Teacher rewarding the children with sweets every day

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For the past few weeks my dd has been given sweets from the teacher for good behavior. This wasn't discussed with parents beforehand and personally it's not something I'm happy with. We try to limit sugary treats and only have them at mealtimes when we do.

Should i discuss this with the teacher or leave it so my dd isn't left out?

What would you do?

I'd speak to the teacher because I doubt 'hand sweets out to the children' is in the behaviour policy.

There's also the issue of allergies, medical and religious dietary requirements, and the fact that it's storing up trouble if the class only behave to get sweets. I'd not be concerned about an end of term treat with parents informed but as a daily behaviour strategy it's really poor.

I'd also be annoyed as a parent because we made the decision not to teach DC that there's good food and bad foods, and we don't use food as a reward or punishment for behaviour, so I'd be irritated if their teacher started doing it.

I had a colleague who used to do this. They had poor classroom management and their class bribery caused issues for colleagues who weren't dishing out sweets.

I really don't think a few sweets are going to contribute much to the obesity crisis. I actually find it amusing that people seem to think that in earlier times, when people weren't obese, that people didn't eat sweets or sugary things. I can assure you that they very much did.
I have to say I feel sorry for the children of some of the posters on this thread.

I'd hate this too and rather they didn't bother.

magicthree
Part of the issue in my opinion is that schools are often very forward in telling parents what they can/can't put in a packed lunch, but then some staff are dishing out sweets.

I'm happy for DC to have sweets.
I'd not be happy for their class to be bribed with sweets in school.

If the teacher isn’t aware of dietary, medical and religious factors when giving out a small bag of sweets, then there are bigger issues to tackle.

If the teacher isn’t aware of dietary, medical and religious factors when giving out a small bag of sweets, then there are bigger issues to tackle
I agree, but if they're resorting to handing out sweets to get acceptable behaviour I wouldn't have a high expectation of them considering those things.

That's just based on colleagues I've known who used sweets as behaviour bribes, so might be an unfair assumption.

The school behaviour policy probably won't talk about sweets as a reward, but I've been advised in schools previously to use sweets as a reward, and sometimes it can work really well with a tricky class to get them participating and turn a corner.

I teach older students, so I suppose it is a bit different, as most of them can buy what they like in the shop on the way home from school anyway!

But I genuinely don't see it as a massive issue. Especially when there are lots of primary schools in England who don't seem to deal effectively with very serious behaviour incidents.

I don't think it's ideal on a daily basis, but there's presumably a reason she's chosen to do this half way through the year, and it's probably not because the class were behaving perfectly before.

OP- you don't "have" to talk to the teacher, and honestly I'd seriously consider not doing so. It's unlikely to change what's going on, and if you do make a huge issue of it, she's likely to just look for a job elsewhere. Most teachers are in a position to be able to pick and choose now.

For the PP who said why can't she use 30 minutes of games at the end of the day as a reward- this wouldn't be allowed in most primary schools because of lost learning time. The primary curriculum is absolutely rammed.

Kind but completely stupid and misguided! Honestly, I would find that infuriating.
One of my dcs had to have his back molars removed when he was about 5 as they were rotten because the enamel hadn't formed on them (he's in his 20s now with perfect adult teeth). He used to regularly come out of school with a boiled sweet lolly tucked inside his cheek as a reward from a teacher or because it was someone's birthday.
I know that was his problem, but, given all the media coverage about the lack of dentistry for children, teachers really ought to show a modicum of common sense and not dole out sugary treats.

This happened to one of mine in year 4. Constant sherbet lemons and hard boiled sweets being given out as rewards. I was more concerned about the choking risk, was a party pooper and emailed the school about it.

There is absolutely no time in the current national curriculum for 30 minutes of games like hangman. Those days are long gone 😞

I wouldn’t be happy but dc are at a no sugar school which makes it all easier

You can just take them off your kid and explain why you don't want her to have them.

Or save them up for a weekly treat.

@Talapia - oh come on. Are you seriously suggesting that op takes sweets off her dc as they are coming out of school and probably already eating them - like all their classmates? 🙄

@fairgame84 that makes sense and tbh is reasonable, I don’t imagine the teacher would have enough money to give out a packet to each child per day!

I wouldn't like this either, if they need to resort to bribes and spend their own money on them- stickers or something much better than sweets.

Would you change your mind if it was 15 year olds?

To be fair the amount of sweets teenagers have on them anyway they don't need any more. They give them to us.

Seconded

For those of you who think the OP is being a bit precious, I think she has a very valid point.
Here are my reasons.

1. tooth decay is at epidemic levels in many areas of the country whilst getting registered with an NHS dentist is nigh on impossible. Sweets are the main cause of tooth decay in children.
2. using sweets as a reward for good behaviour is false economy. We want children to behave appropriately because that’s just what they do, not because they might get a sweet.
3. there is no nutritional value in sweets, and for some children they can be positively harmful to their health.
4. kids love a sticker - just give them a bloody sticker if you must!

I’ve been a teacher for 30+ years, in my experience, kids who only ‘behave’ if there’s a sweet for a reward don't actually learn to behave, they just learn how to manipulate an ineffective behaviour strategy.