Recently, the government accepted a policy that would result in a cut to funding for Free School Meals. The cut came as a shock to many, with children being the victims of the policy. While this may not affect us individually, it will undoubtedly affect those who benefit from this provision. It is likely that we know someone who may purchase lunches from school through this policy, the cuts will lead to stricter eligibility criteria as schools will have less funds to accommodate all students who may need this provision. Unfortunately, many students will not be able to benefit from this policy anymore and in a society where we expect the best from our government in terms of childcare, where we hope to combat poverty, we are disappointed to see children suffer from this cut.
As students, children may be deprived of their lunches. For parents, they will need to earn more to cover the cost of school lunches which is unlikely to happen immediately, instead they will have to make compromises for their children. The concept of Free School Meals is extremely important in a society where education is so valuable, after all, a healthy meal leads to healthy, alert minds that will perform better in exams and at school in general. Overall, the policy was disappointing, and may affect many people around us. Just because it doesn't affect us directly does not mean we should be ignorant of its impact. Instead, we should become politically aware at a young age in order to determine our futures.
