Advertisement

Mom Is Livid After School Reportedly Stamped Her Son Because He Ran Out of Lunch Money

From Good Housekeeping

A second grader from Phoenix, Arizona, felt humiliated after school staff stamped him with the phrase "lunch money," his mom says. Tara Chavez told Buzzfeed she saw the mark on her son's wrist when she picked him up on Thursday.

A cafeteria employee reportedly stamped the Desert Cove Elementary student to notify his parents of a low account balance. However, she allegedly did it without the child's consent. "My kid's really weird about stuff like that," Chavez said, "so I asked if he was given a choice by the lunch lady and he said, 'No, she just grabbed my wrist and put the stamp on.'"

Chavez, who asked that her son stay anonymous, usually receives a reminder slip instead. The physical mark, however, truly embarrassed her son. "He was screaming and crying the entire time," Chavez said. "He was humiliated, didn't even want me to take a picture of it."

She emailed the school's principal, Stacey Orest, who said employees are supposed to ask students whether they want a stamp or note. However, the incident already went viral after Chavez's friend, Juan Fortenberry, tweeted a picture of it.

The boy normally brought lunch, Fortenberry said, so his mom only added enough money for one day. Not only was the reminder slightly unnecessary, but it can have terrible consequences. "The stamp becomes a point of teasing, per my friend's son," he wrote.

Many commenters remembered similar stamps from their own school years, and how they can shame students who don't have enough money for lunch. "They did this to me growing up in Colorado, too, so it's been around for at least 20 years," one woman wrote. "I was bullied worse for other things, but this didn't help."

Since schools can use emails, phone calls and notes to notify parents, a physical mark (in big, black letters, nonetheless) doesn't seem like the best option. "I think there's a better way to communicate the message than stamping a child with the word 'lunch money,'" Chavez told Buzzfeed. "There's a billion other ways you could do it that would be better than that."

Buzzfeed reached out for a comment from the school but has yet to hear back.

[h/t Scary Mommy]

You Might Also Like