A primary school girl has been banned from blogging about her school dinners by the local council. 9-year-old Martha Payne says she was pulled out of class and told that Argyll and Bute Council had banned her from posting pictures of her lunch to her popular blog Never Seconds.
Never Seconds has attracted millions of visitors and drawn the attention of celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Nick Nairn, pictured above, as well as raising money for charity. Each lunch is rated by healthiness, the number of mouthfuls, price and number of hairs discovered, all adding up to a final Food-o-meter score.
But yesterday Martha, who posts pictures of her daily lunch under the nickname Veg, wrote that she had been taken out of class and told that she couldn't take any more snaps because of the media attention.
Veg's dad adds that despite the support of the school, the local council had decided to ban her from taking photos. I've contacted the council for comment but have yet to hear anything.
Never Seconds is a fun blog and is often complimentary about school meals, so it seems a strange decision -- especially as the online backlash against the decision has brought the blog to even wider attention than it would have otherwise achieved: a textbook example of the Streisand Effect.
Although Martha has been banned from photographing her lunch, here's hoping she continues to write and raise money for charity, especially now that the blog has built up an international community. Visitors have even taken to sending in pictures of their own school dinners from as far afield as the US, Israel and Japan.
The success of the blog has seen over £4,000 of donations raised for Mary's Meals, a charity that provides school meals to kids in developing areas where poverty and hunger prevents children from gaining an education.
Do you think the council was right to shut down Never Seconds? Should kids be encouraged to share their thoughts online? And what are your fondest memories of school dinners? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page, or click here to make a donation to Mary's Meals.
Update 1pm: Argyll and Bute Council has responded to the controversy, arguing that the blog "misrepresented the options and choices available to pupils", as they "appear to only represent a fraction of the choices available". The council suggests that the media attention has "led catering staff to fear for their jobs". Is the ban a sensible precaution? Or is it an authoritarian overreaction, a stifling of youthful creativity, and a failure to engage with the concerns of the community?
Update 3pm: The ban has now been overturned. Hooray! Argyll and Bute council has withdrawn the ban and will meet Martha and her father next week to discuss a continuation of the blog.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
Comments 14
Add your comment
anonymous 15 June, 2012 10:16
That is so MEAN!
Jimboo 15 June, 2012 10:24
Nobs! No council can censor something like that. Set up a mirror / new blog and secretly take photos. Keep them coming, this isn't China!
anonymous 15 June, 2012 10:40
The only thing that puzzles me about this is what legal right has the council to "ban" her from posting anything??
or is freedom of speech not a basic human right anymore?
anonymous 15 June, 2012 11:37
Completely ridiculous!! This girl should be encouraged to continue publishing her blog. Stopping her is wrong in almost ever way possible. The council should be ashamed of themselves!
Elias Hedberg 15 June, 2012 12:09
@anonymous (10:40) – The headline seems to be misleading. According to the text in the article she was never (explicitly) banned from posting anything, just from snapping the pictures, which the local council might be able to do as they, as far as I understand, manages the school.
anonymous 15 June, 2012 12:48
Unbelievable! The council have shot themselves in the foot, they'll get so much bad publicity from this. Great to see that the BBC have taken this up:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-18454800
Martyn Butler 15 June, 2012 12:57
Nothing promotes a thing quite like a ban ;-)
anonymous 15 June, 2012 13:39
If the people fear losing their jobs because of the opinions of a little girl, they must be doing something gravely wrong. Also, what kind of message does this send kids? "Your opinion is invalid and no, you may not pursue an extra-curricular interest in journalism."
Peter Hudson 15 June, 2012 14:21
Update: the ban has now been lifted
Gordon_Hay 15 June, 2012 17:05
This story is really about irresponsible/sensationalist journalism. The girl started to take photos of her meals because she felt that, when it came to her class's turn to be at the end of the service queue, there was sometimes less choice/quantity left, and wanted to show her parents. Then she wanted to emulate a cousin by writing a blog, and the idea to raise money followed.
Then a Scottish tabloid heard about it and ran a "starving schoolkids" story, complete with quote from Jamie Oliver, and calling for the school meals staff to be sacked. That was what the Council and the staff (over-)reacted to, not the blog, which was generally complimentary in tone.
Of course, the origins will not now be reported - never let the facts get in the way of a good story!
Rich Trenholm 15 June, 2012 17:34
Thanks for your comment, Gordon, but I'm not sure which part of the story you're referring to. I haven't gone down the 'starving schoolkids' route, instead emphasising the positive and creative aspects of the blog, such as the international community that's grown around it and the money raised for charity. I've even noted that the council's ban was a strange move given that the blog is indeed generally complimentary.
Regardless of what the council were (over)reacting to, that reaction punished the blog, not the media. Instead of tackling those media outlets that had published sensationalist stories, the council chose to ban a 9-year-old girl from pursuing a hobby that had touched millions.
But the council has now relented, so hopefully things will be back to normal. The moral of the story is that an institution such as a council or company is better off engaging with its customers to rescue its reputation than clamping down to try and control its reputation. Fortunately Argyll and Bute Council seems to have learnt that lesson today, and done the right thing.
anonymous 15 June, 2012 17:56
I know that Jamie Oliver raised an issue regarding the quality of some school meals a ago. He was probably right in doing that. BUT.. the main thing to me is that feedback and comments from the Children about the food that is served to them is VITAL.. After all, If the don't like it then they will not want to eat it. I say that this BLOG that Martha has is a good thing.. .. It raises awareness about Nutrition. If they like the food and eat it then it's GOOD & If they don't like it then folk need to know why not ......................My FULL Support ........ Great Idea Lassie ..
Gordon_Hay 15 June, 2012 20:21
Rich - I wasn't referring to your report in my comment but to the media coverage here in Scotland, which is of course influenced by politics, ( The Daily Record is a Labour supporter, as are most of the press, and the council concerned is SNP controlled).
As you say, the council aimed at the wrong target, and indeed have now stated that they recognise they should have taken their staff's concerns up with the paper when the articles first appeared in early May.
HarryMonmouth 15 June, 2012 20:41
It annoys me so much when law is the essence of governance that no one in charge has any idea of what they are allowed to do, whether it is a local councillor or the home secretary. If it is a local councillor then they ask their in house lawyers, who say, "You did what? No of course you can't do that. Have you never heard of the Human rights Act?" If it is the home secretary it gets made into law and then it gets contested and the Supreme Court say, "You did what? No of course you can't do that. Have you never heard of the Human Rights Act?"