Birthdays, Holidays and Parties at schools.....

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kit8806
kit8806 Posts: 222 Member
in Chit-Chat
Ok, I have 2 sisters that are still in high school (2 different schools) and one came home with a letter stating that from now on, whenever there is a birthday celebration, a holiday party, or any classroom party in general, the kids are ONLY allowed to bring fresh, store bought veggies, Wheat Thins cracker, Triscut Crackers, Fresh store bought fruit, juice that is at least 50% real fruit juice, humus, etc. You are NOT allowed to bring in any baked goods or candy.... WTH?! Ok, I know this is a health and fitness site, and that starting healthy habits young is best. I'm perfectly okay with that. But seriously?! Holidays, birthdays and parties are supposed to be fun and exciting and a chance to slightly indulge in the sweets! I remember in grade school getting lollipops and chocolates for Valentines day from friends, or small bags of candy on halloween. I have no issue with healthy eating, otherwise I wouldn't be here, but I think this is just going too far! If the schools are going to be so against the unhealthy foods, then they should stop serving the junk they do at lunches! Take down the snack lines and serve the fresh fruit and veggies and such for lunch!

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  • eyestylemom
    eyestylemom Posts: 107 Member
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    I agree. My boys are in elementary school and they are not allowed to bring ANYTHING to celebrate birthdays in the classroom because of "nutrition" issues. But they sell cookies and cupcakes in the cafeteria? :grumble:
  • Jersey_Devil
    Jersey_Devil Posts: 4,142 Member
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    yeah you can't bring in any food whatsoever (neither healthy nor junk) to celebrate
  • kit8806
    kit8806 Posts: 222 Member
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    It is just so ridiculous anymore! My sister can seriously go thru the snack line and have a soda and bag of chips or a cookie for lunch, but she can't bring in cookies for a party??
  • legs_n_bacon
    legs_n_bacon Posts: 478 Member
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    I think that schools promoting healthy choices is a good idea because for some kids that is the only place they learn about nutrition!

    Our District doesn't allow any food for parties or holidays due to the increasing number of students with food allergies. The kids don't miss the treats at all.
  • paintlisapurple
    paintlisapurple Posts: 982 Member
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    Taking away all of the children's treats is not being very fair to them. We as parents and educators need to set a good example for the children and promote moderation.
  • LucyMcNibbles
    LucyMcNibbles Posts: 4
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    Well, if you think about how many birthday parties there could be in a year (18-22 in elementary school, depending on the grade level), then all the treats for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas/winter celebrations, (boy, fall is loaded with goodies!), and any other celebration that could possibly occur, that's a lot of treats! Someone hit the nail on the head: not all kids learn about proper nutrition at home. I have kids showing up with a can of soda and a canister of Pringles for breakfast. They think Twinkies are a good snack. They just don't learn it at home. I'm not saying cafeteria food is the greatest in the world, either. I've been teaching for 8 years and have NEVER purchased a school lunch! But if you have a classroom party, you should see those kids! They go crazy and eat anything and everything in sight. I've seen a couple of kids turn down treats, or at least limit themselves, but you'd think the rest of them have never had snacks before with the way some of them eat!
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    It's hard to say anything without stepping on a landmine here. But, we have a kid that has peanut allergies in our school/sports programs, therefore NO ONE IN THE UNIVERSE OF HUMANS can come within 8000 miles with even peanuts on their breath. If a bag of peanuts is seen, the mom goes ballistic.

    I'm just saying, weve gotten carried away with bull****. And for some reason the weak noisy a**hole wins. Regardless if 99.9% of the rest of all humans on the earth don't have any issue with anything.

    It's like the cold people always win in a room full of people. It doesn't t matter how uncomfortable the heat makes the 99 out of 100, the cold person always wins.
  • legs_n_bacon
    legs_n_bacon Posts: 478 Member
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    It's hard to say anything without stepping on a landmine here. But, we have a kid that has peanut allergies in our school/sports programs, therefore NO ONE IN THE UNIVERSE OF HUMANS can come within 8000 miles with even peanuts on their breath. If a bag of peanuts is seen, the mom goes ballistic.

    I'm just saying, weve gotten carried away with bull****. And for some reason the weak noisy a**hole wins. Regardless if 99.9% of the rest of all humans on the earth don't have any issue with anything.

    It's like the cold people always win in a room full of people. It doesn't t matter how uncomfortable the heat makes the 99 out of 100, the cold person always wins.

    I agree with this. But most schools have found ways to deal with this that pleases everyone. We have peanut-free tables in the lunchroom and we have peanut-free classrooms, which parents volunteer to have their children be in. No peanut products are allowed to be cooked or used in science classrooms as parts of experiments where they will be heated.

    The attitude of our District is that the students have to learn at a young age how to deal with their allegies, putting them in a peanut free school creates a false sense of security. They have to be vigilant.
  • TrimAnew
    TrimAnew Posts: 127 Member
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    Well, if you think about how many birthday parties there could be in a year (18-22 in elementary school, depending on the grade level), then all the treats for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas/winter celebrations, (boy, fall is loaded with goodies!), and any other celebration that could possibly occur, that's a lot of treats! Someone hit the nail on the head: not all kids learn about proper nutrition at home.

    ^^ this

    You're lucky they allow birthday celebrations still. Many schools do not allow birthday celebrations (it's against some religions and no one wants to be the kid that can't celebrate with everyone else after all) or they only allow 1 party for all birthdays in a given month (to reduce pressure on families in poverty who may not be able to afford treats for their kid's class on the kid's birthday). Healthy food can still be a yummy treat. I don't see this as something to worry about. I think limiting treats to something healthy is a great idea.

    I had teachers who did this in high school too. You could snack on an apple in class or drink a bottle of water in class, but chips or candy and soda in class were not allowed (even though there plenty of vending machines that sold junk food on campus). A few people grouched when the teachers laid down the rule, but everyone got used to it very fast and it wasn't a problem. I liked the rule when I was a student because you still got to eat and drink in class, but you didn't have the torture of sitting next to a kid munching on a bag of smelly messy (but yummy) Doritios.
  • corn63
    corn63 Posts: 1,580 Member
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    Just another way big brother is running our life.
  • kit8806
    kit8806 Posts: 222 Member
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    Just another way big brother is running our life.

    I must say, I agree with this. I understand needing to learn healthy habbits, and that veggies are very tastey. I also understand some kids to learn the proper nutrition at home. With that, they need to be taught in school. Don't cut out the junk, they need to be taught that "everything is good in moderation". Saying "that cookie is going to make you fat and unhealthy" isn't sending the right message. Yes, in the US a lot of people are overweight, myself included, but restricting sweets completely shouldn't be the only answer.

    I do understand some kids don't celebrate birthdays or holidays, and ok, maybe they don't want to be the only one not celebrating. I'm not trying to sound rude or childish, but 1 person wins because 1 person in class doesn't believe it that? What does that teach that child? They get what they want. They too need to learn that people WILL celebrate things in life, and, like the allergies, they need to learn how to manage it and deal with it. Why take everything away from people who believe in things?

    I also understand the allergy thing, my daughter has friends in her class with egg allergies and peanut allergies, so imagine trying to find treats to bring in that don't include them! But I searched around and found a receipe for cookies with no eggs needed.
  • TrimAnew
    TrimAnew Posts: 127 Member
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    I do understand some kids don't celebrate birthdays or holidays, and ok, maybe they don't want to be the only one not celebrating. I'm not trying to sound rude or childish, but 1 person wins because 1 person in class doesn't believe it that? What does that teach that child? They get what they want. They too need to learn that people WILL celebrate things in life, and, like the allergies, they need to learn how to manage it and deal with it. Why take everything away from people who believe in things?

    Kids can have plenty of celebrations without having "birthday" celebrations (which would ostracize a child of a minority religion and create a perfect set up for bullying). Remember schools are "captive audiences" so by necessity they have to very fair and politically correct, even if that isn't popular. There are plenty of minor national holidays (Columbus day, etc) for kids to have celebrations on, seasons to celebrate, and plenty of school functions to celebrate too. For example, a class just finished a novel and the test; perfect time for a celebration. Class finished a major math unit? Another opportunity. Ditto for themed science celebrations. After all, how much fun would a dinosaur/bug/inventor themed party be?!

    Kids need to learn the boundary between public and private lives too. Birthday in that case is more private, compared to a public math/science/english/whatever school party. Save the birthday cake for family and friends, not classmates.
  • Dub_D
    Dub_D Posts: 1,760 Member
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    It has been that way for a while in Alberta. I like it. I know for sure my daughter is eating healthy when she is not in my care, so I can monitor how much sugar/junk she gets.

    ETA: They don't sell any junk food at her school either. They strictly follow the Canadian Food Guide.
  • martymays
    martymays Posts: 188 Member
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    Kids can't have treats at school, yet there is no problem having them out SELLING cookie dough, pizza kits, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, candy bars, etc. I guess junk food is good as long as it brings in the green from their little salespeople.

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