Paying with Pennies Gets You Detention

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/29/08 at 3:45pm

"More than two dozen eighth graders were given two days of detention after they paid for their lunches entirely in pennies."

Does the punishment fit the crime?


Link

[Liverpool]

Posted: 2/29/08 at 3:51pm

No, detention wasn't harsh enough. They should have broken every one of their fingers.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/29/08 at 3:55pm

Need I say it? Clearly, Hilary Clinton is to blame.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/29/08 at 4:22pm

stick a fork in pennies!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/29/08 at 4:26pm

They only get 1/2 hour for lunch?

No wonder they protested.

[Becky2]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 12:47pm

When I was in high school we only had about 200 kids to go through the lunch line, and it took 30 minutes of the 35 minutes we got for lunch to get everyone through the line. I can understand why they did it, but I don't think it was the best way to go about protesting it.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 12:53pm

Was the money counterfeit or something? Did I miss a law that pennies are no longer legal tender? I know places hate to accept them, but seriously, I think this is ridiculous.

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 12:53pm

but unless they've broken a "thou shalt not pay for lunch w/ pennies" proclamation, how did they break a rule that would justify all the punishment?

pennies ARE legal tender, much as we might hate them. I confess I have gone to Wendy's and bought dollar menu stuff outta my piggie bank. of course I had them counted and sorted (not rolled)before I walked up to the counter.

when I worked counter at Arby's we often had elderly people pay w/ penny rolls.

I didn't know I shoulda kept those geris in DETENTION

[george95]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 1:09pm

A few years ago on the NJ Turnpike, the toll was like 3.45 or something and I paid it all in nickels and dimes, and when I handed it over, the guy was like "ohhh come on! come on you gotta be kidding me! I'm not counting all of that!" I had them in a little baggie (I was prepared haha) and I just waited for him to take the bag, and after whining a little bit longer he finally grabbed the bag out of my hand and counted the coins.

When I first read about this story, I thought the kids should get the detention because I understood how it was disrespectful to the poor lunch ladies (like they lunchladies were the ones who decide how long lunch can be). And I didn't like how the parents came out so forcefully to defend the kids--these will probably be the same parents who will get lawyers to write letters to teachers warning them to give their child a good grade. (yes that happens all the time)

But I guess it was good the kids were organized, and protested peacefully. A better solution might have been to sit the kids down and teach them other options that were open to them.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 1:17pm

"I thought the kids should get the detention because I understood how it was disrespectful to the poor lunch ladies"

But when did it become the lunch ladies job to decide what is legal tender? Perhaps the school should use scrip from now on.

Updated On: 3/3/08 at 01:17 PM

[scott68]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 2:15pm

When I was in high school, I only ever paid for my lunch with sexual favors.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 2:47pm

2 days of detention?? This makes news?

[george95]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 4:34pm

Nobody is saying they're not legal tender, but if they want to protest the short lunch by paying in pennies, the only people who are affected are the poor lunch ladies who have to count all those coins, and the classmates further back in line who have to stand there and wait rather than having lunch. The principal I'm sure was sitting in his office enjoying a leisurely lunch. If the principal had chosen to ignore the situation, then the kids could just keep wasting their lunch period paying in pennies. They'd give up sooner or later.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 4:55pm

My mom is a grade school principal. I'll have to ask her what she would have done in this situation.

[george95]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 5:10pm

FYI, some of the parents want their children to receive the detentions. From the Star-Ledger:


Some parents prefer punishment for pupils paying in pennies
by Ralph R. Ortega/The Star-Ledger
Monday March 03, 2008, 1:34 PM
Eight students will serve detention for using pennies to pay for their lunches at a Hunterdon County middle school, school officials said today.

Parents of five students at the Readington Middle School agreed their children should serve two days of detention, and another three should serve only one day, after the decision of going forward with the punishment was left to them this weekend, said school Superintendent Jorden Schiff.


The school had argued the original 29 students who used pennies to pay for their $2 lunches on Thursday were playing a prank. However, parents defended the students, saying the pennies were paid in protest of a 30-minute lunch period, sparking national media attention.

The school backed off the punishment three days after the news reports, leaving it up to parents if they still wanted their children to serve detention. Schiff said the attention had become a distraction that hurt the school and the children.

"We are concerned about the widespread focus and attention paid to this event," Schiff and Principal Catherine Hollinger wrote in a letter addressed to parents this morning, which beckoned all to "move forward."

Those parents who did not want detention for their children either spoke to their children at home or were working with the administration on an alternative that would replace the punishment, according to the letter.

A new program also is in the works to give children an outlet for protest, Schiff said.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/3/08 at 5:14pm

It's very simple. The cafeteria ladies should have formed two lines. Those paying in pennies and those paying the usual way. Then those paying with the usual money would become an express line, while those paying in pennies would have to wait. Detention serves no purpose other than to make brat pack movies about.