To think water only at school is ridiculous

[Joanne279]

I'm having a gripe at my kids new school. We werent informed of the water only rule before we started.

Ds aged 6 and dd aged 9 (suffers with autism) now refuse to drink.

Ds, on the grounds he hates water. I gave him flavoured water which he likes, but the school said no!!!!!

Dd, has been allowed to take squash because is her ASD but now refuses to even take a drink because she's different to everyone else. She won't drink water at all.

The teachers all drink coffee/tea in the staff room but kids are water only! Surely the teachers should be setting the example?

I've rang the council who say the healthy rules are at the school discretion. I'm waiting for a call back from the head teacher because I think it's stupid! I could understand if I was sending them with coke or lucozade, but flavoured water a no no? Really?

Just wondered what you all thought x

intheenddotcom Wtf is your problem? A teacher can drink what they want within the obvious constraints. I agree with many others in regard to kids drinking water and that it should be a must. Have a bloody triple espresso if you think you need it, jeez.

I don't have a problem. Several posters here have used the argument that teachers drink what they want, so children can do as it's fair. I simply pointed out that teachers are not just allowed to drink what they want in the classroom.

If a teacher has a drink in the classroom they have water.
Much of the world doesn't even have access to clean water and we have over privileged children saying they won't drink it unless it is coloured with sugar added!
If your child had been with me in Thursday and walking for 6 hours in the sun they would have been only too pleased to drink the only thing on offer- water!

Maybe they don't get enough exercise at school- running several laps of the playground a few times would get them drinking water!

I am a teacher and we have this rule. This year a boy, who has ASD had the same problem as the ops child. When the parents came to me, I suggested buying a solid , opaque bottle, putting weak squash in so I would 'never know'.

It is called being flexible. I know WHY this child needs a different drink. I know he wont go round bragging or causing me difficulties by telling others, so the solution is simple.

Totally understand "water only" in the classroom but it seems a bit draconian to ban anything but water at lunchtime. At one time fruit juice was the only way I could get DS1 to consume anything to do with fruit.

Most DCs don't need a drink in the classroom anyway, they can have a drink at break times. Not sure when the notion of constantly available drinks sneaked in.

My kids had this rule at primary.
In secondary they take only water.
In fact aged 16 & 18, it's still their main drink.

It is a good habit to get into. As a walker and runner I take water. Exercise classes I take water, as does nearly everyone else.
Go out for a family day out with just water(adults too) and they soon get used to it and are much healthier for it.
There wasn't this fuss when I was at school- we had water.

I find it very odd that parents get upset about this and want them drinking sugar and additives! You would think they would be pleased!

Pleased really? That somewhere we send our kids to be educated becomes somewhere that dictates everything we do with our child. We've known them all their lives, school gets hold of them age five and suddenly thinks they know better.

Like below I also don't allow any drink at all, even water in a water bottle, in the ict suite. This is where I do most of my teaching. The children know the rules. None of had a disaster because of having to go an hour or so without water.
I model good behaviour in the ict suite and also don't have liquids next to computers etc.

I would be even more pleased if teachers and schools could be a bit more flexible about things like this because then it might make life just that little bit easier for children with sensory issues, ASD or mental health problems. It is not going to harm anyone else in the class if my child has a little bit of juice in his drink but it is certainly going to harm him if he goes without a drink (which would happen if the choice was only water) for eight and a half hours every day. Try parenting a child with an ASD before you pat yourself too firmly on the back about being such a fantastic parent.

For those moaning about a nanny state. A third of 11 year olds are obese or overweight because of their parents inability to make decent choices about their food and drink choices.

If I was one of those fat children I would have wanted schools to step in where my parents had failed.

Giles - they blatantly do know better than some parents.

Some, not all.

Most of us are quite capable of parenting our children and would much rather they focus on education

Do they still make tab clear? Would be an exelllent way to make sure DC do not get dehydrated and can concentrate ??

Treaclepot I was going to post something similar but was too chicken. The willingness of the general population to ignore the reams of evidence showing that we are feeding our children (and ourselves) to an early grave is astounding. But hey, ho, pile on the donuts, mum and dad no best.

This powerade zero is virtually courless and super good for you as pro athletes use it, good if you DC walks to school or runs around at break time

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know best obviously (unless I was making a very subtle joke).

God but some of you lot are maddening!

Your kid can drink what/all it likes during breaks.

No, they can't eat watery foods like cucumber in my class to make up for my nastiness about their sticky drinks.

No, they won't die if they can't eat or drink during classes - you didn't did you?

Kids with a wide range of SENs have also managed to survive whilst adhering to an equally wide range of 'stupid, nanny state rules'.

Do bear in mind that ANYTHING to drink in class is a new thing, definitely not allowed, say 10, years ago

The whole point of the no drink but water in class is there so that I CAN concentrate on doing my job and teaching your kids. A water spillage takes seconds to clear up with just a cloth. Sticky stuff takes a cleaning agent and the clearing of everything it touches.

Sometimes a rule is there for good reasons that you may not agree with. But life is full of such rules and you just have to suck it up - or not, if it is a sticky, sweet drink!

I agree it's a stupid rule. It's only water and only healthy packed lunches at dd's school, then cake, custard, chips etc for school dinners. I don't really see the logic.

The school are not telling you how to parent your children, how dramatic! They are just telling you that water is the choice of drink during school hours. It's not just because of the sugar; high, crash, high and crash but (great for learning!) also because of spillages and stickiness.

You may be able to make good choices for your kids but many, many parents do not, so a blanket rule is easier and fairer on all the children. They are what matters after all.

I think the water only rule is a good one. Healthier for all the kids and less mess, fewer wasps etc.

My dd will happily drink water as she has been used to this all her life. However, she prefers squash because she likes the sweetness. I certainly don't want her mithering for squash because other kids have it, when water is all that they really need.

Ok folks maybe I should have been unspeakable mean to DD2 -
Stopped breast feeding her at a year old and only given her water and cows milk from that day forward.

However, I didn't, I let her have juice and squash. I carried on BFing her long after she started school.

I allowed her not to like cows milk, because DH loathes it and it made sense she doesn't like it too.

Sorry, I'm a very bad parent and you know I don't care.

I ignored our HT when he said water only, lots of other Mums ignored him too. He didn't mention it again.

Small village HTs have to be pragmatists, you don't need FB when you all the mums meet in the park after school