To be annoyed about the stickers?

[NerdySnoozer]

DS7 is in Primary 2 (equivalent of year 1) and his school has a toothbrushing lady to help the children brush their teeth after lunch.
The tooth brush lady has been handing out stickers once a week to all the children. Today my son has come home very upset as he was told he won’t be getting a sticker this week as he didn’t want to brush his teeth today. (He’s a bit reluctant at home too, but we manage. )Messaged teacher for more info, apparently about once a week he decides he’d prefer to not to brush. He’s not the best at speaking up so sometimes will just pretend he hasn’t heard and ignore instructions. The lady got annoyed today and said if he didn’t come to do them, he wouldn’t be allowed a sticker on Friday. Class teacher doesn’t seem to think it’s a problem, says the lady supplies her own stickers and prizes and isn’t employed by the school, just visits as part of her job. She can’t tell her who to give stickers to and doesn’t want to ask her not to give them out at all. Got the impression that the teacher thinks the children shouldn’t have any choice in the matter and need to comply or be punished. Normally I’d just leave it as school is school and just support at home but I’m finding myself really annoyed about it. DH thinks I’m upset over nothing and am probably just hormonal and if I’m that bothered I can withdraw consent for him to brush at school.
Am I unreasonable to think the bloody stickers just shouldn’t be used as a punisment?

My youngest hated brushing her teeth. I bought her a character themed brush, at which point she was brushing a zillion times a day. That might help? Though she was younger.

I'm amazed there's funding for a tooth brushing lady, but that's pretty good preventative healthcare, I guess.

I’ve been reading all about it tonight! They’re provided a brush and it gets changed at least once a term, they’ve a whole hygiene policy and DS has said before about getting a new brush cos he dropped his etc so I don’t think it’s too bad. His class keep theirs in holders with covers on, on a high shelf in the classroom. He showed me at open day last term.

Im sure the toothbrushes are provided and they all have their own brush

YABVU, he didnt' brush his teeth he doesn't get a sticker.

But the school is also BU for this stupd brushing teeth thing, I mean who the hell brushes their teeth after lunch? I thought it was brush your teeth twice a day, in the morning and before bed surely

Dont go fluoride free. There is a good reason why toothpaste contains fluoride.
check the fluoride levels in the strawberry flavour one. Different parts of the country vary, depending on natural fluoride levels etc, but here in Scotland the guidelines for kids are 1450 ppm F toothpaste.
the issue with strawberry flavour is that it might not be strong enough, and ultimately there may be issues moving forward progressing to an adult toothpaste.

in saying that, I highly recommend the Oranurse flavour free paste. You can get it off Amazon

Since when were 7yr olds in year 1 and why would you brush teeth after lunch? Toothpaste is far more effective before food than after. It protects, according to my dentist.

I don't get it. The tooth brushing lady is actually helping you win the battle for teeth brushing with your child. Please stop complaining and explain that no brushing means no sticker and embrace the help.

OP probably meant to say Year 2.

P2 is the Scottish Year 2

Loads of kids don’t do it at all and their teeth are rotting. I’ve seen Reception/ Y1 kids who’ve had to have all their teeth pulled out.

I think its a shame, we could have helped OP write the letter.

No they all have their own toothbrush at school. Usually for younger classes it is a set colour with a picture of an animal or something similar. There is usually a poster or sign matching the child up to the correct toothbrush.

Child smile is a great initiative set up in Scotland with dentists ensuring young children are brushing their teeth correctly. They are all monitored in school whilst they collect their toothbrush, brush their teeth, clean the brush and put it back in the correct place.

It’s not a punishment it’s a reward. If he doesn’t brush his teeth he doesn’t get the reward.

Unless he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth he’s going to need to be able to cope with this basic dynamic exceptionally frequently.

It’s probably “after lunch” as in, they eat, then play out and then brush teeth. It’s the Scottish child smile programme. There will be a 30 minute (minimum) interval if it’s an external lady.

Also, OP, I cannot believe you called the teacher about this.

Was approved for additional year of nursery (usually just for summer born bairns here but missed lots due to tricky family health situation) was 5 at start of P1(Scottish reception), 6 at start of P2, turned 7 in January.

They are in primary 2 (scotland) which is the equivalent of year 1 in England. Kids can start school in Scotland anywhere from 4½ to 5½. Maybe thats the only time there is a break long enough to have supervised toothbrushing

Yeah but that shouldn't be up to the school is it? Why don't these parents take their kids to the dentist? Teach these kids how to brush their teeth?

If they're that rotten then a little brush in school won't make a scrap of difference.

God, what a world we live in.

Children are having their rotten teeth pulled out under general anaesthetic due to not brushing at all, how is the school stupid for trying to prevent that?

Definitely not planning to go fluoride free, don’t worry. Will look into flavourless if that’s the obstacle, will do some investigating tomorrow, but you’re right, the answer might be to transition to using the one they use at school at home too. You can request it free from the dentist, apparently! Who knew?

Of course brushing your teeth once a day is going to make a difference compared to none 🙄

It goes without saying that parents should be doing these things, but they're not.

Access to NHS dentists is very limited in a lot of places.

I know!

As I say, this sort of thing is why I’m leaving teaching after 14 years.

It just seems a bit of a nanny state thing to do really, when schools are under budget cuts and parents expect schools to parent their kids instead of taking them to the dentist and brushing their teeth

Why should the rest of us suffer for the couldn't care less minority?

Do you think it's the 5 year olds that couldn't care less so should be suffering 🤔

People are very naive about the way some children are living. This is a Scottish initiative which tends to only exist in schools in deprived areas (not commenting on where the OP lives but certainly in the city where I live). Some of these children NEVER brush their teeth at home. Some of them are living in absolute chaos and if we can get their teeth brushed once a day and give them an understanding of basic dental hygiene then that is brilliant.

Yes it would be wonderful if all parents ensured their kids' teeth were brushed twice a day for two minutes but it's just not the reality in some parts of the UK.

Childsmile has been a massively successful program in terms of reducing tooth decay amongst primary school children.

I live in a rough north west town. Dentists have waiting lists but you can still get in and have emergency appointments. Most of the time with kids with rotten teeth, its lazy neglectful parents who cant be arsed to teach their kids basic life skills or would rather be out on the pull and leaving the kids with granny than taking them to the dentist (I speak from experience growing up around these type of people)

Why would you waste the teacher’s time over this? I’m sure there’s more important issues to manage in a school than your whinging.
Your DS should’ve just brushed his teeth like the other kids and he would have received said sticker. Why would you think it could be otherwise?