To be annoyed with teacher giving my child food gifts that they can't eat

[mrsfoof]

DC has a gluten intolerance. To clarify, it's 'just' an intolerance not coeliac disease, but if they eat even a little bit of it, they get bad stomach cramps and diarrhoea. DC is 10 and the school are aware of their dietary requirements and are great at providing GF school meals and always remember to provide GF ingredients when the DC does cooking in class etc.
Anyway, at Easter, all children were given an Easter egg by the teacher. All the class had the same type of egg but it contained gluten so DC couldn't eat theirs.
The same happened today - DCs were given various toys and sweets in a goody bag as an end of term gift, some of which contained gluten.
Now the gluten sweets aren't especially obviously 'gluten-y' (Smarties, Mars bars etc) so I expect it never crossed the teacher's mind to link them with the fact that they contain gluten. However, I'm a bit cross that the school are handing out foods with allergens in them to kids that can't eat them. DC knows that they are ones that they can't eat and was very gracious in just saying thank you to the teacher and giving them to their siblings to eat instead. They were a bit disappointed of course but it's not a big deal to them.
On the other hand wonder if I should mention it - what if DC was younger and ate them without checking? Should they have more robust procedures to ensure that allergens aren't given to kids who shouldn't be eating them?
And yes, I'm aware that it's highly likely that the teacher bought these with their own money and it would seem very ungrateful to 'complain'. Any letter I send would be about awareness, not complaining as such.
Or should I just keep quiet?

@Gr33ngr33ngr4ss I promise you that teachers aren't leaving because the parents of children with allergens/intolerances don't want their children to be given certain foods.

It never crossed my mind that some chocolate bars might contain gluten! I'd be so grateful of you telling me about this, but maybe finish it up with that not to worry about DC because they didn't eat any and you swapped out their treats and YOU enjoyed the Mars bars instead or something :)

This is exactly it. I don't think the teacher forgot that DC can't eat gluten, I think they just didn't realise / consider that some chocolate treats contain it. And it's whether I mention it to the school from a perspective of they need to make teachers aware that they need to check everything carefully for allergens in unlikely places, or just not mention it because no harm was done.

No harm was done this time but maybe another time the child will be younger. Always better to say, politely.

Far better to mention it to school as this needs to be highlighted for all staff/everyone reminded.

The teacher will be on holiday so shouldn't be emailed now, and it seems a little odd to store it up and go back to her in September. Making it a whole school approach is far more powerful as they can put it in training and/or change the policy.

It never crossed my mind that some chocolate bars might contain gluten!

And this is why I rarely let anyone else cater for me. Gluten is in the most unlikely of places, and so I have to refuse most invitations as it seems so rude to question someone's cooking but I know from experience that unless people are used to dealing with it they might not check the stock cubes or the baking powder or the spice mix etc.

Teachers shouldn't be giving out sugary crap to children anyway, let alone ones with allergens in them.
The teacher sounds like an idiot who wants to be seen as a cool nice teacher irregardless of the impact. If you want to complain don't feel bad about it.

It's not really a good deed though is it? the teacher is effectively just bribing the kids to like her.

It's hard enough to monitor childrens sugar intake as it is, without teachers taking it upon themselves to ply the kids with unhealthy sugary crap just so they can pat themselves on the back and feel popular at the end of the day.

It's not really a good deed though is it? the teacher is effectively just bribing the kids to like her.

What, at the END of the school year?? 😂

Yes. Its a cheap way to feel good about herself as others' expense. It's self indulgent.

You need to remind the teacher of your child's intolerances. They wouldn't give Reese's to someone with a peanut allergy.

At her expense, surely? I am so confused!

I expect @Lilgamesh2 doesn't give presents to people for their birthdays in case they think she's trying to curry favour

Ok let me explain.

In buying the junk food the teacher is choosing to exchange money for that feel-good feeling she gets when she sees the kids are happy to receive junk food. The children THINK they are winning but they aren't - they wouldn't have been disappointed not to receive it and by getting the food they, at the very least, are accepting food that is detrimental to their physical well-being. It's also a pain for parents. Kids are only supposed to have a certain amount of sugar each day and the teachers pre-emptively jump into the role of 'good cop' by pushing junk food on them. So parents need to compensate by not giving any smarties or mars bars at home even though they might have liked to have done that on occasion.

It's not just this end of term treat that is the problem. Children are bombarded with horrible foods during the school day. Ask the thousands upon thousands of adults with gut problems which are the result of a poor micro biome, damaged in childhood from years of sugary assaults on it, if they are grateful to the adults that gave them treat after treat after treat.

That's before we get into the fact that she didn't think to check the kids might be allergic or intolerant to them. But I'm not surprised she forgot as she is putting her ego before their physical well-being anyway.

That's a very cynical and rather pompous view.

Many many cultures associate sweet foods with celebration. The teacher is celebrating the end of term with her pupils. There's absolutely nothing to suggest from the OP that this is a regular occurrence and the fact that the dilemma she outlines has only arisen twice supports the implication that this is a rare event.

Entitlement at its best!

I know my kids allergies as I work through lunch with them at school. Teacher doesn't.

We go for pencils/seeds for bees/ moam etc. We don't want to curry favour. We will genuinely miss the children we've spent so long with (It's intense) Funnily enough it's been a learning curve.

If I was the op I would ask the teacher/TA plans for end of term gifts. It would make me think and I would most definitely pass on the information. Even if I didn't like the child (sorry, it happens!!) I would not have them be left out.

I bet you're fun at parties @Lilgamesh2

Yeah but it's the cumulative effect. This teacher may have only overstepped twice but the school as an institution probably also provides pudding every day. Other teachers might incorporate junk food in their own way too.

I do think if the staff are going to provide food that is actively harmful to children they should get permission from parents in advance. I can't be the only parent who dislikes this practice.

@Clymene ooh look at you so clever with the sly digs

@Sometimeswinning hang on, let me get this straight. you make (bad) decisions that adversely impact the childrens health, without consent from their parents, and think I'M the entitled one? Please tell me you can see the irony in that...

It's lovely that you care for them and I'm sure that makes you a great teacher. But it doesn't make you their parent or doctor or nutritionist. To think otherwise... now that is entitled.

@Lilgamesh2 you pretty much deserved it! You're the parent who doesn't do much but man do you complain!

But I'm not surprised she forgot as she is putting her ego before their physical well-being anyway.

Jeez. I'm a teacher, and I definitely won't be giving my classes gifts again! 😂

I expect @Lilgamesh2 doesn't give presents to people for their birthdays in case they think she's trying to curry favour

I suspect you're right 😂

@Sometimeswinning well I'm not interested in getting into a pissing match with people I don't know on the internet but ultimately food is health and if teachers are going to be making decisions about their kids health then in my opinion they should get permission from the parents first.

Yes it's nice to give people sweet things. Children like it. It's fun. And it feels good to make kids happy. But it's not good for them and you aren't doing them any favours.

Sorry, crossposted @Lilgamesh2 If I'm entitled for giving gifts without parents consent, I'm good with that.

I'm not a nutrienalist, I give sweets at the end of term. I'm not a teacher, but I do my best to teach. I'm not their parents but I treat the kids in my class far nicer than my own sometimes! Appreciate TAs like me. There is a shortage of us.

You're not alone in your outlook (granted its not the majority) We either feel like shit about it, moan about it or shrug it off. I'm the gutted about it but only wanted to do something nice person. But next term you're not my problem!