OT - Vent - Teacher's Version of School Wellness Policy

[Duckiedee]

We don't have a contract in our school, but I would be happy to have one.

We have to provide lunch and a snack for our kids. There is a no candy/junk food policy and I am so glad of this.

Our school doesn't provide food except at the Pre-primary (Jr K) level and they provide seriously clean meals. Everything is homemade. Every once in awhile the Upper School (7 to 12) cooks to raise money and purchasing lunch is an option... is again, homemade and nutritious.

There is a bake sale once/year where anything goes, but the younger kids are allowed $1 to purchase 1 item and they have to take it home to eat it.

I really appreciate that the school supports efforts to eat healthy and the wellness of our kids. This overall life-learning type of initiative that goes beyond reading, writing and arithmetic is important to me. I think kids need to hear these good habits from others in addition to myself and it is nice when my daughter is eating her veggies and fruit etc at school, the kid next to her is doing the same vs munching away on a chemical- sugar- additive- salt- fat-laden snack cake.

I want her to see it as normal.

 

[NaLisa]

Ah, with a class of 25, they wouldn't be doing it every week, would they?

Heaven forbid a little fun might creep in there.

Personally, I'd rather they not allow birthday celebrations at school, other than to mention the child's name during morning announcements or something. Seems like last year, my 1st grader's class was "celebrating" every week. Birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's, Dr. Seuss week, 100 days of school, 100 book reading club, pizza party for most boxtops, chicken nugget party for biggest attendance at Chick-Fil-A night, and so on. Seems to me like all that celebrating would cut into instruction time, especially worrisome considering today's emphasis on standardized testing.

And I can't help but feel bad for the children with summertime birthdays, or the one whose parents can't afford to make or buy cupcakes for everyone in the class, or the parents whose job won't allow them to come to the school on the child's birthday.

Naturally, I took cupcakes on my DD's birthday, because "everyone else did" and I didn't want her to feel left out. But it seems to me like all these school celebrations have gotten out of hand. If the school stopped allowing birthday celebrations on top of all the school-sponsored parties, I would be relieved along with several teachers and other parents I know.

 

[SDSorority]

This whole discussion is so interesting from a food perspective. Here are some more thoughts:

1. What constitutes a healthy snack? Fruit by its nature, is sugar laden, so tons of fruit, is also not good. Nuts can be salty, juice is full of sugar, etc...

2. Kids are picky because parents have made them picky (excepting special needs children). If kids have been fed chicken nuggets and pop, then that is what they are most likely going to want to eat. All of the new research is showing that this generation of hugely picky kids has been made picky by: chemicals in foods (only crave salts/sugars/fats) and parents who don't model or provide good eating for their kids. Kids can only eat what is in the cupboard, as last time I checked, 4 year olds can't go grocery shopping on their own. LOL! So, once again, we have the home world, crashing into the school world. What's the best way to deal with this? Classroom contracts perhaps are not the best way.

3. School lunches are horribly fattening - my parents are restauranteurs who used to run several highschool cafeterias, plus, I'm a highschool teacher, so I can assure you that school lunches are horribly full of chemicals and fats. Yuck! We joke that you can set a foundation on your house with that nasty gravy! Teens love this kind of food, it's cheap, and commercial food products are made this way, as most of it is packaged/processed in some form. My family actually made homemade food, but after awhile, it got too expensive, and our board couldn't afford it any longer.

4. Kids don't need birthday treats at school - we never had this when I was growing up, and it was just fine. There are lots of other fun ways to celebrate birthdays without always having to involve food. Donating a book to school is a fabulous idea - I've been doing it for years. A book is going to serve much more good than cupcakes and pop. Your child can eat the cupcakes and pop at his/her birthday party at home.

Such an interesting discussion, Tiger

YES. Great comments, especially #2

 

[badblackpug]

This whole discussion is so interesting from a food perspective. Here are some more thoughts:

1. What constitutes a healthy snack? Fruit by its nature, is sugar laden, so tons of fruit, is also not good. Nuts can be salty, juice is full of sugar, etc...
Exactly! Some of the things people think are healthy I certainly wouldn't classify as so (pretzels, popcorn, goldfish crackers)

2. Kids are picky because parents have made them picky (excepting special needs children). If kids have been fed chicken nuggets and pop, then that is what they are most likely going to want to eat. All of the new research is showing that this generation of hugely picky kids has been made picky by: chemicals in foods (only crave salts/sugars/fats) and parents who don't model or provide good eating for their kids. Kids can only eat what is in the cupboard, as last time I checked, 4 year olds can't go grocery shopping on their own. LOL! So, once again, we have the home world, crashing into the school world. What's the best way to deal with this? Classroom contracts perhaps are not the best way.
In my case my kids are not picky. At all. They will eat virtually all fruits and a majority of vegetables. We eat a variety of foods at home, and, in general, try to eat healthy foods. (my junk food junkie is my grown up "boy" who would eat at McDonalds every day rather than carry his meal to work) My point is if my kids have an otherwise nutritious lunch, I don't think it hurts to have a few chips, or cookies, or a granola bar on occasion, and I think it's my business. As I said before, this should be dealt with on an individual basis. If a kid is showing up with a mountain dew and a snickers every day, talk to the parent, but don't shame the kid that has 2 chips ahoy in an otherwise good lunch.

3. School lunches are horribly fattening - my parents are restauranteurs who used to run several highschool cafeterias, plus, I'm a highschool teacher, so I can assure you that school lunches are horribly full of chemicals and fats. Yuck! We joke that you can set a foundation on your house with that nasty gravy! Teens love this kind of food, it's cheap, and commercial food products are made this way, as most of it is packaged/processed in some form. My family actually made homemade food, but after awhile, it got too expensive, and our board couldn't afford it any longer.

Actually our school's lunches meet the same health criteria they set forth for the packed lunches and snacks, but my kids think they are nasty, so they only buy on pizza day.

4. Kids don't need birthday treats at school - we never had this when I was growing up, and it was just fine. There are lots of other fun ways to celebrate birthdays without always having to involve food. Donating a book to school is a fabulous idea - I've been doing it for years. A book is going to serve much more good than cupcakes and pop. Your child can eat the cupcakes and pop at his/her birthday party at home.

Our school doesn't celebrate birthdays at school either. There are just too many and it's too disruptive. They do have a Halloween, winter holiday, Valentines Day parties, and end of the year picnic. I really don't see a problem with having treats on these occasions. To my kids fruit and veggies are not treats, they get them every day. These celebrations are usually held at the end of the school day.

Such an interesting discussion, Tiger

Again, our district has this anti obesity campaign going on. We are not allowed to have bake sales or sell candy as a fund raiser. I am all for healthy snacks and meals that provide fuel for kids brains, but I think it has gotten way out of hand when you police a childs lunch or want a parent to sign a contract stating what they will or will not feed their own child. Healthy is too open to interpretation.

 

[melancholywings]

Posts like this make me love my school all the more. I wouldn't sign that contract and I wouldn't be happy with any teacher that didn't allow water bottles in the classroom. To ask for a contract is incredibly insensitive and presumptious to the families she's working with.

 

[Kate and Pete]

We had our teacher meet & greet yesterday. Due to early and late lunch periods, both my 1st and 3rd grader need to bring a snack. Both teachers asked for a "healthy" snack, but did not specify anything other than no chips or candy. I asked if goldfish crackers were OK, and they said yes. We also got a paper stating that there will only be 2 class parties a year - one right before winter break and one for Valentine's Day. The kids are not allowed to bring treats of any kind (not even pencils) to celebrate birthdays. That is to be done outside of school. Seems a little sad, actually. I remember what fun it was as a kid when we all got cupcakes for someone's birthday. But I guess with a class of 25 kids, they can't be doing that every week.

Well, it's also potentially a socio-economic issue as well - there are many kids whose families can't afford to make 25 cupcakes (or buy 25 pencils), as it's just not in their budget. Just my 2 cents as a teacher!

 

[crisi]

Well, it's also potentially a socio-economic issue as well - there are many kids whose families can't afford to make 25 cupcakes (or buy 25 pencils), as it's just not in their budget. Just my 2 cents as a teacher!

And I think teachers are becoming more aware of this sort of thing and the "games" that are played in terms of popularity and money get played earlier and earlier.

And there is the ever present food sensitivity problem - with so many kids "peanut free, gluten free, lactose free, egg free" policing snacks - particularly shared snacks - becomes a nightmare. And IMHO, except for a few cases where there is a REAL danger due to the allergy issues - its more of a nightmare for the teacher in terms of the calls they get from concerned parents when they discover little Abby was exposed to WHEAT and REFINED SUGAR and the teacher DIDN'T STOP IT! It says right here on her health form that this makes her hard to manage!

 

[torinsmom]

My kids have been drinking skim milk since they were 2, and I grew up on it. I would gag on whole milk, and even 2% is like drinking bacon (and they prefer turkey bacon, and light sausage, because that's what they know). I agree that a "healthy" school lunch probably tastes gross - I know my kids only order the chicken nuggets or the pizza (which comes from a good local NJ pizzaria).

Not saying there is anything WRONG with skim milk, but just like your kids would gag if they got whole milk, some kids gag with skim milk. I think they should have the choice of skim and at least 2% milk. I'm also not against healthy school lunches, but they just shouldn't serve hot dogs if they are going to use the no fat ones. It's like biting through a rubber hose! And the lunch people are not allowed to put ant seasonings on the vegetables, so the kids don't eat those either. I just think it would be healthier for a child to eat some corn with salt on it than not to eat it at all

Personally, I'd rather they not allow birthday celebrations at school, other than to mention the child's name during morning announcements or something. Seems like last year, my 1st grader's class was "celebrating" every week. Birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's, Dr. Seuss week, 100 days of school, 100 book reading club, pizza party for most boxtops, chicken nugget party for biggest attendance at Chick-Fil-A night, and so on. Seems to me like all that celebrating would cut into instruction time, especially worrisome considering today's emphasis on standardized testing.

And I can't help but feel bad for the children with summertime birthdays, or the one whose parents can't afford to make or buy cupcakes for everyone in the class, or the parents whose job won't allow them to come to the school on the child's birthday.

Naturally, I took cupcakes on my DD's birthday, because "everyone else did" and I didn't want her to feel left out. But it seems to me like all these school celebrations have gotten out of hand. If the school stopped allowing birthday celebrations on top of all the school-sponsored parties, I would be relieved along with several teachers and other parents I know.

We always recognize our summer birthdays in the last few weeks of school. And even if a child does not bring a treat, we do our same little routine, with the child walking around the sun once for every year they have been on the Earth. We have extra snacks for these occasions as well. We have 2-3 parties a year, and no restrictions except it has to be store bought and no candy(although they can bring candy to give out for Valentines day to take home).

 

[luvthemouse71]

Not all rules are good rules . Some are just plain stupid but we are getting to a point in society where the bureaucrats make up silly rules and people just go along with it. Nothing wrong with teaching kids not to just blindly follow authority. Now parents are allowing teachers to dictate how to feed their kids? Ridiculous.

 

[hffmnheidi]

Did anyone hear where they want to take SWINGS off of school playgrounds? Really? What are kids supposed to do when there's nothing on the playground to get them to PHYSICALLY exercise under the guise of fun?

I had swings on my playground and I turned out just fine and I bet a whole lot of other people did too.

 

[bucket o' butter]

I don't have a problem with a teacher requesting healthy snacks over non healthy snacks but until the school itself offers ONLY healthy lunches to my kids then nobody there has the right to demand me to send in only healthy snacks and lunches for my kids

I agree with this completely, I am amazed at some of the junk that schools serve. And yes, I am a teacher, so I see it firsthand everyday. Our children get snack everyday and when they have milk, we make them dump it in a tub when they are finished so it doesn't leak through the trash bag in the trash can. It saddens me to see how much milk I throw away daily. I asked about just getting a gallon of milk and using smaller cups. They could get more if they wanted more, but weren't forced to drink an 8 oz. container. But, since my children are part of the Child and Adult Food Care Plan, they have to be given an 8 oz. container of milk. I won't even go into all the food that is thrown away in the cafeteria after lunch. Amazing!!!

I do suggest to parents to bring in healthy snacks for birthdays, but I don't require it. There is nothing wrong with an occasional cookie or brownie. To sign a contract is crazy though. As parents, we have enough guilt! We don't need that added to the list. As a parent, I think I would speak to the building principal about that.

 

[Purseval]

I had swings on my playground and I turned out just fine and I bet a whole lot of other people did too.

You didn't have parents who sued the school system if you fell off the swing.

 

[buzz5985]

Unless a teacher has a BS in Nutrition and Dietetics - they have no right to be giving nutritional advice about what snacks a child should bring to school. I would call the Superintendent of Schools and remind them of this fact.

School systems jobs are to teach english, math, science, etc. That's it. No more.

 

[NaLisa]

You didn't have parents who sued the school system if you fell off the swing.

From my understanding, it's because a swing is something typically monopolized by one child at a time for a long period of time. On a slide, rock wall, monkey bars, etc., the children keep moving and everyone gets to participate. I've noticed lots of parks that have done away with swings in favor of other things that can accommodate several children at a time.

Honestly, I've never heard of anyone suing a school system because their child fell off a swing.

 

[Gigi22]

As some PPs mentioned earlier in this thread, a child cannot sign a binding contract. Secondly, if the child's teacher sends you a 'contract' to sign, as the parent, you are within your rights to modify the language of the 'contract' to reflect whatever you believe is reasonable, initial each change, sign your modified version! (If you choose to go this route, keep a copy at home). Send the modified original back to the teacher.
I'm shocked, really, that someone would be so foolish as to go the contract route with a room full of schoolchildren. Quick way to get an individualized contract back
from each household!

 

[dimimi]

Yeah, the lunches they serve aren't exactly healthy - and my DS buys lunch every day - usually he skips the main lunch gets the alternate which is either a hotdog or pizza - so there was that irony as well.

And truly, I don't have a problem with the requesting healthy snacks, but to make it what is essentially a contract - that's what I have a problem with.

I agree with your concerns. I like to send in peanut butter crackers. We haven't had an issue with Peanut butter in our middle schools. I also used to send in nutrigrain bars. Are these things the most nutritious, no, but it's better than a candy bar and it gives them some energy to work/concentrate.

I am a high school teacher. The kids get hungry before lunch because most do not eat breakfast. I think eating something is better than nothing.

At our elementary school, we did have 1 teacher (we didn't have her) that would analyze the snacks. She didn't like some chewy bars with protein because they had chocolate chips in them! The parent was not happy.

Good luck!

 

[dimimi]

As some PPs mentioned earlier in this thread, a child cannot sign a binding contract. Secondly, if the child's teacher sends you a 'contract' to sign, as the parent, you are within your rights to modify the language of the 'contract' to reflect whatever you believe is reasonable, initial each change, sign your modified version! (If you choose to go this route, keep a copy at home). Send the modified original back to the teacher.
I'm shocked, really, that someone would be so foolish as to go the contract route with a room full of schoolchildren. Quick way to get an individualized contract back
from each household!

I LOVE this idea!

 

[torinsmom]

I agree with this completely, I am amazed at some of the junk that schools serve. And yes, I am a teacher, so I see it firsthand everyday. Our children get snack everyday and when they have milk, we make them dump it in a tub when they are finished so it doesn't leak through the trash bag in the trash can. It saddens me to see how much milk I throw away daily. I asked about just getting a gallon of milk and using smaller cups. They could get more if they wanted more, but weren't forced to drink an 8 oz. container. But, since my children are part of the Child and Adult Food Care Plan, they have to be given an 8 oz. container of milk. I won't even go into all the food that is thrown away in the cafeteria after lunch. Amazing!!!

I do suggest to parents to bring in healthy snacks for birthdays, but I don't require it. There is nothing wrong with an occasional cookie or brownie. To sign a contract is crazy though. As parents, we have enough guilt! We don't need that added to the list. As a parent, I think I would speak to the building principal about that.

My mom works in a school cafeteria. The students are required to take a milk with their lunch, whether they want it or not. Because they have touched it, they are supposed to be thrown away, even if they are not opened. My mom started putting a tub of ice by the trash can for the kids to put any unopened milk in. She and the other workers will wash the cartons and take it home to their kids or grandkids so it doesn't go to waste. They would get fired if they put it back into the school milk supply. I hate to think how much milk is wasted this way at other schools.

Marsha

 

[penn19]

From my understanding, it's because a swing is something typically monopolized by one child at a time for a long period of time. On a slide, rock wall, monkey bars, etc., the children keep moving and everyone gets to participate. I've noticed lots of parks that have done away with swings in favor of other things that can accommodate several children at a time.

Honestly, I've never heard of anyone suing a school system because their child fell off a swing.

We had swings at school when I was little. If someone was on the bank of swings, you waited in front, in a line until it was your turn. Something about sharing and cooperation........

 

[seashoreCM]

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