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Scottish 9-Yr-Old's School Lunch Blog Censored, Then Saved By Internet
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jun 15, 2012
Modified Jun 15, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jun 15, 2012
Modified Jun 15, 2012
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School censorship is not just for Americans—but hey! At least this story has a happy ending! After a 9-year-old Scottish girl's blog about her school lunches drew international attention local officials tried to force the girl to stop snapping pictures of her lunches. But the internet was not having any of that.
For the past few months Martha Payne's blog, Never Seconds, has showed the often dismal lunches she got at school (as well as school lunch pictures sent in from kids around the world). But according to officials, the "photos were misleading and had caused distress to cafeteria staff." So obviously, they had to stop. Especially as press coverage of the blog kept getting bigger. Yesterday Payne posted a goodbye message to her page saying:
This morning in maths I got taken out of class by my head teacher and taken to her office. I was told that I could not take any more photos of my school dinners because of a headline in a newspaper today.
I only write my blog not newspapers and I am sad I am no longer allowed to take photos. I will miss sharing and rating my school dinners and I’ll miss seeing the dinners you send me too. I don’t think I will be able to finish raising enough money for a kitchen for Mary’s Meals either.
It was all very sad until the internet—and celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver—got involved. Nothing like a little firestorm to let the pictures return, eh?
Today the Scottish Argyll and Bute Council, which imposed the ban on Payne's photography in the first place, took it all back. Council leader Roddy McCuish told the BBC earlier today that he had instructed senior officials to lift the ban immediately. Score one for depressing food photos and shaming school lunch programs!
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cafeteria
censorship
school lunch
school lunches
scotland
Garth Johnston
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