A 9 year old pupil is forbidden from posting photos of her food.
Scotland- 9 year old Scottish schoolgirl, Martha Payne was
banned by her local council from posting
pictures of school lunches on her blog.
‘This morning in maths I got taken out of class by my head
teacher and taken to her office. I was told that I could not take any more
photos of my school dinners because of a headline in a newspaper today’.
The decision to impose the ban was sparked by an article in The Daily Record, 'Time to fire the dinner ladies…'
Never Seconds – Payne’s blog, has received over two million
hits and raised more than ten thousand pounds for Mary’s Meals, a charity which
aims to provide chronically hungry children with one meal every school
day.
the young girl started the blog three months ago by taking photos of
her school lunches and rating them out of ten on her ‘food-o-meter’. She began receiving photos from school
children in other countries which she posted as well.
'Many people in
Finland have been in touch and sent me photos of their lunches and they all
look so tasty. I was amazed to find out that all children in Finland get a free
school lunch every day!'
According to The Telegraph, the council claimed that, 'The information presented in
it misrepresented the options and choices available to pupils however this
escalation means we had to act to protect staff from the distress and harm it
was causing'.
On Twitter
A mass outcry in reaction to the council’s decision transpired across social media platforms where readers began tweeting photos of their own school lunches, with the hashtag #MyLunchforMartha.
She was even backed by world-wide celebrity chef, Jamie
Oliver: 'Stay strong Martha, RT this to show your support. #Neverseconds"
Changing its Tune
After the level of negativity and criticism that the story
attracted, the local council reversed its decision and apologised live on BBC
Radio 4.
Where to from here?
Through her daily blog posts, little Martha Payne has become a voice for school children all over the world. And it appears, this is
just the beginning.
What are your
thoughts?
