School's out! (Almost) - Episode 22 Encore n2j3u

Welcome to an encore episode of Parenting Bytes! We couldn't get our schedules together to record this week, so we reached deep into the archives (I mean, this was all the way back when Amy Ever After was Selfish Mom!). This episode first aired four years ago, and I can't believe how current it seems (well, except for the very end--are you still as enthusiastic about a Biden presidential run, Rebecca?). One link, an article I wrote for the now-defunct Lifetime Moms website, no longer exists. And one has been updated: lunch is now free for all NYC public school kids, not just middle schoolers as we discussed in the segment about school lunch debt! Everything else in the school shaming segment is still, sadly, relevant. Schools are still finding ways to embarrass kids for being poor, and it's disgusting. What is lunch shaming? School lunch shaming is when a school punishes students because their parents are behind in their school lunch payments. Sometimes the school will deny the student the normal hot lunch that everyone else is getting, and instead give them a cheaper bagged lunch, what we call the cheese sandwich of shame. Other times, they will simply deny the child food, which should be illegal. We go into it in the episode, and it's infuriating. And then, there's the whole other issue of policing what parents are packing in their kids' lunches, and shaming them for that, sometimes even throwing out food! But on a happier note, it's also time to give teacher gifts here in NYC! We realize that for many of you, the school year is over, and we think that's just crazy, because we still have just shy of four weeks to go. We've got some unique ideas for personalized teacher gifts, themed teacher gift baskets, and of course some inexpensive thank you gift ideas, because all of this end-of-the-year stuff can get expensive! We also recognize that presents for teachers can be a sticky subject in some schools, depending on what the gift-giving rules are, so we also have some advice on how to give a class gift in the fairest way possible.  And for those of you who are done and already enjoying summer break? Just tuck these links away for next year, because if they're still good links four years later, you can bet they'll still be good in five! Subscribe! Have you subscribed to Parenting Bytes in iTunes? Never miss an episode! Are you following us on Facebook? It's a great way to see what we're reading (including articles that might show up in future episodes), ask us questions, and give us . Find us on Twitter for all the latest family tech news! Links and Transcript You can go to the Parenting Bytes website for all of the links we talk about, plus an interactive transcript of the entire episode. 113v1r