Kids all over the country have lunch at school, but did you ever imagine what happens when a kid don’t pay for lunch? 6-year-old Anya Howard was told to return her hot lunch after a cafeteria staff found out she didn’t have enough money in her student account to pay for the $2.25 meal.
The latest incident happened in Indiana when kindergartner Anya Howard was forced to walk shamefully to the back of the line when she was informed that she only had one dime left in her lunch account. According to Boston 25 news, Anya was forced to give back her tray of hot food because she did not have the funds to cover the $2.25 lunch.
The six year old later said that it was incredibly embarrassing to be forced to do the walk of shame to the end of the line in order to receive a standard peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Anya said that many of the other classmates were laughing as she had to return her lunch.
“They were laughing at us,” Anya told News 8.
Now Anya’s grandfather, Dwight Howard, is speaking out about the issue. As a former teacher, Dwight said that the district had failed to notify the family that Anya’s lunch account was low.
Kent DeKoninck, Greenwood Community Schools superintendent, stood by the school’s decision to deny Anya a hot lunch. He said that this is standard procedure for a sandwich to be offered to the students with no money in their accounts.
Dwight said that the incident was not handled with discretion and that Anya was humiliated in front of her peers when she was forced to walk to the end of the line.
“When she was talking to me about it, she was more than ‘sad,'” He told News 8, “I mean, that’s embarrassing for a little 6-year-old.”
I think embarrassing a child in any way in front of others is despicable. Sure, giving students alternate meals is a good idea, but to potentially humiliate them in the process? That’s just something I can’t get behind.
Do you think Anya was treated unfairly? Let us know in the comments box below.
