How to defend BOOK IT!

[mrsklamc]

This makes me so angry:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/03/02/reading.for.pizza.ap/index.html

Book it! does not make kids fat. One personal pan pizza a month is not going to make your kid fat.

We were poor when I was a kid, and it would have been devastating for me as a kid to loose this one opportunity to eat out a month. And I don't know if it caused my love for reading, but it certainly didn't make me hate it like these nuts say it will!

Obesity in general (I know there are thyroid issues and medical problems) is caused by lifestyle choices, not by an occasional treat. GRRR! Should I start a petition? Write school administrators? What do you guys think?

 

[crcormier]

Absolutely. I don't think anything is bad in moderation. Parents are more responsible for childhood obesity than anything else.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

I agree with you.

My kids are in college now. We ate many a pizza at Pizza Hut for Book It or a good report card. I am sure the restuarant did ok because we always bought food in addition to what the kids had. And you can see by my siggie that they are not obese from an occasional pizza.

Some people just have to have something to complain about. And it is a shame because I think Pizza Hut has a good program.

 

[disneymama73]

ITA! Everything in moderation!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I LOOOOOOOOOOOVED going to Pizza Hut for my Book It pizza!!! It was the coolest thing!

 

[cougar242]

My 6 year old really looks forward to his once a month personal pizza. I think that it is a good program.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

i had loads of these and they always got thrown out, we just never used them. Not a pizza fan, and I would say that in school, but they had to give me something I just love reading!

 

[LukenDC]

I am really tired of the food police. Junk food, in moderation, is one of the great pleasures of American life. It's up to parents to monitor their children's caloric intake and nutrition, not the schools.

 

[nsyncraider17]

Ridiculous.

I remember my mom taking my younger brother and me to the Pizza Hut in our mall to get our pizzas every month when we were in elementary school. We are far from obese. I would bet that most of the kids who take advantage of the program eat pizza at least once a month anyway, so I really don't think that Book It is specifically leading to childhood obesity.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I agree. My kids love a "Book It" lunch! It's a fun treat.

 

[unbroken chain]

I'd have to disagree with the majority here - but not because I worry about the nutritional quality of the pizza. In my view,this is nothing but a promotional campaign by Pizza Hut, and I think the schools shouldn't make themselves available to promote advertising by a corporation, at least not when the "free" item effectively comes with strings attached, trying to force you to spend money with a particular company.

The reason I say this is that very few people are going to go in and just get the personal pan pizza. Especially if you are a single parent and can't leave your other children with someone - what are you going to do, take all your kids, and one gets the pizza (with water to drink, so it really is free) while the other kids watch him eat it? If you're not willing to do that, then your choices are: (i) pay for everyone to eat, plus drinks and tip (and that may seem like nothing to some, but if you are counting pennies -and I've been in that situation - it can be a bigger deal than you think) or (ii) ignore the 'free' coupons and hope the child forgets about it (unlikely) or have to explain that you don't have enough money to pay for everyone, so they don't get their treat. I explained to my kids that it was a promotional gimmick to get you to spend more money in their restaurant, and my child understood (but was disappointed), but I shouldn't have been put in that situation by the school, in my opinion.

Now we have another program in our school also, where children who read a certain amount all get taken out to dinner by the teachers at the end of the year, at a certain restaurant. I have no idea if the restaurant gives them a break on the price, but it's a local family restaurant, so they might. For comparative purposes, let's say the restaurant pays for 100% of the meal. (Because the teachers shouldn't have to pay, and I'm not sure if they or the PTA pitch in.) I do know that the kids pay nothing. I think this is a much better program. Yes, in a way it promotes this local restaurant. But it really is a treat with no strings attached - it's not blatantly trying to force parents to spend money in the restaurant in addition to the free meal, which is my opinion is one unspoken goal of the Pizza Hut program.

ETA: My school's program was a coupon for dine-in only. You specifically weren't allowed to order it as take-out. If you could order take-out and just get the free pizza only, that would be acceptable to me, because then it's really a reward for the child and not a way to try to get you to spend money there to get your 'free' item.

 

[poohandwendy]

I'd have to disagree with the majority here - but not because I worry about the nutritional quality of the pizza. In my view,this is nothing but a promotional campaign by Pizza Hut, and I think the schools shouldn't make themselves available to promote advertising by a corporation, at least not when the "free" item effectively comes with strings attached, trying to force you to spend money with a particular company.

I totally agree with you. If it were truly a reward for the kids accomplishments, you could get the personal pan pizza to go and not have to 'eat in' the restaurant. (not sure if they still require this, but that is how it was when my kids were participating)

I could not stand the Book It program when my kids were younger. My DH and are not crazy about Pizza Hut food (any of it) and it was a chore making that a monthly lunch/dinner choice for the family.

It is definitely a promotion of Pizza Hut because they are drawing you in with basically a barely noticeable discount off your check. (the kids 'free' pizza)

My kids are readers, so this was a monthly PITA, much like a period. (at least for us, people who do mot like Pizza Hut) We ended up finally finding another small way to 'celebrate' their accomplishment. But, I think my eldest DD is still bitter over not being able to spend one night a month in Pizza Hut...LOL.

I am all for promoting reading in young people. A monthly guilting of parents to patronize a restaurant is not the way to go, IMHO.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

My kids LOVED this program! We would order the pizza by phone and go in and get it and take it home. I did not order pizza for us. So yes, the book-it child got a special treat. They also earned stickers on a card toward some sort of medallion. It was a great program.

 

[poohandwendy]

My kids LOVED this program! We would order the pizza by phone and go in and get it and take it home. I did not order pizza for us. So yes, the book-it child got a special treat. They also earned stickers on a card toward some sort of medallion. It was a great program.

I would have LOVED this option and would not have any argument with the program if they had done this when my children were participating.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

I would have LOVED this option and would not have any argument with the program if they had done this when my children were participating.

We must have posted at the same time, I just now saw your first post!

We never had any problem in 2 different states getting the pizza to go. I just made sure my child was with me. I don't remember the certificates saying you had to eat it there either.

 

[unbroken chain]

My kids LOVED this program! We would order the pizza by phone and go in and get it and take it home. I did not order pizza for us. So yes, the book-it child got a special treat. They also earned stickers on a card toward some sort of medallion. It was a great program.

My school's version was for dine-in only. You weren't allowed to order it as take-out. Now, if you could do take-out, and so you really could get JUST the free pizza, I wouldn't have a problem with the program. It's still promoting the company, of course, but it's really "free", not an underhanded way to boost sales.

 

[sugarpie]

I'm 30 years old & we had the BOOK IT program in school.

I always have that 5 extra pounds that I can't seem to get rid of. Until now I never understood why, but now I get it. It was BOOK IT. BOOK IT may have encouraged me to read, but it also ruined my life.

 

[poohandwendy]

We must have posted at the same time, I just now saw your first post!

We never had any problem in 2 different states getting the pizza to go. I just made sure my child was with me. I don't remember the certificates saying you had to eat it there either.

When my kids participated, it was printed on the certificate that it was for 'eat in' only. It would also state 'no other purchase necessary" Like you are going to send your child in alone to eat, or sit there and watch them eat.

I can only assume they received anough complaints about that part to change it.

I think it's a great program as long as they are allowing it to be a treat with no strings attached.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

When my kids participated, it was printed on the certificate that it was for 'eat in' only. It would also state 'no other purchase necessary" Like you are going to send your child in alone to eat, or sit there and watch them eat.

I can only assume they received anough complaints about that part to change it.

I think it's a great program as long as they are allowing it to be a treat with no strings attached.

Or maybe they just did not enforce that part here. I would object to having to eat it there!

 

[poohandwendy]

Or maybe they just did not enforce that part here. I would object to having to eat it there!

Maybe not, I dunno. Our local PH manager was a stickler for the 'rules' though, when asked if we could get it to go we were told no, LOL. (can't blame me for trying) I did check the web site and the rules state that they can order it 'to go', so they must have changed the rules somewhere along the way.