Principals and teachers are encouraged to limit the number of parties and celebrations that involve food. For example, all birthdays occurring within a month are celebrated on one day of the month. Alternatives to food are encouraged as ways to celebrate a special event.Tell that to a kindergartner who has been telling me every day for the last 2 weeks how many days it is until his birthday. There's no way he wants to or should share his birthday with other classmates who happened to have been born a different day of the same month -- or make him wait until the 28th when his birthday is today. And alternatives to food as a way to celebrate? Celebrating with food is as old as humans have been on this earth! What alternatives? Pencils? Woo hoo. Our school district sure knows how to have a good old time!
If they're worried about child obesity, maybe they should quit canceling recess just on account of a little cold weather. I say, bundle up and get out there! Cold weather burns calories!
Wait 'til I post the memo we received about Valentine's Day. Asinine! In the words of the incomparable Molly Ivins, I will make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Tomorrow.
5 comments:
I guess coming up with a way for the child to feel special could be the focus but it is really hard to think of ways of celebrating that don't include food at all! I would rather the food that getting a "thing". I think our society is so materialistic and obsessed with stuff leading to clutter. It's a tough one!
It is crazy! Do they want to take away all the fun of school? I remember my son's teacher telling us at "Parent Night" about the "food regulations". He made it clear he thought it was one of the dumbest things he'd ever seen in almost 20 years of teaching in the Madison school district. Were you kidding me---they're after Valentine's Day? I guess we don't need art, strings, or fun. Recess? Who needs it? But those sacred test scores! Ahh, now those are IMPORTANT!
Everything has become so "politically correct" anymore that nothing is fun or special. I think children need to celebrate their own birthdays and not have to share it with everyone else. I can just imagine what they want to do about Valentine's Day! Life is getting crazier and crazier all the time!
What, no food? No recess? Poor kids, they don't care about the cold and they certainly do care about food.
I don't know that it is so much about being politically correct, as it is about avoiding anything that anyone could possibly ever want to sue them about. Peanut butter is one that makes sense, but this railing against other things... and tell me that the superintendent, a rather corpulent fellow if one is to notice such things, doesn't indulge in sweets every now and again.
Here are a few that would drive me nuts, if only nuts were allowed in school:
*We are not allowed to serve candy EVER, but the school hot lunch menu still includes french toast stix with syrup and a side of coffee cake!
*Salt packs (the ones that hold about 1/8 tsp) are no longer on the accepted list of condiments, although soy sauce is. And syrup, of course.
*The list of acceptable snacks is all brand name items -- i.e. expensive -- while the majority of my families make a valiant effort to send in snacks to share by shopping at the dollar store.
Well, we're having a sundae bar on V. Day, so I spit in the eye of school district policy (once again.)
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