Kids Breakfasts

We’ve heard a bit lately about giving kids a good breakfast at school.  We know how important it is to start the day well fed – it’s not just a brawn thing, it applies to the brain as well.  So this concept is an admirable one.  We want our kids to be in the best state of mind to be able to learn and grow, to become well balanced citizens in later life. 

One can’t help thinking though, as good as this is, is it not just the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff?  Of course we must have the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, otherwise many would be in pretty bad shape.  We must do what we can to those who for whatever reasons, have fallen over the edge of that cliff. 

We now ask the obvious?  Why are our kids turning up at school hungry?  I never did.

A friend of mine (not here) runs courses largely government funded, about Life 101.  Candidates on this course learn the basics of life including personal hygiene, preparing a basic meal and budgeting.  They found that candidates thought doing the washing meant putting the clothes in the bath with some water and stomping on them!  They had no idea about planning, shopping for, preparing and cooking an absolutely basic but good wholesome nutritious and protein filled meal.  They had no concept of prioritising finances, and that things like the latest TV and game program is a lesser priority than the food for the week.  It was no surprise that the children from homes such as these turned up at school starving. 

It seems the things we used to learn from our parents, often our mother or grandmother, are not being learned these days.  Basic life skills that set one up to be able to live and be a good citizen and contribute to society rather than be a drain on it.  Perhaps we as society (which by the way includes the church) needs to look at ways in which these skills can be passed to a young generation.  Because as they say prevention is better than cure (and it usually costs less too).