How can this happen in Australia in 2024?
According to the ABC, 1.3 million Australian children live with food insecurity. Going to school hungry is detrimental to a child’s learning. Fortunately, one school is combatting this.
Alexandra Hills State School, Queensland teamed up with not – for – profit, Eat Up to provide students with a free lunch.
Principal, Scott Ward explained the program as:
[It’s] really a vehicle for the kids to know that we care and that our community cares about them, no matter what, whether they can afford food or they can’t.
(‘Children experiencing food insecurity can face challenges at school. Some groups and principals are changing that’. Stephanie Felsina, ABC News, 9 September 2024)
The school is incredibly humble and wants their students to ask for food without shame:
I think the most important thing for us is we don’t make a big deal of it, because we want our kids to know that they can come to a staff member without shame.
Food insecurity leads to absenteeism
A few months ago, ABC’s Four Corners raised alarm about children being too anxious to go to school.
Living with food insecurity is a common reason for children not attending school.
In 2018, Foodbank revealed that one in three parents lived with food insecurity. When parents struggle with finances, essentials are sacrificed. It’s food vs rent. Or electricity bill vs school expenses.
Heartbreakingly, children who live in poverty face bullying when they do go to school. Parents also told Foodbank they realised mood and behavioural changes in their children due to hunger.
Conversely, founder of Eat Up, Lyndon Galea has seen an increase of attendance since partnering with Alexandra Hill School.
Schools also reached out to other charities, such as Y (formerly YMCA), to help provide food for students. Like Mr. Ward, Y aims to destigmatise children reaching out when in need.
Touching stories exposes national shame
Alexandra High Schol and charities should be commended for providing food to hungry children. However, it exposes a national shame.
The media in Australia is flooded with reports of the cost of living crisis. There have also been reports of major supermarkets, most infamously, Woolworths, being condemned for falsely advertising ‘specials’. Social media users exposed the supermarket giant for price gouging and exploiting the cost of living crisis.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has launched legal action against Woolworths and Coles, accusing them of raising prices and falsely promoting them as specials.
It’s disgusting how supermarket giants, power companies and, ultimately the Australian Government has created this situation. It’s disgusting that children don’t have the means to have their basic needs met. We’re not talking about a twelve – year – old wanting the latest PlayStation, PARENTS CAN’T AFFORD TO FEED THEIR CHILDREN! It’s such an outrage with plenty of blame to go around.
So, what can be done? Until the Government gets its act together, maybe you can support an Australian charity. The Smith Family directly helps children in poverty attend school.