to think that sweets are not a good reward in schools

[Ithinkitsjustme]

I'll admit to being more biased on this now than I was before my daughter was diagnosed with diabetes, but this week (last week of school) her class have been set various competitions and tasks, in every subject possible. Of these competitions, she has won 7 first places, but every prize has been either a box of chocolates, large bag of sweets, or maltesers. While I admit that I may be over-reacting a bit, AIBU to think that 7 boxes of sweets and chocolate is excessive for any child, and that maybe pens, a calculator or something wold be more suitable as a prize for a school competition?

Yanbu. This really annoys me.
Kids would be happy with anything - a sticker, a certificate...

YANBU, particularly withthe summer holiday coming. They could have given out things that the children could have used over the holiday - a ball, crayons, books. These sweets can be really expensive for the big bags and there are loads of better uni-sex options which are cheaper.

What did the school say when your DD returned her 7 lots of sweets / chocolate?

Sorry, I should add that it might make the school think again about the suitab ility of these gifts if you return them as being potentially dangerous to her health and ask for an alternative. Would they have given these out to children with dairy allergies as well?

A small sweet occasionally wouldn't worry me, but this sound like way too much. Pens/pencils/stickers would be better.

Agreed, I wish they'd stick to pencils and stickers here too.

Here we go, yes, bloody thoughtless teachers AGAIN they should be traipsing around the high street looking for suitable prizes

I give the kids I teach stickers when we do games with winners, at the end of the term I bring in fruit and we make fruit kebabs with exciting exotic fruit. I teach little kids from 2-7 so it may be harder with older kids.

She's 12 and I don't really think that they need ANY prize for winning a quiz or whatever, I appreciate that the teachers want to do something "nice" but surely it doesn't take a lot of imagination to buy a bag of shaped erasers or something. I would also like to pay tribute to the ONE teacher who went to the trouble to bring a different prize in on the next day (highlighters and a post-it pad)with an apology. WIBU to write to the school and point out that I found it excessive? (I also found it excessive that they had a "party" everyday during their tutor session - again, lots of junk food, but that was brought in by the kids themselves, so a different topic)

OP agree that having so many tasks and competitions that one person wins 7 of them is excessive.

MissHaversham if a thoughtless bloody teacher has gone into a supermarket and bulk bought sweets, could they not have just gone to a different aisle and got stationery stuff instead? No-one's asking them to traipse around the high street, just think of what is appropriate to get when they go into the one shop they've chosen to buy the prizes in. Would they really want to teach someone who'd just won, and eaten, a large bag of sweets straight away in one sitting?

Oh, and if they have fewer competitions, they could have fewer, better prizes, so less chance of them being "token" chocolate bars.

Oh god, get over yerselves really

Ithinkitsjustme - I don't think there's anything wrong with giving a prize for a quiz - to be honest, I am four times older than your dd (eeek), and I still enjoy winning a prize!

SDT, yes, but if you're anything like me, it's a bottle of wine you want to win, and I would be even less impressed if that was the case here,

Oh and congratulations to your daughter she sounds like she is very good at competitions!

Yes you're right a child would much rather have a pot of pineapple chunks than a packet of rolos

Plus sweets are cheap and all other prizes cost a bomb

Are you stealth boasting about the seven first places? I think as a teacher though I wouldn't give a box of sweets to a diabetic winner, some sort of alternative would be sensible....

YANBU about so many sugar laden prizes but tbh teachers have a hard job and I think it's great that they find the time to think about rewarding children. My son's class did well with behaviour and attitude so the head paid for them all to have a trip to McDonalds. Okay it isn't the greatest of nutritious fare but the children LOVED it and it was a trip out of school for them last week.

Generally DS brings home sweets at least once a week as it is always somebody's birthday. The teachers sometimes give a lolly as a small reward but he has also had things like a pencil or a fancy eraser too.

A certificate and a big deal made of her achievement would have worked as well I suppose. I am glad her school have rewarded her as she sounds a bright girl. Perhaps drop in some pretty or funky sticker packs to the school "for the rewards box" so they have some alternatives.

I always found it annoying, all through school my son has had to refuse every sweet.

I suppose it didnt harm him, but its rather misrable in your early school years to be constantly sitting in classrooms where teachers are throwing mars bars around....

the shining star of teachers, was one who remembered his allergies, and gave him money instead, in small amounts, suddenly he improved dramatically in his maths lessons! He took the money to buy safe sweets outside school.

He did learn to be polite and appear grateful when a over worked teacher took a great deal of time to cook cakes that were safe for him and whole class, but sadly the topping contianed chocolate with nuts (one of his many allergies), and recognising the effort , took cake, with thanks and got a friend to eat it quickly .

sometimes as parents we hate to think our child is left out, but when you live with medical conditions that limit the food you eat, this is going to be part and parcel of your life. life just aint fair sometimes.

Definitely not BU. Not very imaginative.

YANBU and sadly this sweets are all too commonly given as a reward in DD's school.

I hated this. My son would get so upset not to get a sweet. It would totally demotivate him.

So we walked out on the whole system and now we eat sweets even when we get things wrong.

Ithinkitsjustme - that's a very good point!

I give out sweets (couple of fruity chews) to the kids I work with at the end of term. However, I give out little packets of pens as well so no one is left out.