Aargh!

Just saw this on the BBC website:

Summary:

"Pupils at a South Yorkshire school are being fed fish and chips
through the gates by parents who say the canteen is not providing what
their children want.
Students at Rawmarsh Comprehensive are not allowed out of the grounds
at lunchtime, so some parents are taking their orders for the chip shop
instead. "

PattyMomVA...

I really don't understand this. Aren't parents allowed on school grounds?
This handing food through the fence just seems odd. At my children's

hschinske...

It reminded me instantly of a funny story a Yorkshireman I once met
told me ... he mentioned that his mother had breastfed him to some
advanced age, and insisted that she had "coom t'school and put it
through railin' ."

hemulen27...

lol - I'll go to the foot of our stairs!

elementary school, I can go into the main office to sign in, then walk down
to the cafeteria and bring my child whatever s/he wants to eat for lunch. I
haven't done so, but I could bring fast food for something different one
day.

The other thing I don't understand is whether these families have the option
of packing a lunch for their kids. We do, and there have never been any
restrictions on what can be part of a lunch that's brought in.

hemulen27...

To be fair, I did wonder about this myself but the story doesn't
actually say the school forbids packed lunches and it would be a rare
school in Britain that stopped kids bringing their own lunches, so I
suspect it's just a publicity stunt on the part of the parents. I also
doubt a school could legally forbid a parent from coming into the
school if they really wanted to, but I bet these parents didn't want to
go down the official route of asking permission because they don't
actually want to have to bring fish and chips in for their little
darlings every day - they just want the school to relax the ban so that
their kids can go to the chippie themselves.

TBH, it's not the fact that the parents disagree with the rules that
annoys me - it's the way they're blatantly helping their kids to flout
them. IMHO, if you don't like a rule, you should campaign to change it
or move your kids somewhere else but undermining the school's authority
in this way seems irresponsible to me - if you really want your kids to
eat junk food, take them to the chip shop or McDonald's on the way
home...

-Patty, mom of 1+2

Do these parents really believe this is the best outlet for their
energy?

As background for those not in the UK - there has recently been a big
backlash against poor-quality food being served in school canteens,
meaning that real junk food, such as pre-formed chicken shapes, is no
longer being served for lunch and chips (fries) are on the menu much
less often than before.