is this inappropriate behaviour by a head teacher?

Churchmouse

headoutthesand wrote: »

My sons school checks lunch boxes everyday with the child getting a gold star on the class chart if the lunch box is healthy. They don't seem to bother much with whats on the pieces but more about the drinks and the sweets/crisps.

It does seem a total contradiction though that if I send him for a school dinner he can opt for a burger, cake and crisps.

He has told me when we go shopping that we should buy no added sugar drinks, small treat size sweets and quavers or corn snacks for crisps (he doesn't know what corn snacks are but he's obviously paying attention to the teacher).

He always needs to have 1 fruit item too.

I think it's a good idea when they are made aware of whats good and bad as it makes the parents think twice if their bad shopping decisions have a reflection on the kids infront of their classmates.

As a general rule I don't give the kids fizzy juice unless it's a treat and I always have snack sized portions of grapes on hand for when they start moaning that they are hungry just before dinner. Same goes for yoghurts too. Always in the fridge for them to help themselves.

Well my instinctive reaction to this is :eek::eek: How horrible, using a child as a stick to beat its parents with! I wish these schools could have the decency and courage to face the parents whom they deem to be lacking. In my opinion using children in this way displays a total lack of awareness and care.

Indie_Kid

headoutthesand wrote: »

It does seem a total contradiction though that if I send him for a school dinner he can opt for a burger, cake and crisps.

I would seriously complain about this. Why is it one rule for packed lunch and another for school dinners?

andrealm

I strongly disagree with this sort of heavy handed approach from schools. Telling children that cheese sandwiches and orange juice is unhealthy is ridiculous. I believe nutritionists usually say there's no such thing as an unhealthy food, just an unhealthy diet, it's about balance. Nothing needs to be banned, all foods can be eaten in moderation. Is the Head a qualified dietician?
If not, then who is she to dictate what children should and shouldn't be eating.
What if a child is very underweight and has been advised to eat high fat foods because they need to put weight on, or if their diet is restricted because of allergies?

By all means educate children about healthy eating and encourage them to eat fruit and veg but I think it's very wrong to be telling them that certain foods are so bad that they have to be confiscated. If a child does keep coming in with an unsuitable lunch of , for example, crisps, chocolate and nothing else then they should have a quiet word with the parents, they shouldn't be taking a child's lunch away and not providing them with an alternative.

I'm sure I've read similar posts on this forum where things like chocolate biscuits were banned and confiscated from lunchboxes while the school canteen had choc sponge pudding on the menu. Of course there's no money to be made out of children who bring in packed lunches whereas school dinners make money for the school.

Dave101t

packed lunches were always a private thing when i was at school (im 27 now), they were ignored as the school has no authority over them.
i guess im in for a shock when i have kids...?

Churchmouse

headoutthesand wrote: »

He has told me when we go shopping that we should buy no added sugar drinks, small treat size sweets and quavers or corn snacks for crisps (he doesn't know what corn snacks are but he's obviously paying attention to the teacher).

Sorry headoutthesand, I'm really not picking on you, just this to me says a lot. I don't have young children anymore but I do buy for grandchildren. In my experience any drink labelled no added sugar contains some form of artificial sweetener. I, along with many others, think these are to be avoided as much as possible, and I refuse to buy these drinks. I'd rather any sweetening was done by natural sugars. There are studies and concerns about some of these artificial sweeteners, so I'm surprised at that message being imparted to children. It's possible there are drinks aimed at children that contain neither added sugar nor sweetener, but I don't believe they are widespread. I'd rather they just pushed water as a good, healthy drink.

Buttonmoons

This really annoys me.

Just before I left secondary school, they banned all the pop (but left ribena?!) crisps and chocolate, yet still served pizza, chips and hotdogs EVERY day, and for 10p more you could have some processed cheese nuked on said hotdog. All I wanted was a bag of crisps to eat with my sandwich!! You weren't even allowed to bring pop or crisps in with your packed lunch either. Nuts.

I think a cheese sandwich and nutrigrain bar is way more healthy than a questionable cheese dog and salty chips! Or most of the options they offer for school dinners.

Hope DD's school doesn't take this OTT approach!

Indie_Kid

mspig wrote: »

I don't care whether i get shot down for this or not but i am my childrens mother and i will decide what i will and won't put in my childrens packed lunches, i am educated enough to know what is good and what is bad for my children.

I think many people would agree with you.

Bufger

mspig wrote: »

When my eldest was a primary school is head teacher did the same thing, first it was cheese strings, then it was snacka jacks, then it was a fairy cake that we had made at home, then the same as the OP as cheese sandwich but the last straw was when he told my son he couldn't eat his apple as it was too big and couldn't drink his juice as he only wants water to be drunk not cordial.
I went into school met the head and told him in no uncertain terms that he has no right to look in my childs lunch box and remove things and i do not give him the authority to do so(this was before the jamie oliver campaign so not sure if the schools do have authority now). The head apologised and told me that he wouldn't took his pack lunch again, and he never did.

I don't care whether i get shot down for this or not but i am my childrens mother and i will decide what i will and won't put in my childrens packed lunches, i am educated enough to know what is good and what is bad for my children.

Hoorah :T

message too bloomin short

G51shopaholic

tell her to stick her "healthy eating" program where the sun doesn't shine!

My daughter's school have this "reward" programme that for every "healthy" item their lunchbox they get a reward point, which they save up to get pencils etc.

I'm 41 and I grew up healthy enough without any interference from know-it-alls!

For god's sake they are kids - what the hell is wrong with a cheese sandwich?
Cheese sandwiches are lovely!

Find out how many teachers smoke and send her leaflets re smoking.

INFACT TELL HER TO SHOVE THAT IN HER PEACE PIPE AND SMOKE IT!

tooldle

The same happens in my daughters school. Cold McD burgers are certainly commonly found in kids lunches as are dairylea dunkers, chocolate, coke etc. What surprises me more is the parents that do this, student nurses, teaching assistants etc. Judging by the amount of "larger" kids that come out of the gate of an afternoon, the parents either have a problem with portion control, providing a healthy diet, or dare I say it exercise. Of course, none of these kids are overweight in the eyes of the parent.
Bearing in mind that some of these processed foods can cause changes in behaviour, I think the school are within their right to ban it, after all they have to deal with the consequences of dozens of "sugared up" kids for the afternoon.