[SteveHants]

I can see both sides to this.  Why shouldn't the parents look after their kids properly.  However, if they aren't, the kids are suffering so a little help, goes a long way.

However, are we making it too easy for them to be lax in their parenting?   I wouldn't dream of sending my son to school without breakfast....although I have forgotten to give it to him in the past (very embarrassed), but it wasn't a school day.

It just seems to easy for some part of society nowadays, to be lazy and disinterested.  I think that attitude needs to change overall.

Helen

They should look after their kids properly, but the sad fact is they don't.


I think that there is a probable correlation between the wealth gap between the richest and the poorest and this kind of thing. If you take, say the 60s the wealth gap was narrower than it is today, higher income tax for the wealthy, lots of a former generation had been killed in a war so jobs were plentiful (in fact, we had to import labour) - as an ex miner I spoke to once said; post war, if you couldn't find work here (I was in Pontypridd when I had this conversation) you really didnt want a job. Compare and contrast this with say, the 1920s and today (I think the wealth gap is approximate post wwI and today - although I am prepared to be corrected). High levels of unemployment - it is only a tiny minority of those out of work who don't want to work. Even where there is work, in say a supermarket or a call centre, the minimum wage is not a living wage and it can be immensley frustrating to be working full time and still not have enough money - I've been there, and I guess many give up.


Its a straw man saying 'but today they have sky TV and mobile phones' - you can't eat either of those things, its relatve. In the old days they had pubs, street bookies and gambling dens. Its the 'circus' part of the famous 'bread and circuses'.

[fiestyredhead331]

our schools have a breakfast club and have done for ages but because of the distances our kids have to travel to school they have to leave early in the morning, just after 7am so I'm delighted the kids can grab something to eat when they get in before classes start. plus I think the bus drivers are happier too as they have to go over some pretty bumpy roads so the instances of travel sickness have dropped.

[deepinthewoods]

have you ever thought that it might just be that some parents have NO money?? this country is standing on the brink of serious poverty, it is impossible for 2 adults and 1 child to live on the £115/week they would get on benefit.

this is why the use of foodbanks have soared, whilts osbornes buys his bloody paddock.

[jaykay]

our schools have a breakfast club and have done for ages but because of the distances our kids have to travel to school they have to leave early in the morning, just after 7am

That's the main reason we have a breakfast club. A lot of them (including me  ) are on their second breakfast by the time they get to school. My school is mostly farming folk, so they generally feed their kids 

At previous schools though, the kids might not get breakfast because the parents had already gone out to work, as well as those that had completely feckless parents.

[mojocafa]

Rosemary hit the nail on the head...

Some children get themselves up and dressed and the older sibling takes responsibility for the younger children, making sure they get to school hopefully in time for breakfast. Their parents are probably sleeping off the nights before excesses. Drugs and alcohol dependant parents as well as parents with mental health issues do not prioritise their children and their children's needs. This is why we need breakfast clubs

[deepinthewoods]

how can you possibly compare parents with mental health issues with drug addicts?

that is fundamentally wrong on all levels.

you wouldnt compare a parent with chronic arthritis with a drug addict so why compare someone with a mental illness?

[fiestyredhead331]

how can you possibly compare parents with mental health issues with drug addicts?

that is fundamentally wrong on all levels.

you wouldnt compare a parent with chronic arthritis with a drug addict so why compare someone with a mental illness?

 

we've been discussing this tonight over dinner (all my children fed & watered  ) and with the benefits cap being announced and child benefit being restricted/means tested etc is this what's being used to set up & subsidise the breakfast clubs? seems a case of taking from Peter to pay Paul as my granny used to say 

[happygolucky]

  , its funny that people think just because some people  have a health problem they also have poor parenting skills....a little bit of a generalisation perhaps
Its funny how we all assume things, I remember that Jamie Oliver programme about School dinners and I was shocked, women who worked their had no idea of some foods other than turkey twisters.....I am surprised and have been surprised as I said initially, I worked with all sorts of families, some had no idea what to feed a child and I can think of many many rich and intellectual people who do not really care, they just have the money to give to the children to go off to school so many of them buy snack foods such as chips etc....
Its a bit like anything, it covers all abilities and classes of people, the only people that come off less badly are those with money or nannies, they can dish out dosh whereas, families who are struggling find it very tight indeed.....take a look at the cost of a box of cereal? ? I stopped serving breakfast as I used to spend a fortune to get little profit. 
I think the breakfast club is great on all levels!!
 
I wrote that a bit quickly due to cooking my dinner, but, we all are unaware of reasons others have for how or what they do, generaly the amount of people are equal to the amount of reasons why!!

[mojocafa]

Unfortunately, lifestyle choices and health issues do sometimes mean that parents donot always prioritise their children's basic needs of having breakfast or any meal at that

[deepinthewoods]

you cannot compare a 'lifestyle choice' with an illness.

how much money do you actually think we are talking about, its peanuts!

its a simple equation, the poorest in our society are subsidising the tax breaks for the rich. the disabled, the mentally ill, the people living in deprived areas are having their incomes reduced at a far higher percentage rate than the rich. who are being given 5% back on their income tax.

simple maths. 65/week jsa - 15/week heating 15/week rent contribution, 5/ week (approx) council tax contribution, leaves <5/day for food, transport clothes etc, how is this 'maintaining a lifestyle' i know lots of people without work who want to work, there are NO jobs, none of these people have sky tv no landline etc. its a bloody con, the government has pushed a line of skivers and scroungers which is simply not true. and some on this forum are suckers enough to fall for it from their ivory towers. get a grip, do some research. this is your country, and theirs, do something about it, as i keep bloody saying, write to your mp, lobby the government, the burden of reponsibility is yours.

[deepinthewoods]

here is the actual figures from the government.
just to make it a bit easier...
 
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/fem/nsfr-final-291112.pdf

[happygolucky]

We manage on a small wage, very small on occasions but its only us and the dogs, I look at food costs in the supermarket and wonder how families manage? Meat is very very expensive as is veg and fruit.
I should diet but remember wanting a quick fix while out shopping and thought a punnet of cherries but they were nearly £5 at that time, then, I saw a bumper pack of 12 crisps for £1!! Now when my children were very young I would go to the market to shop for veg and fruit and buy them to nibble on now its cheaper to buy crisps or chips!! whats going on???

[colliewoman]

We think feeding infants from a can or a jar or a packet is normal
We think asthma and eczema are normal
We think ADHD is normal
We think subsituting food for poisons is acceptable
We think poverty is a myth
We think sub par parenting skills are normal


Most terrifying of all is we can't see that any of this is linked 


How can anyone NOT be depressed when this is our world at the moment.
Of course most younger parents can't look after their children properly, they have been systematically lied to about how to look after themselves for the best. Most people in my age group can;t feed themselves without McD's or Subway.
Gaming for hours on end, no socialisation no fresh air.
Kids are even getting RICKETS!!! Vitamin D is synthesised by our bodies with exposure to sunlight. How is it possible that children are not outside for the 20 minutes a day that is all that is needed to produce enough Vit D to prevent it???


 

[deepinthewoods]

and young parents ie below 25 have had their housing benefit capped to approx 60% of their rent. the difference comes out of their jsa, no wonder they cant feed their kids ffs.

[colliewoman]

and young parents ie below 25 have had their housing benefit capped to approx 60% of their rent. the difference comes out of their jsa, no wonder they cant feed their kids ffs.

Oh my gods
The 3 months I claimed JS I got £54 a week, I can live on that because I live in a truck and forage alot of my food. A packet of nappies I have been told is nearly a tenner? so you are down to £44 without eating a crust if you have a lil one not on the pot yet
Most younger people haven't even been taught the skills to be able to begin coping with abudget like that. AFAIK they don't even teach cookery at school anymore.
Our kids (and the children of society are all 'ours') can no more cook than I can wire a house, because neither of us have been taught how to!
What seems obvious to us is a closed book to most, but hey keep em dependant and keep em under control eh?