DA: Program Encourages Students to Eat Together at Lunch [View all]
Today's Dear Abby:
DEAR ABBY: Schoolchildren, especially middle school or high school students who may not be socially adept, often eat lunch alone because they don't know what to do when it comes to joining other kids at the lunch table. My grandson, who is on the autism spectrum, is one of them.
(snip)
It's lonely to eat lunch by yourself. Please encourage your readers to consider this. -- SOMEONE WHO CARES IN SAN DIEGO
DEAR SOMEONE WHO CARES: I'm glad to do that. The pain of social isolation can last far beyond the elementary and middle school years and color a person's expectations of rejection into adulthood. Much of it could be avoided if parents took the time to explain to their children how important it is to treat others with kindness.
In recent years, attention is finally being paid to this. A national organization, Beyond Differences, started a program called "No One Eats Alone" that teaches students how to make friends at lunchtime -- which can be the most painful part of the school day. It's their most popular program, and schools in all 50 states participate.
http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/2017/3/12/program-encourages-students-to-eat-togetherPopular with whom? Not with us loners! For Christ's sake, what an absolutely
awful idea! I suspect I would have gone stark raving mad had this sort of thing been in place when I was in school. I used my lunch breaks to unwind and read, not to to be forced to socialise with kids I didn't want to be with. I had more than enough of that during class.
Adults, please let kids be kids and work out their own social order.
It's the common, everyday prejudice of the extroverted speaking here. At least a lot of the commenters below the line get it.
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