Ok -- let's look at this story like adults and assume other adults can behave as adults. A teacher saw the girl's lunch and incorrectly (didn't see the cheese in the sandwich) thought she needed some milk to go with it. The little girl, being 4, was confused and accepted a chicken nugget lunch. The pre-school teacher made an error, but not the same as a tire store guy improperly tightening lug nuts. Do you think the child's mom or dad could say to the school -- "Uh, don't mess with my daughter's lunch. What I send will meet my child's nutritional needs to my satisfaction." I don't think many school teachers or school administrators would want to pick that fight with a million other priorities to get straight every school day. School teachers are dealing with a lot of stuff, coming at them fast and furious. They don't need FOX News, a British Tabloid, lawsuits suggested by one poster here and scads of irrelevant advice from others. God, I thought liberals were supposed to be the world's whiny titty babies. A society that would start World War III over this is essentially ungovernable. Every teacher, every bureaucrat and every lady serving school lunches can't get everything perfect every time. Get over yourselves.
The other thing I think is relevant here is that most people who deal with kids say nutrition impacts educational performance. The little girl in the story brought a great lunch. Would you have schools helpless to provide additional nutrition for a student who brought a lunch of cheetos, gummy bears and root beer?
Ok, I guess we disagree as to whether adults in general can behave like adults and use authority reasonably for the common good. I have a lot of respect for the teachers and administrators I come in contact with and think mistakes are the rarity and sound application of good judgement the rule. I think it good that we can help children whose parents are nutritional dolts short of bringing in Childrens Protective Services.
That's not what I said. It was an error to put the child in line to get milk, much less chicken nuggets. School teachers and school administrators are held responsible for student achievement. When bad nutrition is consistently identified as a cause of children being irritable and unable to concentrate, you would have school personnel be helpless to intervene, even while holding them resposible for educational outcomes? I'm not defending erroneous govenment intervention. I just don't believe the only alternative is mindless adherence to conservative principles.
It is the governments place to regulate or legislate lunch boxes. End of story. No, this isnt the start of WW3, but parents need to get up and get in the schools have their presence felt.
I'm 100 percent behind parental involvement and don't think any school should overturn a parent's well thought out nutritional plan. Would anyone concede that education works better when good meals are provided to children whose parents are disengaged, broke or for some other reason don't send kids to school with the nutrition they need to perform well?
Larry, you obviously have more experience with this in the school systems but has anyone explained why? It seems like kid food allergies is practically an epidemic now. It was so rare just 20 or so years ago. Any ideas? __________________________________________________ I do, processed foods did not exist in the state they are today before 1980. They have grown exponentially. High Fructose Corn Syrup causes lots of damage to children and they put the stuff in a lot of baby food and formula, not to mention just about every processed food made today. These are only theories because no real study has been done. The government doesnt want to touch the issue because it would affect one of this countries major exports, food and the big ag lobby. There is no more powerful group. I fed my kids all organic food that we made and they were breast fed. They were walking at 8-9 months and crawling at 6 and never got as much as a small cold. most of my kids friends that were formula fed were sick all the time and couldnt move until they were about a year old.
Well that settles it. I want a government inspector at the homes of every expectant mother. We need to make sure the baby is getting a boob and not a bottle or we'll force feed the infants nuggets.
If my kid is not breaking the law or breaking a school rule, ie chewing gum in class, advice beyond his education is not warranted and will be met with an iron fist. Advice to my kid on his nutrional habits in school is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to government over reach in schools. I get the learning about nutrion thing or evaluating a lunch in class, but for a teacher or someone to be paid in tax dollars regulating a kids lunch, when is enough enough? At what point do we stop? It may not be a big thing to you but having a kid graduate from ASU, two more in school there, another at LSU and one more HS'er left, sorry but I think I know more about raising kids then someone at the local public school. Keep the Village away from my kids. Someone may need the help of the Village but my kids don't and I will make that very clear.
