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!

Perhaps you should take orders from the children on what sweets they would like and then hand them through the railings at lunchtime.

Bloody hell. I'm glad I'm not a child these days. What a joyless experience it must be. I feel for dd when she starts school 'cos by 2012 it'll be illegal to breathe.

the people who don't want their kids to eat meat have to have some sweets with them so that they can do a swap for the gelatien sweets.

But it's ok- we are weirdos anyway depriving our kids of melted pigs

Yes yabu ot mis use the phrase PC gorn mad, it's a phrase used by idiots.

But you are right about the school being idiots. Teaching kids that some foods are evil, is sowing the seeds of more eating disorders, not fewer. I hate women who refer to certain foods as "naughty". They make me want to ram their chocolate eclairs where the sun don't shine.

Yabvu. I hope my childs school when he starts does the same!

There are 30 children in a class yes?
So 30 times a year they might be given sweets to take home - I really cannot see the problem in this at all.

Fortunately at DD's school they do allow such things. Most children take in a cake to share during the day, which they love. They light candles, sing Happy Birthday and share cake together. lovely.

At the school i work at they are allowed too. The sweets are given out at the end f the day. On my borthday I took biscuits in for my class children (am a TA) which they had at snack time after their fruit, and muffins for my breakfast support group - now the children really loved that!

When you have three siblings at same school who are not at a reasonable age, and one gets given a funsize packet of Haribo out of the blue, WW3 is unleashed. Why couldn't they share you may ask? There is not quite enough sweets in a funsize packet... The school has banned them now, and we are supposed to donate a book to library (can be sh cheapy) with child's name instead of buying sweets.

With about 1 in 3 children obese in the UK it really makes me mad to hear people complaining about 'not being allowed' to give sweets out at school.

Schools are doing their utmost best to try to support healthy eating (particularly for this children who have no parental guidance or support at home) and yet it always seems there a a number of whingers trying to derail everything from healthy school meals, fruit-based snacks and 'no junk food' policies.

Of course, as soon as a policy has to be written down on paper it (of necessity) becomes more 'absolute' - how the hell would you implement an 'everything in moderation' policy?

Kids are only in school 6 hours out of 24 a day, 5 out of 7 days a week. If parents are happy for their children to have Haribo and such like, then there is plenty of time outside school to do it. You can make the decision for your own children, but what gives you the right to make it for someone else's child?

It's petty and narrow-minded to undermine school efforts to address one of the biggest problems facing our future generations, so yes, YABVU...

swanriver - as there are more than 3 sweets in the packet then actually yes, IMO there are enough to share. And I think a 5y is old enough to understand anyway.

OOh you would hate it here. At least once a week dd gets a big bag of mixed sweets/biscuits. They do go in the bags though so I let her have a few and then stick the rest in the overflowing tupperware container i have especially for the purpose. Dd's teacher actually hands out lollipops for special occasions! I think you're all fretting about it too much.

I dont mind sweets for DS - but some points I want to make

Firstly I am (currently) overweight. I eat a perfectly healthy, normal diet including regular walking around pushing buggy etc. I was on very serious meds to try to help my lifelong problem of migraine that is so bad I agreed to try the meds for 2 years knowing the major side effect was a lot of weight gain - think stones. Well I gained the weight, the meds didnt work anyway, now I am on another med - side effect weight loss (result!) so hopefully am back on my way to how I was before. But what you said was rude and thoughtless. There are a lot of reasons for being overweight. No this teacher might not be overweight for exactly the same reason I am, I am just making the point if someone saw me they might clock me and go "overweight, eats crap" but really I dont. So you need to rethink your attitude and realise we are not all blessed with remotely decent metabolisms or health or mental states or whatever.

Secondly - sweets in moderation - fine. I dont mind. I give them to DS. I am not overly precious about it. BUT and this is a big but - he has SN. And certain foods, with some colourings and additives are soooooooo bad for him. For all children I know but for him, picture days and days of meltdown, tears, violence, agony, all around. It isnt pretty. So while I let him have sweets I try to give him sweets that arent riddled with loads of shit. Just good old chocolate or whatever. Again - not precious, but this is a proven fact, both medically and by thousands of parents in observation, of NT and SN children.

And lastly, DH, DS and I are veggie. So I would be really annoyed if (when) he eats sweets with gelatin in them at school. Of course I know it is bound to happen. I can write on his forms "no gelatin" til the cows come home but when people are passing out sweets to all the other children, it isnt going to work is it.

Now none of these things are issues to end the world! But you asked if you were BU. And that was my answer.

But not necessarily divisible by 3 Hulababy. A hysterical overtired four year old fighting his twin and his 6 year old brother are not good at sharing, let alone the original recipient of gift who says it is mine all mine. Anyway maybe I had very badly controlled dcs... Older now thank goodness.
They get sweets at weekends

well swan the solution to that is that you share them out equally and eat the one left over, or throw it away or whatever.

In DS1's class (18) the children tend to get a little treat just before the end of the day if its someone's birthday. It varies from being a fairy cake to a mini box of smarties.

I'd say it happens about once a month so i don't have a problem with that.

Allergies must be a nightmare and i feel every sympathy for the children who have them and their parents.

Just to clarify i meant there are 18 children in DS1's class not that he's 18! Can't see an 18 year old boy being terribly impressed with a fairy cake or mini box of smarties

Even one of those Haribo things (even the little teddy ones) is enough to turn my kind, chilled little boy INTO THE SCREAMING DEMON FROM HELL - I think it must be one of the additives rather than the sugar cause it doesn't happen with all sweets.

Our school don't allow any sweets/chocolate anything like that. The kids don't seem TOO deprived, but who can really tell - we may be setting them up for a lifetime of therapy, insisting that a few hours a day be sugar free.

Nice, making a crack about the teacher's weight as well - real nice.

In DS's class sweets/chocolates are given out for birthdays. One child has a milk allergy and he has a separate bag of treats which his mum has brought in so he can have something when the others get something.

I don't know whether there are any vegetarians in his class. I can't remember whether there have been any packets of Haribo given out though - usually it is fairy cakes or chocolate. We did some chocolate crispie cakes and specially did some with dark chocolate (which the mum with the milk allergy child had OKed ).

Please don't assume that those of us who don't allow their children sweets are joyless misery-making fuckwits who think that 5 jelly sweets are going to make our children instantly obese or put them on a path to a lifetime of problems.

Please acknowledge that some children have diabetes, allergies, are on special diets, etc and sweets are not a harmless treat.

YABU to say PC gone mad, argh!

(realises this has probably been many times on this trhead)

YABU - come to DS1's nursery and see how many of the kids are overweight - one little lad is given a can of pop and a marsbar everyday on his way home, he really is huge. His mum then moans on about his terrible behaviour

Every week we are given 'birthday' sweets etc and I think it is really sad how these sweets are so bigged up for the kids.

by banning it it sends a message out to parents that they need to think about other ways of celebrating instead of just with sweets and chocolate. And maybe just maybe they will think before stuffing their kids with this shit all the time.