Nej Martha, du må ikke fotografere din skolemad og blogge om det

Den 9-årige Martha Payne i Argyll, Skotland, blogger om sin skolemad, som hun ikke synes er sund og god nok: NeverSeconds. Bloggen bliver et øjeblikkeligt hit, får opmærksomhed fra skolebørn verden over, der sender billeder af deres skolemad, og selveste superkok Jamie Oliver fatter interesse.

Der går syv uger, så får de lokale myndigheder nok og forbyder Martha at tage billeder på skolen. Det var i går, og nu er det gået amok.

Myndighederne får det glatte lag på Twitter, hvor de går under navnet @argyllandbute. Mange sender vrede emails til Argyll and Bute Council (øverst til højre). Der er 272 425 585 732 kommentarer på Marthas farvel-indlæg: Goodbye, og antallet af sidevisninger på bloggen runder snart 2,5 mio., mod omkring 2 mio. i går.

De britiske medier dækker sagen:

• It’s goodbye from Martha as Council switches off her dinnercam;
• Council ‘orders nine-year-old girl to stop school meals blog’.;
• Martha Payne: girl’s hit school dinner blog ‘banned’ by council;
• The banning of the blog.

Og i går havde Wired en gennemgang af forløbet: 9-Year-Old Who Changed School Lunches Silenced By Politicians.

Der er endnu ingen reaktion fra Argyll and Bute Council, og forklaringen på fotoforbudet skal nok være temmelig god.

Opdatering 12.58

Argyll and Bute Council har nu reageret: Statement on school meals from Argyll and Bute Council. [Opdatering 17.50: Teksten er nu fjernet, men se den fulde ordlyd længere nede]. Kritikken er uberettiget, og på grund af den megen opmærksomhed frygter medarbejderne nu for deres job:

Argyll and Bute Council wholly refutes the unwarranted attacks on its schools catering service which culminated in national press headlines which have led catering staff to fear for their jobs.

Først forsøger de at lægge låg på kritikken ved at forhindre Martha i at dokumentere sin kritik med billeder – i øvrigt er hun bestemt ikke altid kritik – derefter, når deres taktik giver bagslag, skubber de medarbejderne foran sig med “the distress and harm it was causing”.

Dette kunne blive et skoleeksempel på, hvad der går galt, når man håndterer kritik forkert. Fortsættelse følger.

Opdatering 15.00

De lokale myndigheder ophæver nu Martha Paynes fotoforbud. Council leader Roddy McCuish siger til BBC:

I have just instructed senior officials to withdraw the ban on photos from the school dining hall.

It is a good thing to do, to change your mind and I have certainly done that.

BBC News: NeverSeconds blogger Martha Payne school dinner photo ban lifted
.

Hør indslaget fra BBC Radio 4.

Antallet af kommentarer på Marthas farvel-indlæg er nu 1193, og antallet af sidevisninger på bloggen nærmer sig 2,8 mio.

Opdatering 15.22

Martha har i et par uger haft en indsamling til fordel Mary’s Meals:

Mary’s Meals is an international movement that sets up school feeding projects in communities where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education.

I går var Martha i tvivl, om hun kunne rejse de 7.000 pund, der var målet, når hun måtte lukke bloggen – hun havde rejst 2.000. Indsamlingen har nu nået 23.596,60 pund.

Opdatering 16.50

• Besøgstal: 3.110.230
• Indsamling: 30.213,97 pund

Og stadig massiv opbakning på Twitter, hvor der tweetes til #NeverSeconds flere gange i sekundet.

Stay strong Martha, RT this to show your support #neversecondsbit.ly/LXzJcI Jx

— Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver) juni 15, 2012

Dagen har udviklet sig efter et velkendt mønster. Se historien om sangen United Breaks Guitars.

Opdatering 17.50

Argyll and Bute Council har nu udskiftet teksten i den pressemeddelse, de udsendte klokken 10:53 lokal tid. Den nye tekst findes på samme url: Statement on school meals from Argyll and Bute Council. og indleder med at erklære:

There is no place for censorship in this Council and never will be whilst I am leader.

Den originale pressemeddelse er dermed væk, men jeg har da teksten, så den følger herunder:

Statement on school meals from Argyll and Bute Council

Published Date: 15 Jun 2012 – 10:53

Argyll and Bute Council wholly refutes the unwarranted attacks on its schools catering service which culminated in national press headlines which have led catering staff to fear for their jobs. The Council has directly avoided any criticism of anyone involved in the ‘never seconds’ blog for obvious reasons despite a strongly held view that the information presented in it misrepresented the options and choices available to pupils however this escalation means we had to act to protect staff from the distress and harm it was causing. In particular, the photographic images uploaded appear to only represent a fraction of the choices available to pupils, so a decision has been made by the council to stop photos being taken in the school canteen.

There have been discussions between senior council staff and Martha’s father however, despite an acknowledgement that the media coverage has produced these unwarranted attacks, he intimated that he would continue with the blog.

The council has had no complaints for the last two years about the quality of school meals other than one from the Payne family received on 6 June and there have been no changes to the service on offer since the introduction of the blog.

Pupils have a daily choice of two meals from a menu which is designed with pupils, parents and teachers. Our summer menu is about to be launched and includes main course choices like meat or vegetarian lasagne served with carrots and garlic bread or chicken pie with puff pastry, mashed potato and mixed vegetables.

Pupils can choose from at least two meals every day. They pay £2 for two courses and this could be a starter and a main or a main and a desert. Each meal comes with milk or water. Pupils can have as much salad and bread as they want. Salad, vegetables, fruit, yoghurt and cheese options are available every day. These are standing options and are not a result of any changes in response to the blog site.

As part of the curriculum for excellence, pupils in all our schools are regularly taught about healthy eating and at lunch breaks staff encourage pupils to make good choices from what is on offer. We use a system called ‘Nutmeg’ to make sure everything is nutritionally balanced. Our staff also get nutrition awareness training so they know how to provide a good healthy meal. There is portion sized guidance which we adhere to and it is matched to the age of the child so they get the right amount of food. Second portions would mean too many calories for pupils.

In Lochgilphead Primary School we are piloting a new pre-ordering scheme which is designed to encourage class discussion around meal choices and also improves the accuracy of meal choices. The pupils use a touch screen to select their lunch option and the data is downloaded in the kitchen so they know how many portions of each meal are required. As they place their order, the pupils are given a coloured band which relates to their meal choice that day. They wear it during the morning, and at lunchtime they hand it to the catering assistant, who will give them the corresponding meal.

The council’s focus is now on supporting the school in the education of young people in Argyll and Bute.

Opdatering 18.20

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Opdatering 19.50

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Opdatering 21.30

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Opdatering 22.55

Tid til lidt baggrund. Argyll and Bute Council forbød Martha at tage billeder efter en artikel i går i den skotske avis The Daily Record. Artiklens rubrik var Time to fire the dinner ladies. Artiklen var ikke på nettet, men det er den siden kommet: Read the Martha Payne article that made council bosses overreact and ban her blog photos.

“Dinner ladies” er de kvinder, der tilbereder skolemaden på Marthas skole, Lochgilphead Primary. Artiklen viser Martha, der sammen med en kok – som havde opdaget Marthas blog – tilbereder et sundt måltid for halvdelen af den pris, forældrene betaler for skolens madordning.

Forbudet mod fotografering var altså ikke en konsekvens af bloggen men af en artikel i en avis, hvor rubrikken, Time to fire the dinner ladies, ifølge den meddelelse, myndighederne udsendte i formiddags (og nu er fjernet men findes herover), gjorde medarbejderne, “the dinner ladies”, nervøse for at miste deres jobs. Myndighederne valgte så at gå efter bloggeren, ikke avisen.

Det lyder ualmindelig tåbeligt, men jeg tror, jeg har forstået forløbet rigtigt.

Skolemyndighederne lærer en pige på 9 år, at kritik medfører forbud. De lærer en pige på 9 år, at de går efter de svageste (de er bange for avisen). De lærer en pige på 9 år, at hun ikke skal stikke næsen frem eller tage initiativer.

Mon ikke de selv har fået en lektie i dag.

Og mon ikke, Martha i kraft af internet i dag har fået styrke, selvtillid og mod på at sige sin mening en anden gang – noget skolen burde lære hende.

Hun har netop skrevet et nyt indlæg på bloggen – det første siden “Goodbye” i går, og første sætning lyder: “I think you know why I don’t have a picture today but I will have on Monday!”

Og dagens sidste tal:

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