RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We're going to talk now about something called lunch shaming. That's when kids are publicly identified as being from families that can't afford to pay for school lunch, maybe they're identified with a wristband or a hand stamp. But then those kids are bullied or ostracized because of it. New Mexico has become the first state to make that kind of lunch shaming illegal with something called the Hunger-Free Students Bill of Rights. The bill makes schools talk to parents, not students when the student has cafeteria debt.
It also says schools can't force kids to pay off that debt with chores or extra work. Michael Padilla is the Democratic state senator who introduced that bill. We reached him via Skype, and I asked him to describe what exactly lunch shaming looks like.
MICHAEL PADILLA: You know, as it turns out, I can actually speak from personal experience. I grew up in foster homes - multiple foster homes. And so my sisters and I grew up that way, and we actually experienced this ourselves. You know, you go to the lunchroom. You have debt or just don't have any money at all. And what they'll do is they'll give you a piece of bread and maybe a little bit of cheese on the bread. And the other kids are getting a warm meal.
And, you know, they're moving on with their day, but, you know, these kids are being stigmatized, and they're being - you know, it's very obvious who the poor kids are in the school and this and that. And so that to me is shaming, and that has no place in our society in a first world, you know, powerful country like ours.