Children going hungry is no joke.

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Do you think there is humor in this picture and its caption?  If you do then go tell the joke to Hamzah Khan, Daniel Pelka and Jeffrey Baldwin.

This picture was going around Facebook with comments and captions as if it was funny.  The picture upset me because I know for some kids this is exactly how they live their lives, wondering if they are going to have enough to eat or is mommy going to have a new dress, shoes and dinner out with friends again.  There are too many children at my children’s school that are lucky if they have a jam sandwich for lunch.  The school brings snacks around to the classes because there are many children who simply don’t have food, or very little.  Too many times parents have talked about all the cool stuff they bought themselves on the 20^th, but their kids shoes don’t fit, their clothing don’t fit and they don’t get enough to eat.  Why because their parent or parents put themselves first.

 I remember one Mom who was telling people about what she feeds her child.  All she ever gave the kid was macaroni and cheese from the box.  She would boil the noodles, drain and put the cheese mix in and stir.  No milk or butter, nothing but the noodles, powder and whatever water was still on the noodles.  The child was in daycare.  The daycare noticed that the child would eat everything it could get its hands on, why because it was literally starving.  However the mom was always showing off her new shoes, jewellery, clothing, makeup, or talking about where she went out for dinner, ordered in.  She liked to eat pizza, stake and other things and did not bother to buy enough for her child.  The kid could eat mac and cheese and watch her eat steak.

Another family simply did not feed the kids.  They would get to eat if their mom was there.  The mom would go to work, her girlfriend would kick the kids out of the house.  The three girls were not allowed back into the house until the mom came home.  So they were outside, rain or shine all day, no food.  They were not even allowed in to go bathroom.  We started buying lots of hotdogs and spent most of the summer feeding the three girls at lunch once we found out what was going on.  One night the family moved out.  Suddenly they were gone.  Some of the girls toys were still in our back yard.  Turns out someone reported them for abuse and instead of feeding the kids and caring for them they decided to move.  We were just about to report them ourselves because we had finally got confirmation that the girls were locked out and not being fed. 

Child hunger is real.  For some it is simply because there is not enough money to buy a lot of food.  But for many the truth is, mom did spend the money on club clothing instead of food for the kid.  There are children going hungry every single day, and it is abuse.  So for all the people who found the above image funny here are three pictures with links that prove it is not funny.  Three children starved to death.  I did a quick Google search and these were the first three I saw.  I am sure there are many many more but I could not stomach looking at anymore children starved to death but their family.   So look into the faces of these three children and tell me that the above photo is still funny too you.  Stop abuse, report abuse, and notice which kids are going hungry. 

Meet Hamzah Khan his mom starved him to death, watched him died and ordered pizza.  Four-year-old'smummified body was resting next to teddy bear in his mother's house whendiscovered by police in Bradford. 

Meet Daniel Pelka.  He was starved and beaten for months by his so called mother and her boyfriend before he died in March 2012. Starved boy Daniel Pelka 'invisible' to professionals

Meet Jeffrey Baldwin. Jeffrey Baldwin was placed in the care of the grandparent who starved him to death.  Jeffrey was locked in his room, forced to mop up his own urine and feces and so severely starved that at the end of his life he couldn't lift his own head.    Boy starved to death wanted to be Superman, inquest hears.

So the next time you see a something about a child going without food think about these three boys before you laugh.  If you think a child is in need of help, or that a caregiver is not taking care of a child report it.  Maybe you could save a life, instead of having a laugh.  Child abuse is real.  Children going hungry is real.  Don't accept it, don't turn a blind eye, and really look at the children around you and see if there is a Jeffrey, Daniel or Hamzah you could save!