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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Secondary school lunch box police

148 replies

LemonDrizzleDisco · 01/03/2017 06:24

DDs secondary school has started checking all the packed lunches at registration.
I know lots of secondary school students but sweets and chocolate etc on the way to school but surely at that age It's their choice.

Dd was told off for having too much in her lunch box.

Peanut butter sandwich with brown bread
A small banana
Strawberries
A few grapes
And less than a handful of raisins and dried coconut flakes.

The canteen serves things like sausages and mash ,cake and custard,sandwiches and doughnuts etc. Aibu to think this is unfair ?

OP posts:
FrenchLavender · 01/03/2017 07:31

know not no!

RubyWinterstorm · 01/03/2017 07:32

That's madness OP!

Stellar67 · 01/03/2017 07:34

I wonder if the person doling out advice does slimming world as my SW friend gave me hassle for having avocado as it's full of fat. Had to explain good fats to her. Peanut butter is in the same camp. Although our local authority schools won't allow peanut butter because of allergies.
I'd be asking for the lunchbox police person to be reeducated...

kalinkafoxtrot45 · 01/03/2017 07:36

That seriously oversteps the mark. I'd be sending in a note telling them to mind their own business. Surely at secondary there are better things for the teachers to concern themselves with. Plus, any teacher saying avocado is unhealthy is not fit to dispense nutritional advice.

Deathraystare · 01/03/2017 07:55

Dd was told off for having too much in her lunch box.

Peanut butter sandwich with brown bread
A small banana
Strawberries
A few grapes
And less than a handful of raisins and dried coconut flakes.

Sounds fine to me (but am not a mum - just what I would have liked to eat at that age though I had school dinners). I think most kids need a good lunch or they are very hungry in the afternoon. Perhaps the 'expert' who told you she had too much and that avocado was unhealthy can explain themselves??!!!!

Rixera · 01/03/2017 08:47

Oh yes, the best thing to tell a teenaged girl is that she should eat less Hmm
This is ridiculous, I hope your DD holds her ground on her admirably balanced lunch.

Funnyface1 · 01/03/2017 08:53

It is annoying. My son is only 6 but I still think it's far fetched. He was on packed lunches and there were all sorts of rules regarding what chocolate, biscuits, buns etc they couldn't have. Now he's on school dinners he has all sorts of buns and cakes for pudding, it's very hypocritical.

dentydown · 01/03/2017 09:51

I wonder if the person who told your daughter off for the avocado was following a slimming club. Slimming world have demonised the avocado! (I was shocked to find out that 3 curly wurlys are the same syns as an avocado)

mumeeee · 01/03/2017 10:11

OP that lunch seems perfectly fine for a teenage girl. Whoever told her Avocados are unhealthy need to get their facts right..
Avocados are good for you.
I would speak to the school about the policing of the lunch boxes and bring up the fact that they sell unhealthy stuff for school lunches

Original poster
LemonDrizzleDisco · 01/03/2017 10:23

I have spoken to the school . The form tutor flagged up avocado for fat and the quantity of lunch as too much .

OP posts:
MyKidsHaveTakenMySanity · 01/03/2017 10:56

The form tutor would have a fit then if they saw what my 7 and 10 years olds have when they manage to harass me into letting them have packed lunch for a day.
A salami and salad harvester roll (slightly smaller than a baguette), a normal size yoghurt, a tub of strawberries, grapes and raspberries, a packet of crisps, a small chocolate bar, 2 homemade pancakes and a hot pepperami.

I've had to tell them to just take out what they want for break time and the rest can be lunch/home.
We eat big meals here. Pretty healthy and mostly home cooked from scratch. All 3 kids are skinny as hell. They've also only missed three days of school between them (out of 6 and 3 years worth of schooling) so let the school try and have a go at me feeding my kids! I'd not be long with em.

I would send a note in with your DD. Something along the lines of "Mind your own damned business!"

The teacher obviously knows nowt about the nutritional needs of growing teens.

TheOnlyLivingBoyinNewCork · 01/03/2017 10:58

Too much? I'd eat all that twice over,and she's still growing.

Tell them to keep their beaks out of your kids lunch box.

FrenchLavender · 01/03/2017 11:02

3 curly wurlys are the same syns as an avocado

It's really quite scary that an organisation so influential in supposedly 'teaching' people about what is good and bad for their health and their weight loss should put an avocado in the same category of 'sin' as 3 Curly Wurlies.

As for the term tutor flagging up the avocado for fat content, your DD is a vegan, where the hell is she supposed to get her healthy fats from then? Hmm

Honestly, this lunch policing is getting beyond a joke, I'd be absolutely fucking FURIOUS.

redexpat · 01/03/2017 11:20

Now I want 3 curly wurlies and an avocado.

gleegeek · 01/03/2017 11:33

ShockShockShock that's outrageous! I've no problem with secondary schools promoting the healthy eating message eg crisps, energy drinks, Mars bars etc not great choices but quantity is no business of theirs! Particularly in public. Got a problem, tactfully contact the parent. I see eating disorders round the corner if they keep that up.
Dd is a complicated eater. She eats like a bird 80% of the time, then goes through raging hungry stages where she eats everything in sight, grows 2 inches and stops eating much again. I'd be very cross if school meddle as it seems to be her natural eating style.
I agree it sounds like a backhanded way of trying to convert the dc to school dinners. Your dds lunch sounds great!

Oblomov17 · 01/03/2017 11:34

Shock this is outrageous.

Spikeyball · 01/03/2017 11:42

I expect the form tutors have been to do this and most of them won't want to do it. As a form tutor I would only be commenting if a child had a lunch box full of chocolate bars or crisps.

Trifleorbust · 01/03/2017 13:05

So food isn't allowed to have fat in it now? That is outrageous.

Trifleorbust · 01/03/2017 13:07

And they are policing how MUCH she eats? No. I am all for rules but that is not their business. Strongly worded email, letter in lunch box, instructions to your DD not to hand over her lunch for inspection. Failing that, complaint to governors.

RiversrunWoodville · 01/03/2017 13:14

As you feel qualified to police my vegan teenage dds food choices, risking issues with self esteem and eating disorders I would be most grateful for a copy of your Food Safety and Nutrition in Health and Social Care Certificate or is it on display in the school notice board?

Sulis87 · 01/03/2017 13:17

That is beyond bizarre. I can only assume the staff member involved has an unhealthy relationship with food - clearly this person should not be policing anyone else's lunch.

eddiemairswife · 01/03/2017 13:18

And I was planning to have avocado salad this evening.Sad

eurochick · 01/03/2017 13:22

This would give me the rage. I do wish schools would stick to teaching rather than branching out into lifestyle policing.

Eolian · 01/03/2017 13:28

Absolutely fucking outrageous. How DARE they serve cookies and cake and then have the nerve to tell you that avocado is unhealthy. This gives me the serious rage. The more people give schools hell for this, the more likely it will stop happening. Avocado unhealthy ShockAngry.

Trifleorbust · 01/03/2017 13:32

Sulis87: I wouldn't assume that. If it is school policy it will be nothing to do with the tutor.