This post is in response to; Ms. Murken's post entitled Childhood Hunger. In her post she talks about the new national initiative called Share our Strength which our great state has adopted and re-named the No Kid Hungry Campaign. I know the name could be a little more original, I am not sure who they hire to come up with the names of these programs but they sure could use a little sprucing up.
The "meat and potatoes" of the plan (no pun intended) is this; that there are too many hungry children in our state and nation and we plan on providing free breakfasts for them as well as after school snacks and meals in the summers and breaks in order to try and increase their level of “food security” I applaud their efforts however misplaced I feel them to be. I was one of the recipients of the original "Free School Lunches" program launched by former President Clinton. I am thankful to have had it however, I am not sure if I agree with the way it is implemented.
This is because I believe in the "teach people to fish" school of thought and not necessarily the “give them the fish" school.
I tend to believe the problem of childhood hunger is just a symptom of a much greater and graver illness in our state and nation. The sickness of too many children being born into under educated, under prepared households, of chronic joblessness and non-self reliance. These problems are like a cancer eating away at our very health as a nation. The clear result of which is the number of hungry children in our nation.
This does not mean I do not support making sure that these children have something nutritious to eat. I do in fact, but it is only putting a band-aid on the bleeding ulcer that needs the real attention. We need to be proactive in the fight by taking preventative measures of ensuring that our education system is working and not just failing the less fortunate by allowing them to drop out and have children they shouldn’t especially when they do not have a job or a way to support the children. It is not only a disservice to the person we are allowing to drop-out but their children as well and society as a whole because we all end up paying to raise their children with programs like this.
I feel we really need to improve our job market domestically to give under-educated persons more of a chance at making a living instead of just throwing welfare at them. I understand everyone makes decisions in life and sometimes we live to regret these decisions for instance, the decision to drop out of high school is a personal decision and I'm sure it’s one that most who make it come to regret (I know I did) when they realize their prospects of employment are severely limited for the rest of their lives barring good-fortune and a whole lot of hard work and effort to overcome the bad decision they made as a teen-ager.
As far as the government program is concerned if we devoted some of these resources to vocational services for the children’s parents who are either un-employed or under-employed they may be able to better themselves and their children in turn.
Overall I feel Ms. Murken had a very upbeat and idealistic view on the situation, especially the part about the program possibly increasing the number of kids enrolling in College. Her view strikes me as being overly optimistic to say the least, there are kids who will go to College and those who won't. Income level has a lot to do with it but not everything; I know plenty of rich kids that feel College is just not right for them. Just like a lot of poor kids think the same. Those who understand the importance of College will inevitably seek out a higher education even if they take a non-traditional path there (like me). Bottom line is this though we need jobs and personal responsibility in this country now! If we had more of these two things there would be much, much less hungry children out there.
Sincerely, Rider on the Storm
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