Sort out hunger games in schools

Too many lose out because their parents are either too poor or too disorganised to provide it.

If every local child under the age of 11 could be guaranteed breakfast to start the day I think we could call ourselves civilised.

Breakfast at school encourages families to bring their children to school on time. It provides a boost for the day of learning ahead. It gives parents a helping hand.

All the talk of school meals and supporting families without means is deeply flawed as during the extended six-week summer holiday little or nothing is done to support hungry children.

Teenagers are hungry, too. No-one has suggested how parents are to be supported in providing hungry teenagers healthy meals at school or in a lengthy holiday.

Don’t teenagers count as they mature, grow and change at alarming rates of development which should be recognised as a vital period in any young person’s life?

There needs to be a wide ranging and evidence-based discussion about how we all address food poverty.

It certainly hasn’t happened in this election campaign. Everyone is too busy revisiting age-old and tired arguments about the control and governance of schools to actually consider the simple fact – children learn best with a healthy breakfast and regular meals.

Let’s tackle and resolve the hunger games in our schools.

Cllr Doug James, Walsall