To despair of DD’s School re Healthy Eating?

[Bunnylady53]

They are so hypocritical! We got a letter home today about improving healthy eating eg fruit for snack time, bringing in sugar free sweets for birthdays etc. Then what do they give DD & her classmates on their last day? A bag containing sweets! Also they give sweets out as a reward for good work & there’s always a sweet stall at the fairs. At the summer fair, they have a stall where you can win jamjars crammed with sweets. Even at film night, they have sweets. It’s like they think kids are incapable of doing anything without having to be fed! Oh & often there are fundraisers where cakes are sold. I’m not against children having stuff like this but not so often & they need to be offered alternatives way more

Anyone?

Maybe it's the last sweets! Ours do this too...

I think there is a pretty big difference between sweets for a treat and sweets everyday in their lunch boxes though?

So you want the children to have less sweets, but have a problem with school reserving them for treats?
So you agree with school essentially but have a problem because a school have said it?
Those events you mentioned; film nights and summer fairs are a time for school to raise money for your daughter. No one is forcing you to buy the sweets either.

Also you're pretty hypocritical yourself don't you think?

Final point;
School didn't give your child sweets on their last day, a teacher bought that out of their own wages.

Promoting healthy eating through lunch boxes which are consumed daily is different to sweets as a treat on occasion.

Surely that's obvious?

Part of healthy eating isn't to deny food. It's to teach consumption of some foods in moderation.

Occasional sweets are fine.

I’m with you OP. Ours is the same. The PTA are permanently shoving sweets in the DCs faces at every opportunity. 50p fridays, never ending raffles where they parade the prize (a basket filled with sweets) round each class to sell tickets then stationed at reception where they all walk past every morning, afternoon and several times a day, discos for Xmas, Halloween, Easter, summer - sweets galore, sports day - sweets and fizzy drinks stalls. Yes I know it’s to raise money but it’s insane the amount of sweets they are selling those kids.

If they reserved them for treats that would be ok but they don’t. They give them out all the time. And no, I don’t have to buy them at the fair but it’s difficult for kids to resist when there’s a big sweet stall in addition to the cake stall & the jamjars I mentioned. I don’t think I’m hypocritical. And I agree about moderation. I certainly don’t deny DD sweets. I just don’t want her eating them all the time. Also, the letter was about promoting healthy eating generally & not just in lunchboxes. I didn’t expect to be given such a hard time to be honest!

I’d be really annoyed if my DC were given sugar free sweets on birthdays, as they have a laxative effect and can cause bad stomach upsets. When my DC were at primary school there were 30 in a class, therefore almost every week was another birthday.

Fairs/fundraisers etc - Yabu, that's the pta, that's not the school, just parents raising money to help. You could always join and set up a strawberry kebab stall or something.
Giving out as reward - yanbu, that's bad.
Advice to not have sugary lunches and is good advice- Yabu.

I've just spotted the dreaded words in your op - 'they need...' - who's they? Other parents raising money for the school? You all are they.

Surely it's a huge positive to be teaching children that all food is viable and as long as enjoyed in moderation its a good thing, restricting and branding food as good and bad only leads to confused children and obsession in future life, don't destroy innocent children, get them moving instead. Denying them of sweets isn't a great way to deal with things.

I just don’t want her eating them all the time.

So don't let her eat them all the time

It's not like the school are giving her a box of Quality Street every day for her school dinner.

Senior leadership of the school and the PTA are separate. The school desperately needs the support of the PTA so it’s very unlikely they would dictate what they can and can’t do when it comes to sweets. As a teacher I try not to buy sweets for children but support staff sometimes bring them in for birthdays, end of term etc and I would feel like the biggest arsehole ever if I tried to stop them. There are lots of different people involved in running a school.

It's a fecking disgrace giving children sweet treats. I think you should confiscate them all and have a public bonfire. Wear aPuritan outfit and give a sermon on hypocrisy and finalize it all with the march of the bon bons; small children throwing sweets into the fire while screaming "Diablo".

YANBU OP, there are other ways to fundraise beside sweets, or other things to give away than sweets.

I remember when I was at primary school, we had the dental bus come in - check everyone's teeth, do fillings etc + lecture on good dental hygiene (this wasn't in the UK).

About a week or so later they made us sell blocks of chocolate (significant amount of blocks too) for fundraising! Of course its a deprived area so you end up buying the blocks yourself to eat because you can't sell them.

My mum was really pissed off with the hypocrisy, and it takes a lot to wind her up.

I agree with you OP. Our school does this too. When we sent in morning snack on a rota it has to be 'healthy' (fruit, veg etc. ) which I'm happy to do. But then they seem to hand out cake, ice-cream and sweets often . I have no problem with a bit of these as part of a balanced diet but feel they should make sure it is only infrequently. They definitely shouldn't be using sweets in school as a reward (re-enforces their perceived value).

My DC’s school does this too, it drives me bonkers.

I just can't get excited over the sudden horror of kids eating sweets. When I was in school there was a tuck shop at break to buy any candy and fizzy drinks you wanted. in secondary school the buttery served iced buns. I had a blue raspberryade pandapop for lunch every day for 5 years. I've only ever had one filling and I'm 38. I think all this making sweets the enemy just means kids will gorge themselves on them when they go to uni.

But they’re not doing it often are they? What you describe can’t be more than once a week if that. Putting sweets in lunchboxes could be everyday.

Once a week is still a treat

But it's not all the time is it? School fetes, discos, film nights, and end of time. That's not every day and it's not mandatory aside from the end of time. Plus as pp stated the sweets/cakes are generally in fundraising capacity. You won't get many kids (or parents) lining up to spend 50p on winning a banana.

*term

^Bumper1969 Fri 26-Jul-19 01:00:49
It's a fecking disgrace giving children sweet treats. I think you should confiscate them all and have a public bonfire. Wear aPuritan outfit and give a sermon on hypocrisy and finalize it all with the march of the bon bons; small children throwing sweets into the fire while screaming "Diablo".^