School Sends Letter Home To Parents Stating That Each Student Is Required To Bring In Food To Participate In Class Party
"It's not hard to buy a bag of meatballs or some wings."
Liderina | Shutterstock A mother is calling foul on her child's school over their ludicrous policy regarding class parties. Lady Law took to TikTok after she received a letter from her child’s teacher demanding that every student contribute food for their upcoming class party. If they didn't, participation would be revoked.
In fact, the letter explicitly stated that if parents did not send food, their child would spend the entire class party “in the corner.”
The school sent a letter home to parents requiring them to send in food for a class party or else their child would not be allowed to participate.
If you’re a parent, you likely roll your eyes every time you get a school missive, hoping you're not getting called out to participate in a project you have very little time to complete. However, now you might want to start crossing your fingers that your child never comes home with a letter like Lady Law shared in a recent TikTok video.
“Dear parents, we have an upcoming class party, and each student is required to bring something to participate,” the letter read.“Students must bring FOOD, not irrelevant things like plates, forks etc. If your child does not bring anything, your child will sit in the corner during the party. It’s not hard to buy a bag of meatballs or some wings.” Ummm.... that seems extreme! “Thank you for your cooperation, let’s continue to have a wonderful school year!”
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The letter stirred up outrage from parents, many of them claiming they would simply keep their child home from school the day of the class party.
“There’s no way I’d be able to respond kindly to that. No child should be left out of anything school related. Some parents can’t afford food for themselves let alone an entire class,” one TikTok user commented. “I would send this to the superintendent,” another suggested.
Other viewers revealed that their own schools implemented similar rules when they were students, and they still remember the dreadful feeling of being excluded from eating and chatting with the rest of their classmates.
Understandably, the teacher was likely trying to ensure the kids had a wonderful party while simultaneously trying to avoid fronting the bulk of the costs for the celebration. However, the message certainly got lost in translation because it was both accusatory and exclusionary — neither of which has a place in a public school.
Many families are struggling to make ends meet, and additional expenses are much more 'difficult' to secure than the letter would have you believe.
Despite the school’s claims that buying food for the class “isn’t that hard,” many parents felt quite the opposite since it is hard enough to provide food for their own families. According to data from the Census Bureau, the average American family spends $270 on groceries per week (and we can guarantee most families do not have as many members as the average classroom does!)
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Buying even one extra platter of wings or a few bags of chips is not always feasible, but that should not preclude a child from participating with their peers. Unless all students can be included, regardless of whether their parents provide food for the entire class, class parties should be considered a thing of the past.
It is hard enough to send just one child to school with a meal. It shouldn’t be up to parents to feed the rest of their classmates.
Megan Quinn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.