Parents "sneaking" pop into water bottles - opinions please?

[Bozza]

DS has just started reception and they have a policy that all the children are allowed to take in a bottle of water which are kept on a tray and they are allowed to help themselves as and when. Think this sort of idea is becoming pretty common. So I went out and bought DS a nice new Star Wars bottle to take it in and he was quite happy.

However loads of the parents are complaining and saying their kids won't drink water. Some of them have started sending in flavoured water and ribena. One even sent diet coke. I'm a bit peeved about this because DS knows they are only allowed water but that some of the others are taking these things. I know its only a small thing but I do think it is giving the kids the message that its OK to undermine the teacher and I think that its the start of the discipline problems that afflict lots of schools - the sort of thing that HMB describes very eloquently. What do you think?

and bugger the effect your child having a bag of crisps and juice has on the less fortunate who don't have balanced, healthy diets and the school are trying hard to re-educate I suppose

cos your little princess eats well the rest of the time does not mean the other children at school do

the aim of these policies .. fruit, milk, water are to maximise the health of all society's children

it is a selfish act to act differently

If it's raining today at school pick up I'll wait until it stops. I know it's the school rule that we have to get our children at 3 but my little cherub doesn't like coming out in the rain.

Mosschops - if we were talking about restricitng choices at for lunch time/snacks then I mgiht agree with you: but we are talking about the drink that is availalbe to the kids during the school day - ie in class.

As soemoen else has said, the reason that (most)schools are now encouraging water in the class room is that it has been provedn that it helps with children's concentration. I'm sure that without that justification, the teachers would pferef that the children weren't getting up and down for drink - it's another distraction!

That's why in Glasgow the kids are provided with wee water bottles to keep in school (presumably on their desks - I haven't been in to the classroom yet!), and water "on tap" in water coolers.

"Sugared" water (in any form) may have a detrimnetal effect for a number of reasons, eg sugar rush, spillages.

I do give ds a carton of juice - but it is far break time, not for drinking during over the day.

Issymum, so you can't take packed lunch?

Mosschops no-one is "bullying" your child into having water. If they don't want to drink anything, they don't have to. On the other hand, if they do want to drink, the school would like them to drink water. There is nothing unreasonable about them saying that. As someone else said earlier, they are not forcing crack cocaine on your child.

My children are always made to eat food they don't like. Someone phone the Social.

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Good point OO. They had better come and get mine too (I could do with a break!)

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Sorry Mosschops but rofl at your 'if people were educated properly' comment. that's why schools are trying to teach children about healthy diets - in practice as well as theory

Mosschops - see my post. Dd1 would not drink water, 1 week later she was.

They will drink what is available. And she can be a right stubborn little madam as well so is no pushover, as are most toddlers .

How will they dehydrate? It's mostly to keep them alert isn't it? How did we survive?

mosschops, it's been a long time since I was at school but I'm sure we didn't go to school with a bottle of water and I'm pretty sure there weren't ambulances queuing outside to drag all the dehydrated bodies out.

I know they introduced this water thing because it's supposed to be better for them to drink throughout the day (rather than from water fountains at break time as we used to do) but I guess for those who don't like water, they can just have a big juice bottle in their packed lunch.

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yes i remember the tuck shop well and my friends and i have the fillings to prove it!

They should know that MossChops but a hell of lot don't!

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You suppose that when you were a child Mosschops everyone went home to a nutritious dinner? Of cousre they didn't! Any more than they do now.

With the excpetion of children with genuine problems (eg the As child that someone metnioned) then yes - they have a choice of drinking or getting dehydrated.

But as Oliveoil discovered, her dd did give in.

If water is what is accessible, and the child is thirsty, then they will drink the water.

tuck shop

we scooped a drink of water from the tap in the toilets at break and thought we were lucky and had to stand on tiptoe to do it as there were no kiddy toilets and they were outside