Red teddy plan ‘was stigmatising’
Mayor withdraws red teddy canteen logos that flag-up children whose parents are late-payers
A SYSTEM of screens in school canteens marking children with a red teddy bear logo if their families were behind with lunch payments, is being withdrawn.
The idea was the brainchild of the mairie of Ruffec in the Charente, which said it has encouraged late-payers to pay up. A green teddy bear on the screen showed a child’s parents were up to date, a blue one that their credit was running low and a red one that they had not paid.
It is understood to have been introduced across schools in the intercommunal body which groups Ruffec and its surrounding areas. However faced with opposition from parents, who said it stigmatised children, the mayor of Ruffec has promised to remove the colour-code scheme.
The president of a leading parents’ association, FCPE, Jean-Jacques Hazan, said he could not “understand how this kind of thing can even go through someone’s head”, adding he regretted a lack of consultation with parents.
The mayor, Bernard Charbonneau, said he had not intended to stigmatise children, but just to find a solution to “non-payments, which can be as high as €56,000”.
The scheme was agreed by representatives at the intercommunal body, he said. “I must admit it was not such a happy choice. We will use a uniform colour,” he said.
