Published in the New Zealand Herald Friday 29 July 2011
Bryan Rudman and writer Hamish Keith are correct .44,000 children going without breakfast is wrong it is an indictment our on our society. In 1937 Newton Central School was the first to have the benefits of free school milk along with other programs and social changes led by the local MP Michael Joseph Savage helped poverty to disappear .
Poverty we now criminalise . We starve children and wonder why they end up in the criminal justice system . Is that so surprising?
Lets continue to fund breakfast into decile one schools and extend it to other schools too.
If we add more support for all children perhaps we can break the cycle that takes these kids on to adult poverty and intergenerational problems. The reintroduction of school milk should not be ruled out . In 1967 when it was abolished New Zealand was more equal society and almost everybody ate breakfast.
If we can bail the foolish rich who invested in South Canterbury Finance then we must have the money to invest in these children .
The Child Poverty group and their perseverance should be congratulated . They are more than our conscience . They keep this appalling situation alive.
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