...l a DEIS school nearby. We got the 'pack' recently and it includes a lunch option- apparently kids in DEIS schools get free lunch every day, and you pick at the start of the year what sort of sambo/fruit/milk etc that you want on each particular day.
I also know from a family member that some DEIS schools also provide free breakfast clubs (if they can get sponsorship/funds).
So thats 2 of the 3 meals a day provided by school.
(FYI- the DEIS school is aiming for a max of 23 kids per class/teacher...the other school we're in for is looking at 30 to 33 kids per class/teacher)
The family member I mentioned above spent the past year in a DEIS school in West Dublin. Best of facilities, free music classes after school hours, loads of sporting activities, indoor halls etc. They had the breakfast club and free lunches delivered.
They also had homework classes after so the kids weren't home until close to 4 rather than the usual 1.30/2pm.
AND...the teachers took turns to walk the kids home in the evening to certain areas.
I agree. It's a great investment.The measures above for DEIS schools are IMO to be applauded. In the grand scheme of things, this looks like a good spend of taxpayers money.
Fintan O'Toole is rightly angry about child poverty in Ireland in today's Irish Times.
I agree with most of what he says but he doesn't address what is probably the biggest factor; the parents of those children. There is no financial excuse for a child to be hungry. There is no financial excuse for them not to be clean and, most of all, there is no financial excuse for them not to be in school. The solution to poverty is education and facilities and resources for children in socially deprived areas have improved out of all recognition over the last 20 years (and rightly so). There is still more that could be done but the point is that educational outcomes have not improved by a corresponding amount. That is not the fault of teachers or the government or the state or the "right wingers" as Mr. O'Toole deridingly calls those who disagree with him.
Completely agree. No amount of money is going to solve this unless that money is directed towards preventing certain people from having kids in the first place, at least until they have somehow shown they will adhere to the basic norms of a functioning society!
Sweet. Mother. Of. God. You'd be better served in the 1920s and where you could find a place within the Eugenics movement. Who are these "certain" people you feel should have to prove they're a good parent?
That is quite simply an utterly abhorent statement to make.
There is no amount of money that will overcome the damaging influence of parents who just don't care about their children's education and therefore their children's future. The section of society who teaches their children to give up before they start, to screw the system, to not respect the Gardaí or their teachers or to obey the law.
Dammit Purple, I was reading all that thinking, "yes", "exactly", "completely agree", all the while expecting you to outline the solution towards the end of your post!
What you're outlining requires a mindset change in society but quite how you can persuade those who don't believe in education or working within the system to do so is no easy task. Clearly most of us are persuaded by the carrot of better prospects available to children with a good education but there are many who don't believe in or are convinced by this carrot. So do we adopt the stick for these (either by hitting benefits or whatever)? Or do we make a greater effort at persuading that the carrot is worth pursuing? Obviously the latter sounds better but how to we as a society go about that?
Yes, but that's not much good to a child.I'll have a go....
"The best social program is a job"
Ronald Regan.
Yes, but that's not much good to a child.
The issue is how to we equip children with both the skills to do a job and the desire to get one.
Are you talking about the procedures and rules that social workers must work within Leper, or the social workers themselves? I wouldn't be quick to criticise social workers as theirs is one tough and, I'm sure at times upsetting, job. What would you have them do here - remove the children? If so, just how many children can the state support (and lets be honest, the state isn't exactly exemplary in it's record in caring for children is it!)?Our social services must take the blame; God knows, they are being paid enough. The least they can do is their job.
Are you talking about the procedures and rules that social workers must work within Leper, or the social workers themselves? I wouldn't be quick to criticise social workers as theirs is one tough and, I'm sure at times upsetting, job. What would you have them do here - remove the children? If so, just how many children can the state support (and lets be honest, the state isn't exactly exemplary in it's record in caring for children is it!)?
The problem is much, much more complex than simply getting the parents back to work or placing the children in foster homes. First and foremost imho, and I think I'm on the same lines as Delboy in this, the solution should be to discourage couples from having children until they are financially ready to support them. I wouldn't go as far as Delboy in saying we should prevent them from having kids (how on earth would you do that!) but I do think there are ways you could strongly discourage it.
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