To be annoyed about the stickers?

YABU

The stickers aren’t being used as punishment , they are a reward - for brushing teeth. You get one if you brush your teeth , if you dint brush your teeth you don’t get one. It’s very simple. Your son is learning about life.

Would your resolution be for him to get a ‘well done for brushing your teeth “ sticker , even though he has not brushed them ?

I really do not understand why you have complained about this .

But stickers are a reward? Why would he be given one if he didnt earn the reward?

Part of the upset today has been that actually the stickers are highly sought after

Well then, he needs to get brushing. Such an easy solution to his problem🤷‍♀️. Can’t believe you didn’t tell him this and contacted the teacher.

Ah bless you @NerdySnoozer for owning it! Like you say - very simple. Brush your teeth? Get a sticker. Stop pretending you didn’t hear? Brush first? Maybe get first pick of stickers! 😇

🤣🤣🤣👍🏻👏🏻

I hope your son doesn't know you've turned this into a big deal, you're behaving as if the toothbrushing lady is some sort of dictator. He just needs to know the stickers are a reward and if he doesn't brush his teeth he doesn't get one. He's free to choose not to brush his teeth at school but he won't get a sticker. Not getting a sticker is not the end of the world it's just a consequence of a choice he made.

Yes that would be good

Love this

God I hate behaviourist "motivation" (coersion) tactics 🙄 People have battered you, OP, for saying "punishment" instead of "threat". She was using the threat of being left out as a way to force his hand. I hate stuff like this because one of my DC's is PDA autistic and this would throw her into fight/flight/freeze. She'd hold it all together at school while secretly cursing the tooth brush lady, and then at home we'd get a mahoosive meltdown and it would be almost impossible to get her into school the next day. I doubt this is the case for you, but it has really put me off the carrot and stick approach and I wanted to let you know that you're not struggling with it alone.

A waste of school money, yet more 'support' for CBA parents.

When he's older he may not want to stay for football practice but whine when he doesn't get in the team for a match, I wonder what the OP's opinion would be? (Other sports are available!)

The stickers are not punishment but reward for learning to brush their teeth correctly.

Your son opted out. There’s no reward system for opting-out.

Prevention is better than cure. The UK has changed a lot in recent years and not everyone has the same standards or levels of knowledge anymore.

Better this than rotten teeth and lots of dentists appointments.

It's a Public Health initiative. In areas where oral health is an issue they commission tooth brushing at school programmes.
But yes, I get your point - where does it end?
I've seen videos from China of teachers showing their classhow to wipe after going to the loo, using two balloons as cheeks and peanut butter! How much will have to be taught at school because parents aren't able to teach their children basic things? Things like action = reward, no action = no reward!

Geeze peace

yes

To be honest I think this is the kind of thing that as a parent, you should get behind and encourage your son to engage with. No one likes smelly breath and bad hygiene and after lunch it’s totally a good time to brush teeth. Loads of kids don’t brush their teeth properly in the morning anyway so it’s just an opportunity to bed in good technique cause not all parents teach their kids that kind of thing properly.

YABU about the sticker. He didn’t do it so doesn’t get a reward. Simple.

However, brushing teeth after lunch isn’t great. You need to leave 60 minutes after eating anything acidic (eg fruit, including tomatoes) or you brush away your weakened enamel. I doubt they ensure that there is enough time after every child has finished their food and drink before brushing.

You don't get rewards if you haven't earned them. It's not a difficult thing he's being asked to do. If he's told to do something reasonable in school, he should damn well do it. The sooner he learns that "I don't feel like it" isn't an excuse, the better for everyone.

Brush your teeth = get a sticker
Don’t brush your teeth = no sticker

His choice. Yabu.

Am I missing something?

”Well DD the stickers are supposed to be for people who brush their teeth. If you don’t brush your teeth you don’t get one.”

Poor teacher getting an email about this

The toothpaste supplied by Childsmile is a minty one so will taste differently than the strawberry one he has at home. We are an access point for Childsmile toothbrushes and toothpaste, as are a lot of local authority buildings and community centres here in Scotland we have for age 1-3 and 3-5 in our building. Our local Childsmile lady goes round to all the local parent and baby / toddler groups in the area as well as the schools to encourage teeth brushing. I’ve never seen her with stickers though. Their remit is education and encouragement especially in disadvantaged areas, it’s having a good impact and means that cost is not a barrier for parents to be able to replace toothbrushes as regularly as they need to especially when the kids start chewing them, the toothbrushes we have for littlies come in all colours and have little pictures on them so the kids enjoy picking their own.

I'd hate to be a teacher these days, bloody hell.

OP, your follow up posts are very gracious and funny.

I do think you should consider giving the teachers a pack of tooth rotting lollipops instead of cake just to see their WTF faces.
(When I was little and my mum took us to the dentist, if we were good she would take us to choose some penny sweets on the way home. I was about 35 before it dawned on me what a bizarre reward that was in the circumstances!)

Mine loved stickers for years, until 8 or 9 maybe!