I can only speak for my own schools in the USA, but this is not quite right. As a student, you were expected to pay for lunch at lunchtime. If you were privileg

I can only speak for my own schools in the USA, but this is not quite right. As a student, you were expected to pay for lunch at lunchtime. If you were privileged enough to afford it, generally your parents would give you enough money to fill your lunch account for 1-2 weeks. If you did not have enough money in your account to cover the meal, which was a set price for staples with extras (i.e., extra side dishes, snacks, drinks aside from water/milk) adding to the price, you would be required to have no more than a ham sandwich and milk, or if the cashier was feeling nice allow you to accrue debt/take the lunch for free. From what I have heard, this is how it was generally when I was in school. The movie stereotype of the bully "coming for your lunch money" while fairly anachronistic in my school years was not a completely unheard of scenario.