[snip]The program was created to solve a problem that does not exist.It is inconceivable that there are five, let alone 200,000 or the projected 450,000, homes in Los Angeles that cannot afford breakfast for their child. A nutritious breakfast can be had for less than a dollar. For examples, go to WebMD, which lists five "Breakfast Ideas for a Buck."
Even where decent parents are involved, free breakfasts at school weaken the parent-child bond. Hundreds of thousands of parents who are able and happy to provide their child with breakfast have accepted the offer -- because anything free is too enticing for an increasing number of Americans. But what they have done is made the proverbial deal with the devil. They have traded in one of the most fundamental definitions of parenthood -- providing one's children with food -- for a dollar and for a little less work as a parent. As a result, these parents become less of a parent to their children.[snip]
The free breakfast profoundly weakens young people's character. When you grow up learning to depend on the state, you will almost inevitably -- even understandably -- assume that the state will take care of you. And you will grow up also assuming -- as do Europeans, who give far less charity than Americans for this very reason -- that the state will take care of your fellow citizens, including your own children.[snip]
The public employee unions, which govern the state of California and the city of Los Angeles, have demanded that the program be shifted from the classroom to the school cafeterias so as to employ more cafeteria workers.
Food is one of those human basics like health care that government should not be within a million miles of being involved with.
The School Breakfast Program (SBP) was established in 1966 as a two-year pilot project designed to provide categorical grants to assist schools serving breakfasts to "nutritionally needy" children.
ReplyDeleteIn 1975 the program received permanent authorization. As part of the legislation making the SBP permanent, Congress declared its intent that the program "be made available in all schools where it is needed to provide adequate nutrition for children in attendance." Moreover, the legislation continued to emphasize participation by schools in severe need and to provide higher reimbursement to these schools.
Read more at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Breakfast/AboutBFast/ProgHistory.htm
Now, wait a minute. It was started in 66 and supposed to last two years. What was it doing still existing in 75, let alone being made permanent? And what the hell was up with those "nutritionally needy" kids' parents? As Prager says, feeding your kids is about as primary a parental responsibility as there is.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, did it wreak results? I am now conceding that the Great Society wasn't, OK.
ReplyDelete