Parents will understand that schoolchildren have the ability to be rather nasty to their fellow classmates. While this tends to escalate over children's playground drama, a father has admitted his upset after discovering that his daughter has been bullied over her food.
Revealing the heart-breaking dilemma online, the man detailed how his 11-year-old girl has been picked on for her school lunches. The child - whose mum is of Indian heritage - breaks into a sob after every school day as kids 'make fun of her food'.
Taking to popular forum Reddit for advice after he intervened, the dad questioned, "Am I the a**hole for switching out my daughter's school lunches behind my wife's back?"
The dad explained that mum Sara often packs her 'great dishes' into her daughter's lunchbox. This will usually consist of a container with rice with dal.
He explained: "Recently Lily came sobbing to her mom and I about the lunches she took. The kids at school had been making fun of her food, which absolutely made my heart break.
"When I asked her if she wanted us to report the problem, she begged us not to so she wouldn't be called a 'snitch' or worse. When Sara heard this, she simply contacted the principal, which I didn't want to resort to at first, and left the issue, telling Lily she wouldn't be buying school lunch and to just ignore the other kids.
"The same problem occurred every day, Lily would be coming home feeling extremely upset and there were even times Sara would yell at Lily for not even touching her school lunch."
The parents had discussions with Lily about her culture, assuring her that she should be 'proud' of her heritage. Unfortunately, however, the dad claims that the 'school is ignorant of the issue'.
The man went on: "I don't want her to starve, because so many days she doesn't even eat her lunch. I know how brutal middle schoolers can be, and I didn't want Lily to feel insecure or upset even if it meant making her take other lunches, but Sara refuses to make other lunches.
"I began to make other lunches for Lily, like sandwiches, or sometimes mac n' cheese, so she'd feel more comfortable eating it in school in front of her classmates as a final resort when nothing else worked.
"I would take Lily's lunch for myself at work and pack her own lunch early in the morning, which she finished and seemed happier when coming home daily after.
"However, this only worked for about two weeks until Sara found out and was infuriated. She said I was denying Lily her culture and she needed to learn to stop being insulted by other kids, telling me I'm raising Lily to get whatever she wants."
Seeking advice online, the man questioned: "Is Sara right? Am I the a**hole?"
Since posting, the man's thread has raked in over 150 comments to date - with several people assuring the dad that he made the right decision.
Taking to the comment section, one person wrote: "I think OP is not the a**hole. I do think the school is a bit of an a**hole though.
"Wouldn't it be great if they incorporated food from different cultures in the cafeteria, taught kids how to cook a range of cuisines, did some actual cross-cultural teaching and so on?" They added.
Meanwhile, someone else agreed: "Not the a**hole. Middle school is a time when kids are merciless to each other. It is also a time when children want to fit in and when they start to exert control over those things that their parents used to do for them."
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