“Children eating lunch at school” by U.S. Department of Agriculture licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: PBS

The US Agriculture Department is requiring school districts across the country to adopt policies that will help students who incur in unpaid meal debts.

The agency’s officials state that humiliation tactics inflicted by some school lunch employees cause students to forgo meals.

Meal shaming practices, which often include embarrassing a child for not being able to pay for his or her lunch, have been banned in some states, including New Mexico.

Instead, officials are aiming to change legislation in order to allow students to obtain meals at their school regardless of any outstanding balances.

Many schools are working with parents to establish a system in which under-resourced families receive some leniency in paying for their children’s meals.

Read full story at: PBS