As mentioned previously, I lead a class for fourth, fifth and six graders at the First Unitarian Church in South Bend. Last session was on the subject of alternate school lunches – a program introduced to us by our own friendly fake consultant. My original idea was to have the students divide into teams and debate the practice in the usual pro/con way.
It didn’t work – at least not in the way I’d envisioned it.
One difficulty with this class is that I never know who will attend. It is common to have a face I’ve never seen before in a given session, even though we’re more than halfway through the program year. Adding to that, I typically alternate sessions with another teacher.
The children are all quite smart, but their temperaments and ability to focus vary wildly.
Armed with this information I’m sure you can appreciate that each class is a step into the unknown. It is rare for us to have anything like a “breakout session” for an entire class, but we have had many moments here and there that are pretty cool.
Back to lunch. In my class of five (this time, classes have varied from 3 - 9), two of the more vocal boys agreed to argue in favor. The lone girl in the class took the other side. The other two boys constituted about half a person (together) in terms of their contributions – though what there were was in opposition.
I had each of them read a paragraph of the section where fake (quoting a California newspaper) described the program in practice. Interestingly, everyone focused and was respectful of each other and the least focused boy turned out to be an excellent reader.
I had wanted the teams to work on group arguments (albeit small), but that wasn’t going to happen. So we altered plans a bit and had a roundtable discussion – that actually went pretty well.
The arguments went pretty much the way you’d expect from adults – including some of dubious value. Supporters touted the practice as an effective approach to collect from recalcitrant parents. Detractors focused on the humiliation factor (I got to define ostracize for them). The moderator (me) tossed in the observation that the people being punished weren’t the ones committing the “crime”. This led us into a discussion about coercion.
The lads arguing in support were mostly playing devil’s advocate – a role they each relish, but it’s interesting to watch them start to buy in to their own arguments a bit. And as far as I’m concerned, they made about as good an argument as can be made for this program. The girl in opposition did equally well – though it must be conceded she had the easier side of it. In sum, it’s pretty clear that people this age can do as well or better than many grown-ups in terms of critical thinking.
Obviously, these are the Kennedy Academy type students. These young people do not attend the Other School System.
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After this meeting, I had a conversation with someone involved with one of our local charter schools, who said that school's formal policy provided for the alternate meal concept - in this case, the too popular peanut butter sandwich. She said that as far as she knew, it had never been put into practice.
Since this is a public school, it seems reasonable to infer that the alternate meal program is the formal policy of the South Bend Community School Corporation. [sigh...]
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Turned out to be a quick project. Here's the South Bend Community School Corporation's policy:
"No Charging" Procedure
We don't allow children to charge meals, extra food, or ala carte items, so prepayment is a great option. For those students who do not have money in their account or do not bring money to pay for that day's meal the following system was put into effect in 1995:DAY 1 -
Inform student meal account is low or 0 $, note sent home.DAY 2 -
Peanut Butter & Jelly or Cheese Sandwich MEAL served and note sent home.DAY 3 -
PB&J or Cheese Sandwich MEAL served, note and phone call to guardian also get assistance from Principal.DAY 4 -
PB&J or Cheese Sandwich MEAL servedDAY 5 -
No meal served without money.If you have any questions regarding prepayments or the "no charging" procedure, please contact our office at 283-8094.
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Now it's your turn, grownups. What do you think of this? Embarassing the kids is merely a transition phase here. If we refuse to feed them, that might even work better!
3 comments:
Another fine mess you've gotten me into, fc.
what i found interesting is that no one suggested simply not seving anything to the student with no balance in the account and no cash.
i would also be curious as to whether the kids were personally aware of others who had been placed in this position, and what effet that has had on their thinking.
finally, if this were not sunday school and an examination of morality, but instead a "traditional" class, i would have loved to open a discussion about the national security aspect of the school lunch program...which presumably would lead to a conversation about how better nutritiion makes a healthier, stronger, society...which could then lead to a discussion about the "haves" and "have-nots" of the world...which, i suppose, then becomes an examination of comparitive morality...which probably makes the discussion taboo in a "traditional" school.
and with that said, i have to go watch "catch-22" again.
I didn't give all the details. It was, in fact suggested. It went something along the lines of if "they" couldn't afford the lunches, they should bring one from home. Many problems here, but a little too complicated to get into with folks of this short life experience.
I should also correct your impression that the concern (of my class) was about morality. The co-teacher is interested in ethics, but my sessions are about philosophy - with a focus on justice issues. Most importantly, thinking in a critical way.
The issues you bring up can't really be dealt with in an occassional 40 minute session and maybe not by kids this young.
It would actually be a lot easier to get something done were I to see the same people every other day (or so).
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