Confinement on bread & water or diminished rations are PUNISHMENTS used by the Navy!

Why are we also allowing children as young as four to be punished in this manner? Schools have purchased and prepared meals with the intent of serving them to students, sometimes the only thing preventing the meal from being served is that the student's school meal account is a few cents shy of the cost of the meal, often pocket change. Texas law allows school districts to place parents on payment plans for school meal accounts, why not employ that law and bill the parents instead of denying children meals? Of course I know that I can't buy a meal at a restaurant if I don't have enough money, but try explaining that to a 4 year-old who has been turned away from the breakfast line empty-handed and in tears because her school meal account was delinquent.