Even the tatties have batter

Kait Laughlin

"Children have the right to 'a standard of living adequate for physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development'."

Article 27 of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child

"Mummy when will you be getting paid for your work again?" "I'm not sure, why Sean?"

"So that we don't have to be 'on a ticket: I like paying for my dinner"

"Who says you're 'on a ticket'?"

"The dinner lady; she lets me go on 'cause she says I'm 'on a ticket'"

This conversation took place between a seven-year-old boy and his mother a few weeks ago. She was surprised, as neither he nor his eight-year-old sister had ever seemed bothered about having free school meals. They regularly complained about the quality and quantity of them, but not the fact they were free.

She knew the day would come when they or their classmates would pick up on the difference, and it seemed that day had arrived. She felt her child's reaction at not only being seen to be different, but also picking up that there was something wrong about being 'on a ticket'. She tried to resist feeling guilty, as if she had failed her children, and to refuse to be drawn into once again feeling how she felt as a child when she experienced similar things.

I should know - I am that mother. I am also a politically aware woman; an unpaid worker with the local anti-poverty group, who has brought her children up to be aware of their rights as well as their responsibilities. But the stigma of free school meals is so strong, so all pervasive and has been around for so long that even we could not escape it.

Swipe cards and stigma

'Swipe' cards which are used a bit like Switch cards have been put forward as a solution to stigma: with money 'pre-paid' into each one, which is meant to make everyone seem the same and so do away with the stigma. However, children are still aware of differences:

"They are better than what we had before, but it doesn't change much because if your family's got money, then they've got more cash on it. We can still tell who doesn't have much."

Megan, age 13

Stigma is the reason why so many children do not take free school meals they are entitled to, (around one third of those secondary children who are entitled do not take them).

Universal free school meals would remove stigma in one fell swoop

Children would no longer feel part of a two-tier system, where those whose families struggle to clothe them adequately, to keep decent shoes on their feet, and to do everything possible to ensure that they are not singled out for being poor, find that when they go to the school dinner hall that is exactly what happens.

Children would no longer do without their school meal in order to avoid the stigma. Instead a school dinner would be seen as a normal, integral part of the day for everyone, just like lessons, like gym and like playtime.

It will improve children's health and therefore their health as adults

There is no point in giving every child a free school meal if it’s nutritionally junk. In 1998 it was estimated that one in four of Scotland's children do not go home to a hot meal in the evening. For those children in particular, their school dinner may be the only 'proper' meal they have all day. Anything that increases the numbers of children eating at least one good, hot nutritionally balanced meal a day, could have substantial effects on the health of the poorest children in our society. Nutritional standards backed up by legislation must be part of this campaign.

Sharing the cost of children

When we talk to adults about universal free school meals, the most common question asked is 'Why should rich kids get it too? What about the family that's earning enough money?' Many of those who take this critical stance are happy with the system of universal child benefit. They understand how beneficial this has been, and how the fact that everyone gets it, regardless of income is crucial to its almost 100 per cent uptake. The issue should be ' Will it help those who are in need to get what they need?' Even in cases where family income is relatively high, this does not always make its way to the children. The person who is the main carer for the children is not always the person who has control of the finances. Universal free school meals would target children's needs directly.

We feel that all our society should be 'sharing the cost of children'. Children's health and well being should be everyone's concern, and society as a whole has an interest in, and should be prepared to invest in the future of Scottish children. This is already accepted in terms of free education and health. We would like to see children's nutritional needs treated in the same way, and occupying the same place in our culture, as they are no less important.

Children's Rights

This is about children's rights. Not adults' rights, not schools' rights, but the right of children to be fed adequately without fear of discrimination, stigma or lack of financial resources or parental concern. We believe the same arguments apply here as have already been accepted for child benefit. It works. Give the resources as directly as possible to where they are needed. Feed the children.

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