School bans crisps and chocolate - (some) parents in uproar

[Clary]

here

What does everyone think?

Personally I wouldn't say a packet of crisps (or Skips, or Wotsits) and a chocolate mini roll constitute an acceptable lunch. But I have seen children provided with just that. Is that OK because it is their parents' choice?

we have a no chocolate rule anyway but crisps imo are fine. they need carbs don't they.

isn't there a law against this? we are a free country.

my son has been told a custard cream is bad for him. fgs.

I think advice is one thing, banning and dictating quite unacceptable. Giving the kids healthy-eating projects to is reasonable, confiscating their food is not (it is, for instance, perfectly reasonable for a child to have a sandwich, drink, banana and a small chocolate bar for lunch). AN enforcement policy will mean that some kids go hungry all day (because they know they can have whatever they want to eat once they get home, rather than having to give in and eat something they don't want to eat). Which isn't really that much better for them than having some chocolate at lunchtime.

dh did this in his school. parents are massively supportive, on the whole

But crisps are very very salty and have zero nutritional value really.

apparently the BHF says most children don't even consider them a treat, rather a normal part of nutrition.

Surely children shouldn't be eating a packet of crisps every day?

I wish secondary schools would carry on the good work started in primaries. DS is faced with lines of vending machines at lunch time and often comes home all stary eyed, high on Red Bull or Relentless. 'Food' consists of a soggy slice of pizza, so he often doesn't bother eating at all. Packed lunches are no good because they just get robbed off him on the bus.

I think it's a bit much to bad chocolate (especially chocolate spread ina sandwitch) but allow school puddings.

I think a ban on sweets and fizzy drinks is fine, anything else is just too controlling. My DS has organix corn puffs sometimes, I guess they are crisps, but would be absurd to ban them!

By all means schools should encourage healthy eating and variety in lunch boxes, but talk about nannying!

And to answer the OP, no crsips and choc mini roll don't constitute an acceptable lunch, but according to that article the mini roll would be allowed as cakes are fine, so it wouldn't solve the problem would it!

I mean ban, not bad!

yes but kettle chips are far too divine to waste on the DCs in their lunchboxes fio so that's irrelevant!

Agree with Madamez.

It's also a bit unfair when the children who have school dinners are allowed to have chocolate pudding.

The cereal bars thing seems a bit weird too,

Is Mrs Knox hte HT?

kettle chips are crack!
can anyone stop at just one handful?

Agree with madamez. Good post.

just one handful UQD? Never, I am a full blown addict, especially with the sweet potato ones

My son's junior school have permanently banned the eating of crisps at lunchtime for environmental reasons (wastage and saving the planet were mentioned were mentioned in the parental newsletter).

agree with madamez

No the mini roll would not be allowed, at least the picture of "banned" foods (it's in the paper but not on line) shows children holding those mini jaffa cake bars etc

I think they do have a point re puddings in school, but then the school does say that cakes and biscuits aren't banned.

If you could see the piccie - several kids looking really sad that their mini rolls and chcolate bars and crisps aren't allowed - all the lunchbox has in it is a sandwich and a pepperoni.

I am not sure they should ban it, but why do some parents think its a good idea for their children to eat crisps and chocolate as part of their daily diet? Weird!

dd1's school has banned chocolate and fizzy drinks

crisps are ok but she doesn't get them in her lunch box as they would fill her up and she wouldn't eat the sandwiches

are the school puddings made on the premises from scratch? these would be 'better' than some festering wrapped thing with tons of preservatives I suppose

poor child with 3 Mars bars!

dd (3) eats chocolate and is encouraged by the dietician
She's very underweight because of her CP, finds eating hard and needs calorie dense food.
The school is just gonna have to lump it.

well I think a ban is a good idea. I agree that most things are ok in moderation, but it is impossible to monitor moderation. I also agree that it is not necessarily the school's responsibility to police this, but many parents are irresponsible ime and this impacts on me when my dd comes home from school complaining about what other people have in their lunchboxes compared to hers.

I think it would also be very difficult to have anything other than a complete ban on all sweets, chocolates and crisps - the list of allowed products would be too long/difficult to monitor otherwise.

And I'm sure teachers would say that what a child has for lunch affects his behaviour/learning ability in the afternoon, so they would argue that the school should be able to impose rules.

I'm aware that this is a very simplistic view that I've put here and there are far more issues than these

if children having school dinners are allowed to have a pudding afterwards, why can't children having a packed lunch have some sort of treat too [puzzled emoticon]

I can't help thinking that instead of banning things, insisting on other things in addition is more sensible. Impossible I know. So much easier to have a blanket ban

Ok I know I am going to get flamed for this, but do people really think that chocolate spread sandwiches are a good thing for kids to have for lunch?