May 7, 2010
Judge Tom
2

Lunch ladies discipline students

You may have heard of one state’s slogan “Don’t Mess with Texas.” The same message applies at Atlantic City High School in New Jersey. The school has three lunch periods in the cafeteria. During one of them in April, 2010, a cell phone coordinated food fight broke out leaving a mess to be cleaned up.

The Shopping Sherpa (Flickr)

The cafeteria workers decided to punish the group by serving only dry, cheese sandwiches for two days. The students weren’t required to eat the sandwiches, but nothing else was served those days. Some parents protested the “revenge of the lunch ladies,” calling the meal “prison food.” The school superintendent responded that in the past when a food fight happened, serving a basic food meal was the discipline used and got the students’ attention. Sometimes a reminder about respect for school employees and others is needed. 

So, don’t mess with the lunch ladies at your school!!

Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

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2 Comments

  • Tom Gore
    May 25, 2011 5:57 am count( 0 )

    “They think they have the kids’ respect?”

    Well it seems so, since the issue got to their parents…

    “The kids will sooner or later forget about the two day cheese sandwiches and have another food fight. ”

    That’s the way with kids, but believe me, majority of them will learn their lesson eventually. Those who won’t will suffer for the rest of their life…

  • leanne
    May 16, 2010 5:25 pm count( 1 )

    Respect? They think they have the kids’ respect? Yeah right! In the article it even says that the consequence has worked before, well then, obviously no lessons were learned. The kids will sooner or later forget about the two day cheese sandwiches and have another food fight. Why not try adequate supervision and punish those who started it? Besides, is it really fair that all those kids who were not involved also get punished? I feel bad for those who don’t eat at home because they are too poor…and all they had was a cheese sandwich! I just think it’s funny that folks think they have earned a child’s respect in situations like this. Adults often don’t give kids enough credit!