Half of Teachers Report Hunger Is a Serious Problem in Their Classrooms
A new study comes with some new solutions.
Teachers spend $37 a month of their own money buying food for hungry students.
That’s $300 a school year or roughly five tanks of gas.
“Child hunger is a serious problem that negatively affected my students' self-esteem, ability to learn, and behavior,” Princess Moss, an elementary school teacher from Virginia and National Education Association Executive Committee member, says. “I would always keep snacks in my class for students that were hungry and who were having trouble concentrating during instructional time.”
It turns out the only meal he ate every day was his free lunch at school. His family couldn’t afford breakfast or dinner.A new report, Hunger In Our Schools: Teachers Report 2013, by Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign was released on Tuesday showing an “on-the-ground view of hunger” from 1,200 teachers and principals of kindergarten through eighth grade.
And the picture isn’t pretty.
Half of teachers surveyed reported that hunger is a serious problem in their classrooms. Another 73 percent said that they see students who regularly come to school hungry because there isn’t enough food at home. Eighty-seven percent of principals said that every week they see hungry students and many spend about $60 a month on food for them, even more than the teachers.
“Childhood hunger is a problem that is in every state,” Josh Wach, chief strategy officer forShare Our Strength, says. “It manifests itself in every classroom, playground, and backyard. It’s a problem that isn’t as visible to the naked
