In refusing to send DCs to school with plastic water bottles?

[MadameCastafiore]

Right may be a bit long winded but here we go.

DCs have a new head at their school and a couple of months ago were sent home with really shite plastic bottles with sports caps which we were told had to be used for them to drink water in class - now I refused - the bottles were made of the same plastic you buy evian, you couldn't put them in the dishwasher to clean them and IMO you can never get a sports cap properly clean and the ones on these bottles were really soft plastic which after they had been chewed a couple of times (which all kids do I think) they looked grotty and really filthy.

Anyway fast forward to DCs getting in trouble for not having these bottles - I worte to the head and told him about the crappness of the plastic and the fact that they were made of a type of plastic that was not meant to be used over and over again and I said my kids would be using their sig bottles due to the fact that they were easy to clean, did not have sports caps (a urologist I spoke to said sports caps are vile and harbour germs and he told all of his kidney patients not to use them but to sip straight from the bottle) and they were made of metal which did not leach chemicals into the water (don't want my kids drinking from bottles which leach chemicals that mimic oestrogen into the water they are going to drink) and they were not see through so sunlight and heat wouldn;t affect the water and make bacteria multiply if the bottles were not properly cleaned.

He then fought a bit and last week they were selling new bottles (because the first one was free after that you have to pay £1.50 if you lose or break them), new bottles that are made out of a different kind of plastic and can go in the dishwasher but they still have sports caps.

The headmaster says that the bottles have to be see through so he can be sure we are not sending the kids to school with juice or fizzy drink (doh flavoured water is what most of DSs friends have in theirs which nulifies the point to some degree!) I said I am quite happy for him to check the DCs bottles and to make sure it is just water or I am happy to send them in with empty bottles which they will fill up from the water fountain at school.

Now do you think I am making a big thing out of nothing, I do think it is silly to kick off about lots of little things but it grates on me that this man does not trust us enough to do the best for our children and I know some parents don't but really this level of control is a little purile IMO. DSs teacher hasn;t said anything else to him after the first few times but DDs teacher is on her case telling her she muct have this see through bottle.

Can he make us use them is something I would also like answered?

Thank you for taking the time to read my ranty essay.

piscesmoon: "I would be very dubious about metal ones"
That's okay. I'm sure there are plenty of choices parents make that you feel are dubious. I don't see that all those choices have to be banned though.

maryz: "I'm right, your teacher is wrong"
What if you've already had conversations about it with your DC before you've even met the teacher and started at the school? What am I going to say? That plastics are fab afterall?

no paisleyleaf, you say something like
"Ok dc I know we did it this way before but now you are at school things are different. It is about all the other children too and they do it this way, so this is the way we are doing to do it too"
it's a good lesson for your dc, that society works because people work together for the good of society even if they don't like a particular rule. There are many rules I have to follow that really, really piss me off, but they are the rules and they are there for a reason and I am part of the group too.

Sometimes there are laws/rules that are really awful and people fight and demonstrate often at great personal sacrifice to get these changed and that is absolutely necessary and I take my hat off to these people.
However, little rules at school do not come under this category unless you fancy chaining yourself to the school railings Emmeline Pankhurst style in order to make your water bottle point

Indeed maryz, what will happen to these parents when their dc's want to wear a style of shoe the secondary school doesn't approve off?
Well I guess they will get detentions and then the parents can go ape that the school is infringing on the teens' civil liberties or some such crap.

All I do know is that those parents are in for a shock.

I have absolutely no problem with saying "I'm right, your teacher is wrong" but it would have to be about something rather bigger than water bottles for me to follow up with "you don't have to obey the school rule".

Cory, that's the way I think it'll pan out for me.

"I think that all teachers would find you difficult and avoid you when at all possible. I would certainly have no hassle with you on a school trip, because I would refuse to take you as a helper." Piscesmoon, I'm afraid you are, imo, an example of the worst of what MN has to offer. You know next to nothing about me and yet you think you know enough to make a sweeping statement like that. That's nasty and I have no intention of addressing you again on this thread.

maryz "I'm avoiding this thread because of people like you, claire, and mrshighwater." I see the avoiding isn't going very well for you.

Another thought; If the matter of water bottles is so trivial, why am I in the wrong to object and not the school for making the rule in the first place?

I'm tired of trying to explain my position to those who can't be bothered seeing past their own petty prejudices. I'm off. Maybe there's a packed lunch thread that needs another perspective...

But mrshighwayer You have been the one representing yourself on here.
Piscesmoon can only go on what you choose to show and what you have shown to us is that you are a difficult person to deal with. Why should that not be the case at school also?
If you aren't like this then why on earth behave that way on this thread?
Very odd

If schools are supposed to be in partnership with parents then I don't understand why parents concerns are often ignored or even derided. Surely there could be some way of taking them seriously and steps taken to find some arrangement agreeable to the school and the parent.

"If the matter of water bottles is so trivial, why am I in the wrong to object and not the school for making the rule in the first place?"

That thought crossed my mind, too, MsH.

I would say that it is in the great scheme of things that the matter is trivial juuule. There are bigger fish.

The thing is it isn't a trivial matter for a child who is prone to UTIs and kidney infections.It is not simply a question of keeping hydrated, the system has to be kept well flushed out.I have a 5 yo and an 8 YO like this and so are several other little girls I know.
The 5 yo will not drink more than a tiny bit of water from her school-issue plastic bottle because it tastes horrid.She needs fresh water or better yet squash which she will drink in higher quantities that plain water.

I agree that children with medical issues need to have their particular needs met. If that means they have a certain container then so be it. However, the vast majority of children have no medical issue.
Although I'm not so sure of the medical advantages of flushing your system with squash.
Dd1's consultant impressed upon me that water should be used to flush her system through, not sugar drinks.

kittywise, point out to me anything I have said that proves that I am difficult - difficult enough to justify labelling me as one whom all the teachers will want to avoid. Unless, of course, you are using "difficult" as a synonym for "disagrees with me and refuses to toe the line".

I don't see the OP's dc's school as being "in partnership" with parents over this issue. I also don't see "partnership" represented in piscesmoon's insistence that school rules are to be followed for no better reason than that they are rules made by the school or in her implication that, if a parent defies any rule, they risk bringing down the wrath of the school on the child's head.

In short, a school rule mandating the use of a specific type of bottle for the water the kids are permitted to drink in class is a pointless, inappropriate and unnecessary rule and singling out any child for not having the regulation container is just contemptible and unprofessional behaviour.

maryz, I don't need to have the last word to prove I'm right. I usually find just being right is enough (though I do like getting the last word )

'oldandgrey. Your dd's water bottle should be filled up with fresh water every day - problem solved.'

It is filled every day!!!! but even fresh in the morning is minging after being leftout all day in a plastic bottle.

Reading through this whole thread (yip it took a little while) I find some of the comments, as well as the headmaster's ignorance very disturbing. There seems to be this misconception that plastic being toxic is a myth. There is a very good reason why BPA is now banned across numerous countries around the world and why everyday, new studies (by very reputable scientists) are showing that there are numerous other toxins that are contained in plastic. This most certainly is no myth.

Mothers, especially of newborn babies - please do not risk the health of your child by using plastic bottles. It is just not worth it. Use stainless steel instead, it is 100% safe and very eco-friendly!