Student gets detention for sharing chicken burrito

[Dave]

My god, will common sense ever show its self again? You'd think as humanity ages that it would get smarter but it only seems to get stupider... at least a certain segment of it anyway. If this was like pre-school or early elementary school I could maybe see them clamping down on trading/giving food to friends but when dealing with a teenager, if a kid is going to be allergic to some type of food, it would of likely made its self known by the time the kid was 13. And to go and give the kid detention is just crazy.... give the kid a warning or something maybe but to give him detention is really overstepping the level of punishment.

A 13-year-old California boy was given detention for sharing his lunch with a fellow student who wasn't too thrilled with his school-provided lunch on Sept. 16.

The boy told KRCR, "I just wanted to give mine to him because I wasn't really that hungry."

School superintendent Tom Barnett argued sharing food could be dangerous because of allergy and hygiene-related issues.

Barnett told KRCR, "Because of safety and liability, we cannot allow students to actually exchange meals."

A 13-year-old got detention for sharing his burrito.

But some in the media think the school's policy seems a tad over the top.

HLN anchors said, "If someone has a food allergy, I guess I can understand that –– but hygiene? They're kids. They just want to share with each other."

And as news of this event crossed the country, KMXJ's reporter said, "These boys are 13 years old, I'm sure by now these boys know that if they are allergic to a certain type of food they shouldn't eat that food."

To many, the school's response seems like an overreaction, but what do schools stand to lose in an allergy-related accident? A lot, it seems.

WWJ-TV reports last year a Michigan family sued a school for an alleged lack of accommodation for their 10-year-old who has a peanut allergy.

The case partially centered around the Americans with Disabilities Act, which lists allergies as a disability. Schools bear the burden of making the environment safe and healthy for everyone.

So, it could be argued the school's motivation to separate lunches is reasonable to avoid lengthy and costly lawsuits. But did the boy who shared his lunch deserve to be punished?

His mother told KRCR the school overstepped its bounds, saying: "When it comes to morals and manners and compassion, I believe it needs to start at home with the parent."

The boy has served his detention already but says he would share his lunch again.

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/09/19/student-gets-detention-for-sh...

[XLFD]

Three cheers for the boy who would share his food, even with some ridiculous misconduct policy by the school that would punish someone for doing something as innocent as this.  What is particularly refreshing is that this rebel would dare share his food again even if he was effectively jailed by the school again for the deed. 

Other kids at the school should hold a food-sharing protest to counter the crazy implementation of this policy in this case.

[Willy]

Another way overboard reaction. I read the article about the Michigan parent who is suing the school for not making the entire school system nut free. Now she's a real nut. She wants to change the eating habits of the entire community of children so her child can be safe. My answer to her is "home school" your child if he's in that much danger. People demand that society change to meet their requirements and they are using the legal system to make those changes. I say good for that kid who shared his meal.

 

[AQUAMAN]

Thanks Dave. Used to be a time in this country when generosity and benevolent actions were a virtue. Now stupidity and greed must reign supreme, and also be taught to our youngsters. Since there was no harm done in this case, I can't understand why detention. A quick verbal explanation should have sufficed for a young 13 year old imho. I can remember vividly exchanging or trading my banana for an apple or peach with other students, and we never got in ANY trouble either. The "authoritarian state" is surely taking over nowadays. And for an end result, the boy still stated he would do this again into the future. So what did he actually learn from the punishment? I think the superintendent needs the discipline, give him a month off w/o pay to teach him a lesson! And make him do community service in a soup kitchen to boot...lol.