Kyle, school rules say that a student is not allowed to share their lunch with other students, eve if they had paid for it.
It Would Have Been Garbage
As Mad World News explains, Kyle simply felt that giving his lunch to the other student was the right thing to do, since it would have otherwise just been placed in the trash. Kyle stated, “It seemed like he couldn’t get a normal lunch so I just wanted to give mine to him because I wasn’t really that hungry and it was just going to go in the garbage if I didn’t eat it.”
Hygiene and Allergy Issues
Mad World also shared, “The Trinity Alps Unified School District has a policy against students sharing their food. The district is apparently worried about allergies that students may have to certain meals, and they’re also concerned with hygiene issues.” School Superintendent Tom Barnett was quoted as saying, “We have a policy that prohibits students from exchanging meals. Of course if students are concerned about other students not having enough to eat we would definitely want to consider that, but because of safety and liability we cannot allow students to actually exchange meals.” Many suspect that it is more about the school’s fear of being sued.
Negative Teaching?
Kyle’s mother is completely against the message that the incident is teaching her child and other students. She feels that the school had no right to punish her son for doing the right thing. “By all means the school can teach them math and the arithmetic and physical education, but when it comes to morals and manners and compassion, I believe it needs to start at home with the parent,” she stated. Fortunately, Kyle will not let the fact that he was punished stop him from helping others. In fact, he said that despite the incident, he would still share his lunch again with anyone he saw in need.
Was the school wrong to punish Kyle? Are we teaching kids not to share, or are hygiene and allergies real concerns? Was detention necessary, or perhaps some other form of punishment?” Answers welcome in the comments section below.