Packed lunch getting nicked

onlyroz

*max* wrote: »

Of course it isn't right! But my point is, that bit of cake may be part of a lunchbox that consists of only crisps and a coke. Those are the parents that ruin it for everyone else, I believe. As long as the rest of the lunch is healthy, there is nothing wrong at all with a small piece of cake. There has to be a balance. If the kids getting school meals were given a chocolate pudding for dessert but the rest of the meal was healthy to compensate, then there isn't a problem either.

Edit: Just seen the post just before this. Well, if the school meals are carp too, then it should be taken up with the school. If that same school are taking away something from a kid when the rest of his meal is fine, then they're wrong. But we're veering from the original question here, so I'm stopping now.

I agree that there has to be a balance. Perhaps a more sensible rule would be to limit the lunch boxes to one junk item - so a choccie bar is OK as long as the rest is a sandwich and some fruit.

As for the school dinners, I think that on the whole they're OK - and I don't mind in the slightest if they have chips once or twice a week and a sugary pudding each day - just as long as they demonstrate some common sense with the lunch box policy.

The only reason I switched to packed lunches was because it's much cheaper than school dinners, but I *was* a bit surprised when my son had his birthday cake taken away

jetta_wales

Not a lunch I'd give my kids but agree it's besides the point.

Ask the teacher to have all lunch boxes kept in the class if they can not ensure that it will not happen again.

balletshoes

cheepskate wrote: »

Thanks for all the replys, and for all the ones that made me laugh.

This has really got nothing to do with carrot munching lunch boxes .

As for if we dont put sweets in problem solved......I cant really believe that people think a solution to this problem is not to put in sweets/crisps. Its my fault someone steals .

What will it be next, my son/child has brought in a fancy rubber /pen/keyring etc and it is pinched. Is the solution , not too bring in anything that is remotely wanted.

the possibility that these kind of stationery items could be pinched/lost etc is exactly why a lot of schools, including my DD's primary, don't allow the kids to bring in their own pencil cases and stationery, the school provides what they need in class. Now I think about it, I didn't start bringing my own pencil case etc to school until I was at high school, so that must have been my primary school's policy too, 30 years ago.

Thanks for the reply's, i will see the teacher tomorrow and raise my concerns again, if that doesnt work , maybe my son will come down with horrendous constipation and need a few bars of laxative chocolate...... only joking

I agree with telling the teacher that this has happened again, but do also agree that if you don't give him sweets and crisps for lunch, they are not going to get pinched are they. DDs school allows crisps but no chocolate of any description, nor sweets, nor fizzy drinks.

Desperado99

Our school are currently having the same problem, and all lunchboxes are now kept in the school office until lunch. This is one for the school to deal with, rather than a parents email.

Doozergirl

cheepskate wrote: »

This has really got nothing to do with carrot munching lunch boxes .

As for if we dont put sweets in problem solved......I cant really believe that people think a solution to this problem is not to put in sweets/crisps. Its my fault someone steals .

What will it be next, my son/child has brought in a fancy rubber /pen/keyring etc and it is pinched. Is the solution , not too bring in anything that is remotely wanted.

No one said that it was your fault. It's completely valid that if it isn't in there, it will not be stolen; because it actually doesn't need to be there. It's you pushing things out of proportion with comments of cherish-able items and it being your own fault.

Junk in moderation really does mean 'not at every meal'. Advertising showing slim people enjoying chocolate isn't really the way the real world works. Crisps and chocolate isn't moderation at all, can easily contain 350 calories between a small bag of crisps and a small chocolate bar - that's about a quarter of their entire dietary need provided in a 'treat'. Look at the size of us as a nation and ask where the 'in moderation' is. Almost all of us have the wrong idea of what moderation is, myself included. We need to set higher standards for our children.

As for 'carrot munching', with or without a smilie, that says more about you than it does about careful parents who send their kids to school with healthy lunchboxes; if you think that healthy is something to be mocked even in jest. My kids have treats like any other child, occasionally too many, but the lunch box is the perfect place to moderate it. Schools really do need to teach the importance of healthy eating which shouldn't be undermined by parents shoving in rubbish because their kids deserve it or like it. Empty calories are proven to affect concentration in the afternoons. I want my kids concentrating, not falling asleep. They can eat well without being called carrot munchers.

I'm perfectly happy to have a discussion about it with a mum who thinks it's okay to moderation "carrot munching".

No chocolate, no stealing. Nips it in the bud and has the benefit of allowing you to consider the value of a healthy lunchbox; think of something with nutritional value to put in it. If your child isn't even getting their treat at lunchtime, then it might be logical to give it to them in the evening anyway! The rest can be dealt with by the school, not by sending out emails. Asking a question in the playground is one thing, taking it upon yourself to email all the mums in a class is a step too far.

Stephb1986_2

Does the OP's child not deserve a small treat? man alive we might aswell stop having biscuits and crisps from supermarkets to stop people buying them and just stock the whole supermarket with fruit and veg?? It's not like the whole lunch box is biscuits and crisps is it.

I agree with a few of the other posters, put in hot chilli sauce to catch the little light fingered sod. You will soon catch him/her.

Good luck OP

Steph xx

AmandaD28

I would say send the email and someone posted a good example of what to write in it on the first page

Incidentally my best friends middle child DD last year was unmasked as a packed lunch thief !! My friend only found out as it was the talk of the playground and she knew even before it was revealed that it was her DD she is a very greedy child always starving and a little bit overweight in truth. It was revealed that it was her and my best friend was mortified she was paying for her DD to have the school meals as she felt they were healthy for her (which was true) however DD wanted the treats out of other lunch boxes and nothing was going to stop her after it was revealed however she quickly stopped.

I'm not saying the way it was revealed was the best thing in the world and my friend would have loved the ground to open and swallow her up at the time but some parent will have an inkling somewhere I guess and there will be evidence to suggest just who the culprit is I'm guessing I really hope you get something sorted soon.

I also see the lunchbox police have come out to play I am yet another parent guilty of popping a treat in DS lunchbox daily I give my 8yr old DS one of the following three things a bag of pom bears, a chocolate biscuit or a chocolate cereal bar and I should add that this is his only treat of the day my son is not at all bothered about sweets and crisps and he doesn't have anything else after school apart from his evening meal, he enjoys a healthy diet and sometimes this option comes home as he chooses whether or not he wants to eat it he is an 8yr old incredibly active boy tall for his age constantly growing and is also really skinny bless him he picks and chooses what he wants to eat only rule is he has to eat his sandwiches I really don't think a treat if they want it is going to cause much damage of course I can see the damage if he was obese and may well consider a change then but if he is healthy now and enjoys his foods I am happy enough to give him it he is desensitised to the hype about rubbish foods and now will not go for them because they have always been forbidden as other children do of course this is simply my opinion and relates only to my child and for what it is worth I would relay it at school if they asked me

xx

Just_Plain_Jane

There was a food thief at DD1's school a few years back. It turned out to be the son of one of the teaching assistants. :eek: She was mortified.

He was also responsible for the theft of dinner money, but that's another story.

But it goes to show, the food isn't necessarily being taken by a needy child, maybe just a greedy little s*d.

Doozergirl

Stephb1986 wrote: »

Does the OP's child not deserve a small treat? man alive we might aswell stop having biscuits and crisps from supermarkets to stop people buying them and just stock the whole supermarket with fruit and veg?? It's not like the whole lunch box is biscuits and crisps is it.

Of course they are allowed treats.

Instead of asking pointless rhetorical questions about stripping supermarket shelves, perhaps people need to really think about what their child is eating in a day. If that is the only treat in a day, then okay but why does it have to be served at lunchtime when the child needs brain food during the day?

If we look at ourselves properly and look at our own waistlines, we might have to admit that perhaps we aren't setting the right example to our kids and that our own ideas of 'a little bit of everything does you good' are a bit too optimistic.

My kids do not eat healthy food all the time, but they like the taste of healthy food because they have been taught to. The other children in their classes don't have rubbish in their lunchboxes either, so collectively as parents, it's easy and good for our kids to eat healthily in the day. It makes sense. There is nothing wrong with it, it's not about policing, it's actually more about team work.

They don't need it in the lunchbox, why argue about putting it there? It isn't 'good' for them even in moderation. In moderation it isn't 'bad'.

jetta_wales

Doozergirl wrote: »

Of course they are allowed treats.

Instead of asking pointless rhetorical questions about stripping supermarket shelves, perhaps people need to really think about what their child is eating in a day. If that is the only treat in a day, then okay but why does it have to be served at lunchtime when the child needs brain food during the day?

If we look at ourselves properly and look at our own waistlines, we might have to admit that perhaps we aren't setting the right example to our kids and that our own ideas of 'a little bit of everything does you good' are a bit too optimistic.

My kids do not eat healthy food all the time, but they like the taste of healthy food because they have been taught to. The other children in their classes don't have rubbish in their lunchboxes either, so collectively as parents, it's easy and good for our kids to eat healthily in the day. It makes sense. There is nothing wrong with it, it's not about policing, it's actually more about team work.

They don't need it in the lunchbox, why argue about putting it there? It isn't 'good' for them even in moderation. In moderation it isn't 'bad'.

Maybe you should re read the OP and make an attempt to stay somewhere near the actual questions asked.

I don't feed my kids crisps and chocolate in their lunch boxes but I also don't feel the need to preach about it and shove my advice down people's throats over and over.

Your point has been made, several times. Move on