To think this is PC gone mad?

[Frasersmum123]

DS is 8 on Saturday and I have bough him some sweets to give out to his friends tomorrow. He has done this every year so far without a problem.

Today his teacher came to see me in the playground and told me that he wasnt allowed to give out the sweets, as the school cant condone giving them out and that it goes against their healthy eating policy

Surely a fun-size bag of Haribo isnt going to hurt anyone? Its not like its done every day!

it was suggested that instead of handing out sweets, the bday child bought a book to give to the class.>I'll send a bag of fruit in because surely no bugger can object to that.

Not moaning at all. Just describing what happened, my dc's do know the meaning of 'no', just a little difficult for a 6 year old, he's learning.

Dingbatgirl, not meaning to single you out there. Yours was just a handy post to use as an example. Many of those complaining that their kids have been given sweets will be the same ones who complain when someone has a birthday party and only invites their DCs close friends. They post demanding to know why the whole class wasn't invited.

, remember when kids were taught the meaning of 'no' but now you must ban everyone in sight from having something your DC might want in case they demand it.

No one is forcing these on your kids. They are offering them. If you can't keep your kids from eating things you object to then how do you manage in the street and in shops? Do you tie their hands?'

Pretty much, yes. DS1 doesn't understand why he is intol of milk, hates it and will sneak milk whever he can even though it makes him ill. He does have SN- obviopusly really from that- but he would indeed take the sweets / cake and get ill. Without being there all day I can't really not do much about it. But he does hate being unable to eat it and does get upset.

I do send alternatives in, mind, for him. But its never the same is it?

And the only aprties i moan about are the ones where onl;y my ds isn't invited .

See your point, onagar. I was being a little oversensitive there

I suppose I wasn't expecting to be giving out the satanic verses to a group of 5yr olds, ongar. But maybe you'd choose differnetly

And I surprised in this day and age you feel it's ok to ay that religious and cultural beliefs are "ludicrus" but I suppsoe if that's how you feel abut it, fair enough.

And you are right, the stuff is being offerred- but small kids do find it hard to deal with stuff at the end of the day.

And we dont't walk around with hands tied- we jut live like eberyone el;se.
WE go to the park, eat beans on toats, have a lollipop and apple juice.
and then come home.

Or does that sound too crazy for you?
My kids eat a varied and good healthy diet that doesn't involve fast food because we can get what we need elsewhere.

sorry- got to go- kids up and about.

will hit them over the head with a packet of lentils, eh

sorry, moved nto fast food there for some reason.
Thye eat choclate, maybe evry couple of weeks or so.. we pop out and get some buttons or somthing- or all have kit kat, or somechocolate biscuits.

and they eat sweet probably ervy week.
dh always buys love heart sweets so they ahve a few of those on and off.

it's no biggie- thye aren't "deprived". we jut don't eat the ones with meat in (refrains from using the words melted pigs- fear of further controversy )

So, pretty laid back about it really.
Not a food facist at all.
But you can make any assumption you like....

I'm not making any abut you though...

Why would I be upset fivecandles?
No one is force feeding my son anything and he has known since he was tiny never to eat anything without checking with me or dh. School dinners are guaranteed nut free, so at school he eats his meal, and that's it.
No reading of labels required.
It is not possible to protect your child from every little thing once they start school. They can't or you don't want them to eat the sweets someone is offering out of kindness, well unfortunate, but tough really and the quicker they learn it the easier.

oops, you did it again ()

The one scenario where I said that "bending over backwards" would be appropriate was the case of the child with a potentially fatal allergy, so there is not "differing" between us on that point.

Then again, if I knew that my dd's classmates contained a large number whose religious beliefs forbade consumption of jelly sweets, I'd send chocolate or something else that would be able to be enjoyed more widely. Of course I would. I simply think the school should butt out and stop this charade that says that the only way to promote healthy eating involves banning sweets.

Actually, the ironic thing is that I probably would not be very inclined to send sweets at all, no matter what they were, because I would worry about getting sucked into "Mumupmanship"!

sorry not read whole thread but i am with the teacher

onagar, sorry, but you sound incredibly ignorant and disrespectful.

You have summed up the beliefs of all Muslims, Jews and vegetarians who do not eat products from pigs as 'ludicrous'.

Do you know how incredibly intolerant that is?

And you are misprepresenting the case. Perhaps it's different with you but my kids have come home from school and parties many times with sweets that have already been given to them. Not offered. Given.

Which means I am put in the position of having to take them off my kids who are 4 & 6.

Can you really not see how this might be a problem?

ingles, fine, fine, you might not be upset.

My dd now knows to ask about nuts but it's incredible how many unexpected products have traces of nuts in them so personally I would be mighty pissed off if my dd had an anaphylactic reaction to something that had been given her by a teacher or a parent without my consent.

But really the allergies thing is a red herring. There has been a great deal of awareness about nuts as allergen and choking hazard and most responsible schools and parents would no longer allow nuts on their premises.

The issue being discussed is where parents and teachers give out (give out not offer) sweets which may or may not contain gelatine without asking the consent of individual parents first and without being aware of the difficulties this may cause the children and parents (or worse, where they are aware but don't care).

Nobody can predict whether and what allergies children have but it doesn't take a genius to work out that a significant number of parents (as evident on this thread) WILL object to sweets and/or gelatine being given out.

Actually I think Onagar has a good point.

The idea of some (but not all) gods up there solemnly making up rules about gelatine is really utterly ludicrous, can't YOU see that?

It's not a rule about gelatine you idiot.

Jews and Muslims do not eat pig.

Vegeterians do not eat animals.

No, sorry, I don't generally describe other people's strongly held convictions as 'ludicrous'.

Fivecandles, I don't actually think it is an essential part of the school day to hand out sweets in class. It's just the way people react to it that bugs me. Anyone would think it was a conspiracy to poison them.

As for respect. No I don't respect foolish notions and have no plans to do so.

I'm supposed to believe that there is a god who not only forbids eating pork, but will consign someone to hell for inadvertently comsuming gelatine?. "Ha! that'll teach you not to do a chemical analysis before every bite!"

Vegetarians are a slightly different case depending on which kind they are.

1. They may not like the taste of meat (fair enough).
   In that case why would they care if something contained a meat product and they couldn't tell?

2. They may feel that if they eat meat they encourage the exploitation of animals. Again if they inadvertently ate a meat product they are not breaking their own rules.

3. They may be under the impression that humans are not designed to eat meat. In that case I can only suggest they take a course in human biology.

Have Vegetarians and Religious people ever considered that they do consume pork particles in the air if they pass by some place that is cooking or processing it? Everyone has 'eaten' pork

onagar your whole post sounds abrasive and ignorant

You sound increasingly ignorant and idiotic and intolerant.

Nobody is asking you to share other people's beliefs but in a multi-cultural society it is wise to respect them.

My children and I are vegeterians on principle for ethical, environmental and health reasons. That's nobody else's business but ours.

But it horrifies me that anybody would think it ok to give food containing animal products to us and it not mattering if we didn't know. I imagine that people refusing gelatine for religious reasons would feel exactly the same.

What's even worse is the idea that it's ok to give stuff to my kids without asking me.

I wouldn't give sweets to a mate's kids without asking so I don't get why it's ok to give them to a whole class full of kids when it's likely that at least some of the parents will be unhappy about this for whatever reason.

Sorry, that was directed to onagar.

merryponymum that is horrible

i do hope you have no beliefs that someone can pour scorn upon with such vitriol

Not 'special' respect MP. Just respect as I'd expect other people to respect my beliefs and values and the way I choose to bring up my children.

Now I'm not a religous person. In fact, I'm an atheist. But I still find it incredibly offensive that you should dismiss thousands of years of Jewish and Islamic beliefs and culture in such a crass manner.

fivecandles, I echo your beliefs.

I'm just sad when people see it as ludicrus and am abit at your last post, Onagar.

But I aalso know that nothing I sayh will change your quite harsh and intolerant opinions. I find it sad.

This has got ridiculous!
The crux of the matter is that sweets are sent in to celebrate a childs birthday. It's about that child and what they want for that day. If the school allows this and many do, then there is nothing you can do other than write a note to the teacher saying "do not give my dc's sweets"
It is completely unreasonable to inflict your views on anyone else whether they are racist, political, religious or ethical and that includes food policing!

I'm a strong advocate that Britain has gone PC mad, but this is not a case of PC-ness.
The school has a stance on healthy eating. That means no consumption of Haribos and similiar crap on school grounds - I applaud that. I am all for treats for children in moderation, but not Haribos. They're full of shit.
What you do OUTSIDE the school however is your choice.

Really can't see what you're all arguing about.
The school has banned the consumption of rubbish food on their premises.
End of.