Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have introduced legislation aimed at banning schools from “lunch shaming” students who cannot afford to buy lunch.
Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), Rep Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the legislation in the House, while their Senate colleagues Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced a companion bill in the Senate, the Hill reported.
The legislation makes it illegal for schools to single out children for not having the ability to pay for their lunches on a given day or for carrying outstanding balances on their school lunch accounts.
The bill also outlaws schools from imposing punishments such as making students wear a wristband or hand stamp or forcing them to do tasks such as cleaning cafeteria tables in front of their classmates.
“No student should be humiliated in front of their peers because their parents can’t afford to pay for a meal,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “It is shocking and shameful that this happens to hungry children, but nearly half of all school districts use some form of lunch shaming.”
The legislation also attempts to streamline the application process for free and reduced lunches by making sure schools give applications to needy families, ensure that foster and homeless children get access to free meals, and setting up online payment systems so parents can easily pay for meals online.
“Children who have no ability to pay their debts shouldn’t be shamed, punished at school or even go hungry because their parents can’t pay their school meal bills,” Udall said in a statement.
While legislation to outlaw lunch shaming may be new at the federal level, several states have already outlawed the practice.
New Mexico passed legislation outlawing the practice in April, while Texas and California are also considering laws banning the practice.
The movement against lunch shaming started to gain momentum after a cafeteria worker at a Pennsylvania school quit her job when the school required her to take away a hot lunch from a child because his parent owed more than $25 for his school lunches.