Alabama has now joined the rest of the country in having coronavirus cases finally confirmed in the state.
Because of this, we are now starting to shut things down.
The schools are all set to close this week, and we can all agree this is acceptable and that we knew it was coming.
Why wait? Some school districts decided not to.
Every time the schools close for any reason we start to hear the same thing: “What about the kids who rely on the schools for food?”
The implication, of course, is that the children who eat free and reduced lunch at Alabama’s public schools will now go hungry when these schools close.
You don’t want kids to starve, do you? Of course not.
The United States Department of Agriculture says the schools can keep feeding them.
This will allow schools to continue to feed students even though schools are closed. It will be up to individual school systems to determine if and how they will administer the student feeding.
— Robert Aderholt (@Robert_Aderholt) March 15, 2020
I have no doubt that there are children in our state that are not receiving the appropriate nourishment at home, and the lunch programs help them both at school and in their lives.
Are we really helping these kids?
What do these kids do on the weekend? During Spring/Fall Break? During the summer?
Starve? Obviously not.
Yes, I know that there are programs that send food home, and I know there are summer feeding programs, as well.
This is a very sad reality, and most of us would agree that these kids shouldn’t be punished over these breaks because their parents are unable or unwilling to feed their children
But, and this is important, why are we not identifying these parents that aren’t feeding their kids?
If a child is not eating every day, the parents are guilty of neglect. Period.
Alabama law requires these parents to be reported:
(a) All hospitals, clinics, sanitariums, doctors,
physicians, surgeons, medical examiners, coroners,
dentists, osteopaths, optometrists, chiropractors,
podiatrists, nurses, school teachers and officials,
peace officers, law enforcement officials,
pharmacists, social workers, day care workers or
employees, mental health professionals, members
of the clergy as defined in Rule 505 of the Alabama
Rules of Evidence, or any other person called upon
to render aid or medical assistance to any child,
when the child is known or suspected to be a
victim of child abuse or neglect, shall be required to
report, or cause a report to be made of the same,
orally, either by telephone or direct communication
immediately, followed by a written report, to a
duly constituted authority.
This is unambiguous.
Feed these kids? Yes, absolutely. But getting parents to act correctly would also have a great impact on these kids’ lives. We should demand more from these parents.
If the scale of this problem is as large as we are told, it is time for these teachers, administrators, law enforcement and district attorneys to do their jobs.
If we are truly relying on school districts to feed these children, we need to rely on them to actually protect these kids.
We need to look at expanding the school year to ensure these children are eating proper meals.
We should also get these children into these schools at the age of three or younger because their parents are generally failing them. Getting their kids away from them is for the good of society.
If this is a pandemic of child hunger, we should demand the authorities take note and take action.
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.
