I just heard something at my kids' school that just about took the wind out of my sails! Our school district, in preparation for the 2007/2008 school year, has banned ALL birthday and holiday celebrations that include foods declared non-nutritious. In other words, parents are not allowed to bring cup cakes in to the classroom and goodie bags are not allowed to have candy and other such treats. My daughter told me that they are not even going to be allowed to have parties because they "take too much time away from learning". Say What??? Oh, and no more chips will be allowed to be sent to school for snack, but they are allowed in lunches? How am I going to stop my child from eating her chips at snack if she wants them then instead of for lunch? This from a group of people who STILL consider Ketchup a vegetable??? What's next? Telling us what we can and cannot pack for our childrens lunches?

I can't help but wonder if all the rules about what the kids are allowed to have in school is going to have the opposite of the intended results. Kids should be taught to enjoy treats in moderation, that's what they used to do before kids started getting heavier but then kids also played outside all day and weren't allowed to play on the computer for hours on end.
The no party thing is so not fair to the kids, everyone needs time to wind down.

That is utterly ridiculous. What type of lifestyle are they implementing by omitting something enjoyable at a time of leisure? Everything in moderation. And what business is it of theirs if a mother allows her child to eat chips? What are they going to do? Suspend you for munching a Dorito?

I always pack a sandwich, a drink, something nutritious(carrots, cucumbers) and something sweet(sometimes cookies, sometimes fruit).....my kids eat it all.

I teach at a high school in a good neighborhood where presumably most of the kids have good parents, but I go out at lunchtime and a lot of the kids are eating a soda and a candy bar for lunch! I at least hope they are getting a good dinner! (I know most of them do not eat breakfast, and if they do it is a pop tart or a honey bun or some pastry item). Many of the kids hit starbucks in the morning, do you know how much fat and calories are in a starbucks??? Might as well eat Crisco! The Governator has recently banned candy and sodas and unhealthy food from the schools (sale.. I think as a teacher I can still give it out as rewards). So the school lunches are now really YUCKY! They aren't allowed to have anything with mayo or that is fried. Teachers don't even eat in the lunchroom anymore (now I"m off topic)

In addition my husband I moved to the inner city to do urban ministry so we live in a neighborhood where some of the parents are highly uneducated, section 8 housing, welfare and many of those are strung out on drugs. School is the ONLY place they get a meal sometimes. At home if there is food, often it is very unhealthy.

Unfortunately not every child has access to good nutrition and some districts have taken the stance of requiring healthy foods at school and for some kids they need that. Unfortunately those of us who are good parents have to suffer for it!

I was floored a few years ago when we moved to Texas and also sent my son to 1st grade. Only 2 party's a year in class that then can have sweets . No cupcakes on birthdays. No "since you worked your tails off preparing and stressing on the TAKS test, here is a treat". I know kids are overweight and it is a problem, however, giving them 30 minutes PE and "maybe" a 15 minute recess (which is sometimes watching a movie inside the classroom because it is too hot / cold outside) sure isn't helping. *** I'm venting now too . When I was in school - which wasn't THAT long ago, we had morning recess, lunch recess, afternoon recess, and some kind of PE. We weren't focusing all year on learning what was going to be on a state test.
My son is a good student. A's and B's. Well behaved. He loves to go to school and learn new stuff. He gets so stressed out and sick to his stomach when it comes time to take this TAKS test every year. Most of the kids do. The pressure from the teachers and principal is just horrible. They even have a huge rally the Friday before to "pump the kids up". *** WOW I'm off subject --- sorry ANyway.... my son is a big boy. Not fat - just "heafty". We keep him active afterschool and weekends. Instead of the government telling us we can't treat our kids at school 'cause they are overweight and it takes time from learning - why don't they just let us parent. We all turned out OK (well kind of _ and we had parties, cupcakes, and FUN at school!!!
*** If this sounds like rambling , my apologies - I havn't got my first cup of coffee down and I got a little fired up. This has been a sore topic with my for a while!!!

That's how it is here in Plano, TX It has been that way for a whilE! The only treats you can bring in have to be packaged from the store. So since I am not liscenced, I will not be able to bring in treats. And they uisually don't celebrate any holidays either!

I remember having a party for every holiday and also bringing in treats for birthdays. I thought that I would be able to be one of those cool moms that brought in the really neat decorated cookie...bummmer


Stephanie

I am just starting to face that now...My son started kindergarten this fall and his school won't allow any treats for birthdays ,halloween etc..I was so bummed out because I wanted to make decorated cookies.They encourage you to send healthy snacks and of course no nut products.They do have a chip day or special lunch day every month where the school orders pizza or makes hotdogs etc so they aren't entirelly taking it away but I wanted to be able to make cookies and baking for the bake sale etc..Uggghhhh.I aggree that kids still need to be kids and unwind with a treat..school has become so institutional that kids are getting sick when they have to write exams..Crazy!!! What happened to the days where you had a halloween party and Valentines party.......but now you have to be careful in what you call it because different nationalities don't always observe the same holidays we do...My daughter's preschool is having a Noah's Arc day instead of Halloween ...times are changing....sorry for the rant!!

That's California for you! I grew up there but have lived in the midwest since I got married in 69 and wouldn't go back if you paid me the big bucks. CA has changed into a different world than it was when I left. Seems like they have law for about anything you can dream up, and they're getting into one's personal business more all the time.

My family is not-so-slowly leaving CA and coming back here. My sister, bil, their three children, sil and three grandkids AND my mother all moved back here this summer. They moved because my sister decided she didn't want to live out there so far from me/my family and our in laws (we married brothers) anymore. They are all just amazed at the absence of asinine rules/laws here. Seems like I am constantly reminding them that they aren't in CA anymore. They're in God's country now. Ü

Yes, I teach in TX and we jumped on that bandwagon a few years ago. It is called foods of minimal nutritional value. We can have 3 parties a year and we have to choose which holidays. This year Blue Bell wants to give everyone in the school some ice cream to celebrate our teacher of the year going to the state competiton. Guess what? That counts as one of the 3 days! I understand having some restrictions but this law is way too strict.

Geez, I got so mad reading all of this crap!
I don't have children but I would be SO FURIOUS for these stupid rules!
It sure ain't what it used to be!
I am so sorry for those of you who have to deal with this...I dunno what I would do!

Wow I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky, we live in northeastern PA & my daughter is in first grade this year. We mostly pack lunch since the school food basically looks... well not so healthy. But as far as class partys go, it is very laid back. last year for kindergarten one of the dads bought pizza for his daughters b-day. Which my daughter thought was great!

The teacher also would also send home a sign up sheet for "fruit parties". I felt so lucky to have her, i felt she had a great balance in her class.

It's been that way in Holland for as long as I've lived here (6 years) and I believe much longer. Morning snacks cannot consist of anything other than a fruit juice or milk based drink, a healthy sandwich and/or friut. Lunch cannot contain candy, chips, cookies or anything deemed unhealthy. The teachers will remove it from your child if they have anything like that. For birthdays, you are actively encouraged not to bring anything laden with refined sugar, but are allowed small (1oz) bags chips, fruit kebabs, cheese pieces and so on - this is the only area that they seem to allow a bit of leway, my daughter often comes home with candy/crap given to her by other kids for their birthdays. I did decorated sugar cookies for her birthday in July and they were far too impressed to complain .

Edited to say: there is no such thing as school lunches here, you either go home or eat a packed lunch in class. These rules only apply to basis schools (up to the age of 12), by the time they go on to high school it's a one big crapfest (vending machines, fried snacks, you name it!) - oh, not to mention the whole smoking thing (1/2 of my 14 yr old son's class are smoking already ) - but don't get me started on that (and I don't mean just tobacco either!).

Retired teacher here- High School- all I ever wanted was the soda machines and candy machines banned from the schools. And that was just because of the mess the students would make from sneaking it into the classrooms. As far as the rest of the legislative nonsense you are talking about, sounds about par for the course. The texts and curriculum were first required to be PC and multicultural to the point of silliness. Now the nutritional Nazis have taken control kindergarten cookies. Sigh!

I really think the state of our unhealthy overweight kids in this nation has less to do with what goes in their mouths (though there are exceptions to that) and more to do with what doesnt happen in the form of exercise! I too was given 2 recesses a day and PE every other day for *gasp* a whole hour...that said I went to private school. We didnt have a computer at home until I was in high school, we didnt have video games and we didnt even have a VCR until I was almost in high school (my parents waited until the technology was cheap lol)........so when we got home from school we spent much of the time outside on the swing set, reading books or chasing kids around the neighborhood.... at least all of those activities were actually good for us.

I guess we can now understand why home schooling is on the rise and at least around here, the private schools are not having problem filling the class rooms.

We moved to AR two years ago and I was heart broken when I found out that I would not be able to bring anything that I made to my children's school. You can not bring anything homemade, only two parties a year, nothing but milk, water, or 100% fruit juice for drinks, and no unhealthy snacks. Yes I understand that obesity is a problem with today's youth but it seems to me that they would go home and gorge themselves on the "good stuff" since they didn't get it during the day. I think one of the biggest problems is that the kids don't get the exercise they need. Instead of being outside working off the junk food they are inside playing video games and watching television. This is where our jobs as parents come in. We need to make sure that we are active families. Go for a hike, play a game that involves moving a lot, ride bikes, etc. This way we are spending time as a family but we are also working off mom's latest recipe experiment!

I guess I can see where Ahnie is coming from, but what the heck? Children's birthdays mean everything to them! What harm can a cupcake do?

I will say that I have a neighbor who is going to be black market with this new rule change though. She makes things (baked goods, candy, etc...) for her son to take to school and sell for her. I wonder what will happen when he gets caught doing so?

Oh, as far as school lunches go, it costs $3.00 per lunch and I have 3 kids, so that is $45.00 a week for lunch, almost $200 per month and you know what I get? Bean Burritos with 40 some odd grams of fat, cheese pizza, and other crud. Seems to me that they ought to worry about those kids whose parents can not afford to send a lunch to school and make sure they get FULL.

My kids went from K-12th at the same consolidated school right down the road from us. They had great balanced lunches and a nice hot homemade roll (made on-site every morning to this day). No candy machines but a vending machine with healthy snacks including apples. Pop machine wasn't even turned on until after school. Back here I think quality of school lunches might depend on whether they're getting them made on-site or at a central kitchen and transported to to other schools in the district. My dd teaches 1st grade in a small district, but they'll move soon to a new school that doesn't have a kitchen. Thier's will start coming from the big kitchen at the high school. I'm sure I'll be hearing about it then. Oh boy! My grandaughter who is in 1st grade at the same school is taking her lunch and just having a school lunch one day a week just for something different. We'll see how long THAt lasts!

I think it's ludicris (sp) that schools would ban homemade foods brought in lunches! How dare they question what I decide to send in my childs lunch. If only the government would focus on reaching kids with better tools for a better education and not so much on dictating what they can or cannot eat during those school hours. Geez. I'd like to see us get back to some fundamentals of educating kids and make school a fun, safe place to learn. I may get blasted for that comment but I don't care. There's so much stupid ass stuff going on in schools today that a lot of kids AND teachers don't want to be there. And I think it's pretty sad. As parents and grand-parents I think we need to restrict the pc's and tv viewing and challenge our kids to use their minds and imaginations for things that don't require a joystick or keyboard. Get them out in the fresh air while the seasons permit, and yes kids can even play outside when it's cold and they don't melt in the rain either. Okay, I'll be quiet now............

We lived in Hinesville, GA (home of the 3rd Infantry Divison!) for 3 years. My children were not in school, but a good majority of my friends' children were. Starting in 1st GRADE (my mom is a 1st Grade teacher, so I have a lot of experience with that grade) they have NO recess - they instead spend 8 hours a day in the classroom studying and preping for these darned standardized tests and when they are in the cafeteria they are not allowed to talk or socialize. They get detention if they are caught talking. They have to be dismissed by a teacher before they can get up and have to ask permission to go to the bathroom. IN FIRST GRADE.

I was so grateful when we moved from that heckhole.

Rachel

I agree mrsright40401,I live Miami,Fl and my little bro is in 4th grade.All they teach in school from 1st-12th grade is how to take a test.There is about 30 minutes-1hr of P.E. a week and he gets really excited about that but they spend all day doing work and taking test(not to mention he is in the gifted progam,he has to read at least 2 books a week and take test on them,he read on a 6th grade level) .The school no longer recieves funding for school lunch(no free lunch)because the children didn't meet the states requirements as far as grades so they have to bring whatever their parents can afford.Needles to say I believe that the school system is failing the kids of tommorrow they can no longer get the healthy lunch choices that they usually get.It sucks

My eighth grader takes her lunch everyday. The last two years she has been in portables. walking in the rain so all the kids were soaked almost to their knees when it rained hard enough. The school sells sports drinks, but the students were told they can't have the vitamin enriched water (Propel)? What the heck is the difference? Sometimes I wonder how these people who make rules survive.

This exact thing is one of the MANY reasons that we withdrew our oldest son from public school and enrolled him in a private school that focuses on educating the WHOLE child and not just training them to pass a test so that the school's numbers stay up so they get their funding. It's unreal how the government insinuates themselves into the private lives of people these days. It's absolutely none of their business what my child does or does not eat and definitely not their place to tell me what he can eat. What IS their place is to educate my child on the ABC's, 123's, etc...that's what I send him to SCHOOL for!! I agree that there are a lot of parents out there who do not make good nutritional choices for their children nor teach their kids how to make those choices themselves. But it's not something the school's have a right to force them to do. Bravo for school's that yank the vending machines full of sweets and things like that, and the ones that offer REAL food in their cafeterias...not the overprocessed crap that most schools serve. It's always great to offer healthy options but telling me what I can or can't send in my child's lunch from home is flat out absurd! They need to focus on education period. And the ungodly amount of policies and regulations in public schools now is completely ridiculous...it serves no purpose for the children, IMO. All it does is take so much energy and time from the teacher's that would be better spent actually TEACHING the kids! While I do believe that some of the younger teachers coming into the schools are extremely under qualified (let's face it...they've been educated under this same ridiculousness our kids are now), at the same time their hands are tied because of all the PC BULL$&*! they have to deal with. They really aren't ALLOWED to teach anymore....now it's follow these rules strictly and make sure they pass that test!

OK..I'll stop now...sorry This is the school we've enrolled our son in now...he was only in public school for roughly 1 month before we'd had enough!
http://www.fairhopeorganicschool.com/

It's really a whole different take on education. They don't do homework and don't have typical grades like 1st, 2nd and so on. And they don't do report cards...I know, it sounds a little wacky at first but it really makes sense when you investigate further. What happens is when they're studying a certain thing, the child doesn't advance to the next thing until he's mastered the first one...make sense?? They educate the child on a subject until they MASTER IT!!!! And it's not all about sitting in a desk all day listening to the teacher drone on about something and then having to do 5 worksheets within the hour and getting a check mark on your conduct sheet for the day if you don't finish them....that crap pissed me off! At this school, they do traditional academics the first half of the day and then something enriching in the afternoons...like music, art, ceramics, wood shop. Last week they built a pond...from digging the hole to adding fish after it was filled with water. They learned the entire time...the teachers taught them about every aspect as they went along doing it...really hands on and totally educational. Oh...and on his 2nd day there, Isaac (my 6 yr old) came home telling me that he wrote his name in heiroglyphics and informed me of what a 'Cartouche' is!!! He told me all about what heiroglyphics are and how they came about and how they were used, too....I was blown away! At the same time, he's learning his basics in math, spelling, etc., having lots of play time, learing to self-discipline and isn't restricted by assinine unecessary rules...he's totally free to LEARN!! Now THAT's education!

BTW - for those of you who don't know what a 'cartouche' is (I didn't) it's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartouche.

JennT - as a former teacher, I love the idea of your organic school! Question - what happens when the child reaches high school? No grades or test scores. Also, how did you find out about this school. I live in OH and my kids are only 3 and 2, but I am already worrying about the kind of school experience they are going to have!

Same in NJ. No foods are allowed that have sugar listed as the first ingredient. No juices either. For parties they can have sweets but no candy. Halloween sure will be fun!

Our school still has PE and recess, since we live in North Dakota and sometimes it's too cold the kids either play in the classroom or in the gym when the weather isn't good. We are still allowed to bring treats in, if it was federal we wouldn't be able to since my son goes to a BIA school so they're watched.

I wonder how many of us have kids who don't eat healthy food and are terribly overweight (not just a little chunky) since we make lots of sweets. That and how many have kids who won't eat healthy foods.
My children love stuff like broccoli and fruit, I have more trouble keeping pears in the house than cake. They have foods they don't like but everyone does and they eat a good variety, neither one is anywhere close to heavy.

The whole thing with the testing and stuff is ridiculus, No Child Left Behind has hurt alot of schools and all it does is blame the teachers. The government should look at one of it's own school systems to see why they don't need to pass all the dumb laws. The schools run by the Department of Defense have a large proportion of minority and children under the poverty line yet they manage to score very high in the nation if taken as a whole school district. In that system the parent is made to be part of their child's schooling, they can be ordered to go to conferences and stuff. The whole thing with funding is a load of ______, my son is attending a federal school on a reservation. They have so much money that he has 2 certified teachers full time in the classroom and only 18 kids per class (6 classes per grade) yet they're failing as a school. If you look at the kids who's parents aren't on drugs and stuff those kids are doing fine, it's the kids who don't go to school for 50 days out of a school year and are passed anyway that are having trouble, that and the fact that if you have a kid with a learning disability this is the school you want them in because of the programs they have money for and each of those kids counts against the school. And yes I know of a kid who missed about 50 days and the school let him pass because the parents insisted. There's one boy in my son's class who moved right before school, showed up a week later and has moved to the same place again and school only started a month ago, the teachers expect he'll be back soon.


Sorry about the rant , I know several good teachers who are worried about losing their jobs because the kids don't get high enough scores.

Thank you guys for this post. It has confirmed my decision of homeschooling my ds this year. Sometimes I begin to wonder if I made the right decision but then I read something like this. So I don't have to worry about things like whether or not he eats his lunch as he'll be with me when he is eating.