Lunchbox shaming in elementary schools needs to end
This form of discrimination at a developmental age can be detrimental to children's self-esteem
One-in-four Canadian parents reported their child has experienced lunchbox shaming. (Pexels)
No kid should feel ashamed because of what they bring to school for lunch. Unfortunately, more than one-in-four Canadian parents have said this is something their kid has experienced, a survey Sistema commissioned and released in August found.
I remember this happening to me many times while I was in elementary school. During Grade 2 or 3, my mom used to pack me our traditional food, which I loved to eat. In school, however, people used to comment on it, saying it wasn’t “normal food.”
I started to believe this commentary because I slowly felt more and more ashamed. This later resulted in no one wanting to sit with me during lunch. It became so repetitive that I’d rather skip my meal than take my food out in class.
Because of this, I told my mom to stop packing me those types of meals for school and replace it with more “western food.” Ever since that period of my life, I have never brought my own traditional food because of what happened in the past and how I was influenced by other classmates to feel ashamed.
Lunchbox shaming is an issue that definitely needs to be brought up in schools because that’s where it all begins. Teachers should explain to everyone that you can’t make fun of other people for their culture, and that everyone should be treated equally. Just because the food they eat doesn’t look like yours doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it.
One way to help combat lunchbox shaming is if schools had lunch programs featuring meals from different countries. Similar to this, schools could organize potlucks dedicated to bringing in cuisines from various countries so everyone can taste foods they aren’t accustomed to.
Teaching students at a young age about different cultures is crucial. It starts with lunchbox shaming, but if children don’t learn, it could turn into further discrimination about others’ heritage and culture. School is supposed to be a safe environment, so no child should ever be bullied to the point of skipping meals.
It’s important that everyone — students, parents, teachers, and siblings — is aware of lunchbox shaming. Parents play a vital role in educating their children, and a lot of what they learn, including how to treat others, starts at home. That’s why teaching them to respect and accept other cultures is crucial.
Some may say lunchbox shaming is a small issue, but it greatly affects a child’s self-esteem. They will feel ashamed and excluded, like I once did, and no child deserves to feel that way. If this type of treatment isn’t changed early on, more problems will arise in the future when it comes to how they treat others.
Canada is known for its diversity — that’s what makes it such a beautiful country. Celebrating everyone’s differences is an important thing, but lunchbox shaming is an issue that goes against this.
As a society, it’s necessary to accept one another, regardless of where we come from, and that includes the types of food one may bring to school. From my experience, it’s one of the worst feelings.
