The canteen arrangements of a Turku elementary school spoke volumes on social media. Those who threw food in the trash were shown a red thumb. According to the principal, the thumbs are familiar to the students from other situations.
From Turku Jonna Lehto was visiting the flea market at Ilpoinen school on Sunday, in whose canteen he was shocked by what he saw.
The line to return dishes in the elementary school canteen was divided into two depending on whether the meal was completely eaten or not. The line leading to the waste bin was decorated with red thumbs pointing down and the text “I didn’t eat everything”. In the second queue, which leads directly to the return of dishes, you could instead admire a green thumb and the text “I ate everything”.
Lehto shared the pictures of the canteen in a local Facebook group, where the solution, which was called an alley of shame, was condemned in harsh terms.
“I don’t even have enough words to express this feeling of anger, which this view caused in me,” Lehto wrote in the update.
HS Turku reached out to Lehto, who is outraged at how students can be separated so strongly.
Lehto especially criticizes red thumbs.
“It’s a bit rude to create such a walk of shame, along which the children who don’t eat everything have to go. I don’t understand how adults could have thought it was a good idea”, wonders Lehto.
Lehto’s criticism is particularly aimed at the red tags, which he says create the image that it would be shameful to pass through a waste container.
“Why did it need to be separated so radically?”
According to Lehto, “alley of shame” can increase eating disorders.
“If you have to walk through such a separate alley as a small child, it will definitely make you take less food in the future. The cycle can start from there,” he says.
Lehto himself has not been in contact with the school.
Happy the school principal Johanna Järvinen has heard about the social media discussion, but has not seen the update itself. Järvinen says that the canteen arrangement is part of the Prokoulu model, in which the school is involved. Green and red thumbs are part of this model and familiar to students from other teaching situations.
“I understand that it has caused confusion for outsiders. It’s not meant to be a shame.”
According to Järvinen, the arrangements are not intended to coerce or blame the students.
“A green thumb means continue this activity. A red thumb, on the other hand, also means in class that you stop and think about whether there is room for improvement in your own activity. It doesn’t mean that you have done something wrong. If you don’t know about it, that red thumb looks a bit rough,” Järvinen opens.
Thumbs were removed from the canteen as a result of the commotion.
The principal’s according to canteen arrangements were moved in January, when the staff of the canteen had received feedback about a lot of food waste. By splitting the queue in two, the passage was also made smoother for those who did not have anything to do with the waste container.
“Some of the students scooped terrible amounts of food onto the plate. We tried to tackle this.”
The amount of food waste has decreased with the new return line and information attacks given to students.
“On the best days, there was less than two kilos of food waste”, Järvinen describes and says that the students have been rewarded with xylitol lozenges and ice cream.
According to the principal, the queues have also shortened significantly with the new arrangement.
As a result of the uproar, the school took the green and red thumbs out of use. Järvinen says that he has received only one message about the arrangement of the canteen, and that too after the social media.
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