Kids are getting very smart these days aren't they?

I would ahve to say that I think it was a protest and GOOD FOR THEM!! It sickens me how the school system works over here (well at least in NY anyway)...they SHOULD protest it and if my kids were involved in something like that (provided they werent hurting anyone) I'd take them out for dinner!! I think its disgusting that they not only get a meer 20 mins for lunch then back to class but they also dont get recess or breaks...Hell my husband even gets a morning and afternoon break for crying out loud!!

These kids knew that doing this was going to get them into trouble before they did it but they did it anyway. Just like the saying goes, every action has a reaction, so they were punished for being inconsiderate of others by showing how they feel by getting a bunch of pennies to pay for their lunch. They should've gone to the end of the line to do that.

What gave the superintendent idea that this was a prank? I do think it was a protest, and I am sure had I been a student, I would have done the same thing. It was not about disrespecting cafeteria workers, the superintendent is going to think that it is okay to shorten the lunch period? You do more in the lunch besides eat, that means not having enough time to go to the washroom, not enough time to go to the library to take and return books, not enough time for the students who live in the area to go home for lunch. etc.

I think it is a protest. I think kids have a right to protest. Unfortunately, I bet that protest cost some kids at the end of the line their lunch period entirely or mostly.Perhaps writing a petition and having as many kids as felt the same way sign it might have been more useful. Also finding out what forms of protest are allowed and which ones are not before doing it would have been a good idea. I could see slowing down the lunch line as a complaint against them, but disrespecting the cafeteria workers? I wonder how long counting 200 pennies twice actually took? Don't you?

Thats bullcrap they did nothing wrong, i think the schools are becomeing bigger douchbags in my eyes, there was some teachers that were saying a mom should go to jail b/c she pulled her kid out of school to start homeschool, bullcrap. I heard that kids are hitting the maturity rate earlier and earlier.

I started laughing when i read this discussion.If they did something like this then definitely it was an organized attack on the system.They wanted more time for their leisure.It's not news that kids are getting smarter day by day.Adaptation is the key to survival and in our time where we have a lot of competition kids have to adapt to being sharp with their minds.I guess that's what it was.

I agree with the first response. It was a protest and a perfectly rightful one. They didn't do anything wrong. It's not as if they refused to pay or anything. I wonder if the kids were from a poor family and used pennies because that's all they had, would they still have been given detention? If they only have a 20 minute lunch break, it's not surprising they want to do anything about it. Maybe the Superintendants lunch break should be cut to 20 minutes with reduced pay if he takes longer then he might know how those kids felt and realise it was a protest. I really don't see anything wrong with what they did.

I definitely think that what the kids did was wrong. You are in a school and once the school authorities decide upon something, as students you have got to abide by it, whether you like it or not. If we don’t inculcate the value of discipline from the school-level itself, our future world holds little hope of continuous social improvement. While in school there should be no question of protest by the students themselves. The parents’ body can take it up on the students’ behalf and even then if the school authorities decide to stick by their decision, the parents have nothing to do but accept. Protest is acceptable by adults whose awareness of circumstances and analysis of situations is more mature than children’s. Children should concentrate only on their studies and related activities and not on shortened lunch period.

I don't think the students were protesting at all. Pennies are money, It's not like they were stealing their food, they were paying for it with real money. I think they proved a really good point about what can happen when they are not being given enough time.

yes, they are becoming smart really. they are acting the way we adults can never think of. and this way of paying for lunch is raelly intelligent from the part of the children. I have seen my niece who is just 3.5 acts so smartly always.

Last time I checked pennies were still money and acceptable currency. I think that the way those kids protest was fair and to the point and don't see the reason for detention unless people are not allowed to peacefully protest anymore. Sure it delayed the lunch, that was the purpose and their form of protest. It was peaceful and any form of protest is suppose to bring a little disruption in the way things work. If it didn't what would it achieve? Myself I find that this tendency of shortening lunch periods more and more is actually not the best idea. A lunch period is not only to gulp down food in a hurry - which should not be done in the first place. But to create a healthy break between what happened during the morning and what is to happen in the afternoon. Actually what I consider an appropriate time for a meal break is quite different from the standards I have noticed - in general - since I come here. It was one of the shocks I received when I came here and started working. I couldn't believe I was given a whole half an hour for lunch!!! What the heck could I do with that? By the time I would get my coat on and reached the cafeteria or the place where I intended to leave often 10 minutes were gone. THen I would have to wait at least 5 more minutes in line - often more - to get my food and pay for it.SO I had to quickly inhale the food to get back to work. There was no special transition from the morning to the afternoon and whatever stress I might have had before lunch was not only still there but the stress of trying to find food pay for it and eat it in a hurry was added. It was very difficult to me to adapt to this new idea. Back home? Well, I had between 1 and a half hours to 2 hours for lunch. I had time to eat calmly and then go for a walk, or do some shopping, or anything else that relaxed me. By the time I started working again anything that might have upset me in the morning was gone and I was ready for what the afternoon would bring. It was like starting fresh. Different cultures, different costumes, but I still prefer non stress over stress LOL But I digress as usual :) DId they do anything wrong? Not really. They found their way to protest about something that was important for them . Important enough to risk whatever penalty given for their protest. That's, however, what happens often when people protest about something . It might be considered fair or unfair, but it's what usually happens so I guess part of protesting is knowing that there might be sanctions and really think if what we're protesting about is worth the penalty.

I do believe this was a protest. And I have to say a very good one too. Kids are getting so smart these days and it is kind of scary. But I have to say, I do think the school was wrong for punishing the students for it. If they wanted to pay with pennies so what. The last time I checked it was still money.

This is harsh on the schools discipline part. Money is money even if they were trying to protest they should not be punished they were simply paying for there lunch in smaller denominations. I think schools are taking there disciplany actions way too far these days and they need to reconsider some of there practices.

I think the school was wrong, because the students have the right to protest; they didn't steal their lunches or start fights to protest, they just paid using US currency. And they get detention for not using the expected kind of money? What's next, getting detention for paying with quarters? That's going overboard.

That was a well organized protest. A prank would be stealing all the milk out of the cafeteria and pouring onto the principals car.I hope that the parents opt for no detention and applaud their kids.That took brains and planning and was ingenious.I wouldn't have started a protest.

I look at it as a preparation for adulthood, ctry. I have never known many kids who were perfectly satisfied with their school lunch program. I even remember a time back when I was in high school that we went on a strike to protest something about the school lunch program. These kids are most likely only asserting their budding individualism, and I think they have every right to do so. It shows they are learning about the power of protest -which is a great thing.

Yes kids are very smart now and i think they really know what they want and need. They deserve a longer lunch break and the school superintendent must rethink his desicion or all the students might end up in detention. Its not lack of discipline but a right being invoked byt the kids, if I am a student, I might do the same too.

I view this action as a sign of the students' protest over the shortened lunch period. They tried to act smart by paying in pennies.. well, they probably thought they were within the law because they were not cheating or stealing food, and they still paid $2 for their lunch. Probably they still received punishment for this because the school felt that what they did was insubordination and disregard for the school system, and that their protect act would have caused other students to be late for their lunch. Perhaps if they had protested in some other way like bringing their parents in to complain to the school authorities, the school might have responded differently and not issue this punitive action.

I think they were trying to send a message in a peaceful way and they did just that. Im sure it was annoying to the workers but not wrong. What if some kids really did have to pay in change? What if the line got held up for other reasons and some kids didn't get to eat their lunch. By the time the 29th kid went thru the line, the cashier should have been able to judge within reason if there were 2.00 there and not stop to count each penny. The workers should have just handled it and not let the line be held up. Change is money. I don't see how they can refuse it or punish the kids. They could however learn from this and make it a school policy that change must be rolled first.

In my opinion, the kids didnt do anything wrong. And wether it is a prank or it is a protest, there is nothing illegal that they are doing and they shouldnt be punished for it. Pennies are still legal and it is still money. And if the total amount of pennies does counted up to $2, then there is no reason at all that they cant use pennies to pay for their lunches. By punishing them, basically the school are saying that pennies are worthless and unusable anymore, which Im sure is not the cases.