Dinner lady sacked for accidentally serving pork to a Muslim child

[angos]

That sets a very dangerous precedent. Nobody would give pork products to any child of asian appearence if one risked losing a job over it.

 

"Gammon?"

"Yes please."

"Actually, you're a bit too brown. More than my job's worth. Move along."

 

:hihi::hihi:

[byeo]

Again I agree with you, everyone's under the cosh, but people (Muslims and non-Muslims) tend to be particularly sensitive where the wellbeing of their children is concerned.

 

So you would think that they would educate their child on what they can and cannot eat. If their religion is that important to them, then you make sure you're children know how to follow it by the book, no ?

[Bonzo77]

I see the PC brigade has gone doolally again

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/418878/Dinner-lady-sacked-for-accidentally-serving-pork-to-a-Muslim-child

 

They cause more trouble than any right wing organisation could ever dream of doing

 

Why did the Dinner Lady feel the need to say sorry?? She didn't make a mistake at all. She asked the girl if she wanted Gammon and the girl said yes!

 

What a joke!!

[byeo]

that was in response to "They cause more trouble than any right wing organisation could ever dream of doing"

 

Exactly, I have a feeling the person you responded to with the Nazi Germany link was not been serious.

[boyfriday]

Why?

 

It appears the school educates children from many different ethnic backgrounds.

Children that look Asian aren't necessarily Muslims, and even if they are they don't necessarily avoid pork.

What do you suggest should have been done, assume they are Muslims and assume they don't eat port so don't offer it to them. Then she would have been accused of being racist.

It even appears she made a sensible suggestion to avoid the problem which was ignored by her bosses.

 

I didn't make any suggestion that Muslims or Asians should be refused food. I was conceding a normal human reaction, based on superficial criteria. The dinner ladies are tasked with serving appropriate food to the right children, getting it wrong is something they know they can't be cavalier about, we're not talking about a child going into a takeaway and ordering from the menu.

 

So I guess before serving they will do a mental check and employ whatever strategy they need to avoid getting it wrong. I've no idea what those strategies are but if I was a dinner lady serving 7 year old children I'd not be relying solely on their say so.

 

---------- Post added 02-08-2013 at 12:49 ----------

 

So you would think that they would educate their child on what they can and cannot eat. If their religion is that important to them, then you make sure you're children know how to follow it by the book, no ?

I think the problem here is the age of the child and the accepted level of responsibility of the serving staff.. Some 7 year old's know what a piece of gammon is, some don't. Equally some dinner ladies quickly learn and remember what the dietary requirements of some children are, whereas others might struggle.

[Chris_Sleeps]

Let us also be frank; not eating pork is a religious belief. It is not the same as a nut allergy. One has possibly deadly consequences, and the other doesn't.

[frededwards]

The issue should never have arisen.

 

English schools should serve traditional food.

 

If any child has special dietary requirement due to adherance to any ridiculous ideology, the onus should be upon the parents to provide said child with a packed lunch or to make arrangements for it to be fed elsewhere.

[Chris_Sleeps]

English schools should serve traditional food.

Nonsense. Don't be reactionary. How dull life would be with roast beef and lumpy gravy everyday.

[angos]

 

So I guess before serving they will do a mental check and employ whatever strategy they need to avoid getting it wrong. I've no idea what those strategies are but if I was a dinner lady serving 7 year old children I'd not be relying solely on their say so.

 

I think the problem here is the age of the child and the accepted level of responsibility of the serving staff.. Some 7 year old's know what a piece of gammon is, some don't. Equally some dinner ladies quickly learn and remember what the dietary requirements of some children are, whereas others might struggle.

 

There are 200 children and 50% look Asian, you ask them all if they are Muslims and some say yes, so then you ask if they eat Pork and again some say yes which is against the wished of the parent. Then you get a complain because you served pork to a white Muslim child all because it slipped your mind that some Muslim don't look Asian.

 

---------- Post added 02-08-2013 at 12:59 ----------

 

Let us also be frank; not eating pork is a religious belief. It is not the same as a nut allergy. One has possibly deadly consequences, and the other doesn't.

 

Very true and its not even a sin to inadvertently eat pork.

[Waldo]

If people are going to be picky about what their kids eat at school, to the point of getting staff fired when they make mistakes; then it is only fair that those parents foot the bill for the additional staff time and attention required to ensure mistakes are not made while catering to their whims.

 

One way to ensure mistakes are not made, would be to serve these kids in a separate siting after the other kids. Where unwanted food can be replaced with appropriate foods. Of course, all this messing around will incur extra expense, which should be paid for by those who demand special treatment.