"Education policy in the United States has taken a turn in a new direction, and anyone with a stake in public education should celebrate this. Policymakers increasingly recognize that stresses related to student poverty—hunger, chronic illness, and, in too many cases, trauma—are the key barriers to teaching and learning." (Helen Ladd) It saddens me to think about 25% of the United States children are living in poverty or are homeless.
Relevance: It is our duty as teachers to provide a healthy, safe, friendly environment for the students to be ready to learn. They are not coming to school prepared to learn if their bellies are empty. I am a huge advocate for FREE, HEALTHY lunches for all children when in school. It should be a law! We provide free education. Why not free food for children. I hope that every teacher stands up, and gets involved politically to fight for free, and healthy food for student.
Date: 5/11/2016
Author: Helen Ladd
This is all so true. So many children come to school suffering from hunger, trauma, no sleep, etc. It makes such a huge difference in their presence in the classroom and their ability to function and carry out healthy, productive relationships. We have free breakfast and lunch for all students in the district I work in and it's phenomenal. A lot of the kids on my caseload come from poverty and less fortunate situations and they all get to come into school and get breakfast and lunch and get the nourishment they need to function and pay attention and maintain a happy disposition. I believe all kids should have the same opportunity.
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