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

I would blame the reception teacher with the lucozade- she should be having water in the classroom.

maybe she has a medical reason Delphinium,

If she has a medical condition which requires it then at least she should put it in an opaque bottle.

Teachers are not children. Yes, I am stating the bloody obvious. Would you expect your child's teacher to wear school uniform because the rules state that the children do?

It's already been said upthread that often, the water rule may be because other drinks cause stickiness and mess. Teachers tend not to have this problem in the same way that children do.

The majority of people on this thread do not have a child with a medical problem- they have a child who wants sugar and additives in their water and know that they will get it at home.
I took a group of 10/11 yr old away before I had children myself. I did the cooking. When some said they didn't like it they could tell from my body language and tone that I wasn't bothered- they wouldn't starve! In a take it or leave it situation they took it- and generally had seconds! They had been on the go all day and were hungry. They got water with the meal.
My 18 yr old took his 10 yr old brother camping. When I asked him why he ate broccoli with his brother and not me he said 'I was hungry and there was nothing else'.
It doesn't matter what you say- they read the body language- they know you will give in.

Impatient, as I mentioned up thread, the diagnosis rate for ASD is now at 1 in 60 children. That's a significant minority.

The rate of children diagnosed with ASD doesn't correlate with the number of children who have a strong aversion to water. I have a child with ASD and he is fine with water as are all of his classmates, several of whom have ASD and all who have significant disabilities. Telling me the rates of ASD diagnosis is not very relevant because of those 1 in 60 the majority will still drink Water without being under duress.

candycoated - so teachers don't need to set a good example to pupils then? Schools have dress codes for teachers so in effect they are wearing a uniform in that they are following rules about what is and isn't allowed.

Imnot

If you read the whole thread, there are clear explanations from a number of posters, some of them teachers or TAs, for why schools have rules about what drinks are allowed in the classroom.

Packed lunch boxes are different, of course.

The point about allowing parents rather than teachers to decide what goes on in school is .... Hang on, do I really need to explain that?

The school gets to decide- they have to put up with the children with too much sugar! If a child visits my house with a can of coke I can take it off him and say he can take it home. He can create a fuss,but it is my house and I get to decide! The school gets to decide, what you do at home is up to you.
I think dentists would be horrified if children were spending their school day sipping sugary drinks.
I can't understand this aversion to water. I am sitting in the garden now with a large glass of it.
People lost in the desert do not find civilisation and say 'sorry, I don't like water and I can't drink it'!

Same rule at our school. Have no issue with it at all.

MN gives a skewed view as the minority get very vocal whereas the vast majority quite happily send their children in with water bottles and the children just know school = water. (Not school =water, unless you make a fuss and get your own way) This rule is hardly new!

I have no problem with water only in class.
So long as total water refusers like DD2 can have juice/ squash at lunch (and break when it's hot).

Otherwise she would go the whole day without having a drink.

Even sent in with squash she'd often bring 3/4 home on hot days. Whereas DD1 would have drank her bottle of squash, refilled her bottle with water and be drinking the dregs as she went to the car.

Water is good. If they drink juice or squash mid-day, that sticky, acidic residue will be coating their teeth for hours - until they get home from school and are able to brush their teeth..

Impatient, yes, my point was unclear.

I stated the rate in response to all the posters saying 'oh yes, in cases of SN then ok, but they are such a tiny minority'

Of course not all children with ASD will have issues with water. I explained that in a further post.

But trying to dismiss my very real experiences as being so severe, due to SN, and so very rare is not helpful either. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I know of several other families/children who have similar issues. At one point, it turned out that 10% of the preschool had a similar issue - that's not a tiny minority.

At dd1's current school, the vast majority of pupils (ASD school) have eating and drinking difficulties. Yes, they are all in a SN school now, but they haven't always been - they have all been subjected to blanket rules which have had long reaching implications on their habits and potentially their health.

As I clarified ina. Later post, my point was more that those 1 in 60 are, at some point, all likely to have a difficulty with a blanket rule imposed by the school. That rule may concern water, or clothing, or food, or social skills, but it is likely to happen. Exceptions will need to be made, and it is usually far better to make those exceptions before eg problem is exacerbated. But sadly, this does not usually happen.

I have the opposite problem in my classroom. I have a child who only wants to drink water, but her mother send her in with squash. She won't drink it so I give her a cup and send her off to the tap!

Oh for fucks sake, who in the holidays chases school age DCs to clean there teath after meals and how is juice or sugar free squash drank with food any worse for teeth than the food it's self?

Primary schools are just getting totally above themselves and I'm jolly glad my DDs are at secondary.

Which has the opposite problem, the food is junk and not enough attention is payed to DCs living on rubbish or skipping meals altogether.

Oh for fucks sake, who in the holidays chases school age DCs to clean there teath after meals and how is juice or sugar free squash drank with food any worse for teeth than the food it's self?

Primary schools are just getting totally above themselves and I'm jolly glad my DDs are at secondary.

Which has the opposite problem, the food is junk and not enough attention is payed to DCs living on rubbish or skipping meals altogether.

Oh for fucks sake, who in the holidays chases school age DCs to clean there teath after meals and how is juice or sugar free squash drank with food any worse for teeth than the food it's self?

Primary schools are just getting totally above themselves and I'm jolly glad my DDs are at secondary.

Which has the opposite problem, the food is junk and not enough attention is payed to DCs living on rubbish or skipping meals altogether.

Oh for fucks sake, who in the holidays chases school age DCs to clean there teath after meals and how is juice or sugar free squash drank with food any worse for teeth than the food it's self?

Primary schools are just getting totally above themselves and I'm jolly glad my DDs are at secondary.

Which has the opposite problem, the food is junk and not enough attention is payed to DCs living on rubbish or skipping meals altogether.

Oh for fucks sake, who in the holidays chases school age DCs to clean there teath after meals and how is juice or sugar free squash drank with food any worse for teeth than the food it's self?

Primary schools are just getting totally above themselves and I'm jolly glad my DDs are at secondary.

Which has the opposite problem, the food is junk and not enough attention is payed to DCs living on rubbish or skipping meals altogether.

Nocomet What are you doing with your buttons!?