I really hope they have some equally irate parents willing to go down to the school and settle this.

30min for lunch is ridiculous. The lunch lines usually take (on average) 10-15min.

Er, how is this possible? Pennies are legal tender. The lunch room cashier HAS to accept them as such. Being disrespectful is one thing... I can see getting detention for that, but for the pennies? That's not right, and I hope some parents get involved. 30 minutes for lunch for 200 kids is near impossible.

Good for the kids and good for the parents that gave them all pennies.

As for the idiots in charge:

Board of Education Offices
52 Readington Road
P.O. Box 807
Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889
Main Phone (908) 534-2195
Fax (908) 534-9551

Website:

Idiots Email: jschiff@readington.k12.nj.us

Feel free to write or call these people and remind them the kids were making use of their constitutional right to protest in a peaceful and orderly manner.

These people should be ashamed of themselves as educators and as adults. I personally think someone should be fired for this act of stupidity.

When I was in high school, we protested our school lunchroom over the severe rationing of ketchup. We first tried throwing all the silverware out with the trash, but they caught on to that. We then organized a boycott that lasted about four days. We brought grocery sacks full of bread and PB&J and everyone made sandwiches... until the principal came out and began confiscating our lunches. We got pissed about that and marched to the office where one student delivered a scathing speech to the administration while the rest of us stood behind him humming "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". It was glorious. We got our ketchup back and the new lunchroom manager got fired. Ahh, the memories...

I think its great that the students came together to protest a 30 minute lunch. As stated, pennies are legal tender. The school board should be ashamed for only allowing 30 minutes for lunch and for punishing the students.

That Parents board better get moving fast.

I only had 22 minute long lunches in high school... lucky 8th graders. My school also tired the ketchup thing, limiting 2 packs per person. Needles to say that did not last long.

Detention may have been a little harsh, but

1) You don't have any constitutional rights until you're an adult.

2)30 minutes isn't that long, but you don't know why lunch is that short, there might be a very good reason - like the school can't afford to make it longer because of funding cuts. One thing is for sure - enough 8th graders aren't going to understand the complexities of the issue that they should be 'protesting' en masse. THey just want more time to talk with their friends.

I find your description somewhat ambiguous. Are you saying that it's good for them that they got detention? Or good that they had the courage to protest?

THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL STOLE YOUR LUNCH?!?!?!?! Man, wouldn't the press have a field day with that these days?

Great to see the kids being creative like that. But it is the schools job to jam them into the cookie cutter and stamp them into nice obedient conformists.

Great Story.

He got all but one jar of grape jelly, which I hid so the last few people could finish their sandwiches. He didn't take away the food we were already eating, just what was left of the groceries on the table. We threatened to report him to "Six on your side", a local news segment, and the food was returned after our protest in the office.

Technically, this is illegal. Paying more than 25 cents with pennies is against the law in Canada and the US. They should have done some basic research before setting out to protest.

30 minutes? I get 15 on Fridays.

It may be in Canada, but in the US we have the coinage act. The original coinage act specified that it was legal to pay with coins in debts up to 25 cents or less.. but the act of '65 overrode that and allows coins to be accepted as legal tender for all debts.

BUT!!!!

If a business doesn't wish to accept a certain type of money, they don't have to. Think of it going back to the whole 'we reserve the right to refuse service' bit. You aren't obligated by the government to sell your Jellybeans to Joe Schmoe. As a matter of fact, you can say "Sorry Joe, all you've got is pennies and I don't want to sell to you."

You also don't have to accept 'Any' specific money for payment. If your Pizza Delivery guy doesn't want to accept $100, you don't have to. The $100 is still legal tender, but the Pizza is his until he sees some bills below a $20.

Is it Illegal to pay in pennies? No.
Do they Have to accept pennies? No.

They simply refuse service to any kid with pennies and say "NEXT!"

30 minutes for lunch is all you get in a work day. Bring it or buy it. If you work for less than 8 hours you get 15. Now, that being said...200 students is a huge amount to be expected to get through the lunch line and have time to eat. Especially if you are the last one in line. I wonder if the school has ever thought about multiple lunch hours. Before we moved here, my daughters' school had over 1100 kids in it. They had 4 lunch hours that began at 1030! Yes, 1030. It sucked to have that lunch hour, but at least they had time to eat.

A 30 minute lunch is pretty standard - and five to ten minutes longer than what I had in high school. It seems like all they managed to do was make everyone else in the lunch line have to wait longer. Of course they want a longer lunch. And a later start, shorter days, and less homework. Is it going to happen because they're causing trouble? Not so much.

But really, giving them detention has to be the best thing for them. How else could they have ever gotten so much publicity?

Denied Lunch = Lunch room gossip.
Given Detention = National News!

If you get a lunch break. I don't, but I make up for it with smoke breaks. Come to think of it, I've never worked anywhere where I got a lunch break.