Kids birthday parties at schools in Plainfield might not look the same next school year.
The district is in the midst of finalizing a policy that appears to to outlaw food items brought in celebration of birthdays. Additionally, food items for other celebrations such as holiday parties must meet certain nutritional guidelines, according to the policy.
In the coming weeks, the rules might be tightened even more and could disallow students from selling candy bars or other non-healthy snacks as fundraisers during school time.
The fact is children are larger than ever before, and their activity levels are as low as ever, minus the slight activity that the Wii gives them.
From a story I penned last year:
Between 1980 and 2000 the rate of overweight children has tripled, said Dr. Douglas Bierma, the chair of pediatrics at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet. Additionally, he said, an overweight 13-year-old has a 50 percent greater probability of being an obese adult.
Do you agree that schools should be supporting carrots instead of cupcakes, or grapes instead of brownies?
In discussing the policy, a district nurse last month basically paraphrased that kids will eat whatever you put in front of them, so they won't mind the change to healthier snacks.
A preliminary document discussed in a school board committee suggests that instead of food, parents can celebrate their students birthdays by donating a book to the library, or giving a pencil, bookmark or eraser to classmates.
Instead of food rewards, teachers will be encouraged to reward good deeds with such things as "a reward walk," or class participation in an agreed sport or certificates and ribbons.
Any other ideas? How can parents celebrate their student's birthdays and how should kids be rewarded in their classrooms?
Expect a more comprehensive story on this topic later this week.
June 2 Update: Read the story here.
Patrick Ferrell, is a staff reporter for The Herald News in Joliet. and the Sun Times News Group. Patrick covers education and politics. When he’s not ranting about something, Patrick can usually be found watching a race or careening down a ski slope. He resides in Will County with his wife, Laura, and the couple’s Portuguese water dog, Oscar, and bloodhound named Duke.
I think it's just another way we as Americans are losing our individual freedoms. What's wrong with a little celebration once in a while. Kids will be obese if they eat poorly on a continual basis. Good eating habits need to be taught and enforced at home at the discretion of the parents.
I don't buy junk or sweets for my kids and I don't want them to get it from school. As I look at that last comment of "What's wrong with a little celebration once in a while", I reply that once in a while is too much. With a class of 20 or more kids that would be 20 snacks. Then there is the celebrating of holidays with more snacks. There are numerous other reasons sweets are served at school. Just last week my son's class held a Multi-culture fair with the kids serving snacks from their country. Guess what 95% of those kids were serving sweets. There is even a reading program that rewards the kids with pizza. There are also contests between classes of collecting the most, pennies, box tops, Campbell labels, etc. With the winner winning some sort of food. Kids do not need sweets to celebrate and the schools need to stop rewarding with food.
What's wrong with a little celebration now and then? Plenty!!! I am a teacher, and I had to enforce a policy of no edible birthday treats in my class this year, due to the fact that several students in my class had health issues pertaining to food, namely allergies and diabetes. I said it was perfectly fine to send a non-edible treat such as a pencil, small trinket, etc. Well, I have a parent like "Individual Freedom" in my room, and they went ballistic, sending a birthday cake and ice cream to my class, with a note lecturing me on indivual freedoms. Well, what about the children that couldn't have the treat??? What about their right to not feeling discriminated against in their own classroom????? These are 5 year olds, and they don't understand why they can't have something. Even healthy snacks were not appropriate, such as yogurt or peanuts, due to milk and nut allergies. If you want your child to have a big birthday blowout with their entire class, why don't you have a party at YOUR house!!?? Send the invitations to school, and I would be happy to pass them out for you. And YES! I sent the food back home.
I understand that there are allergies and special food considerations, such as religious restrictions, but why can't those issues be worked into the classroom celebrations? When my oldest daughter was in second grade, there was a child in her class with a dairy allergy. I was the room parent, and at every party we had cookies without dairy. It wasn't that hard to accommodate that child's diet and make sure they felt no different from the other children.
I still think a better way to make sure our children are eating healthier, is to revamp the school lunch program. Make no mistake, this will be no small task, but Plainfield School District 202 (PSD202) is a very big district and must be a fairly large account for Sodexho (the school lunch company). I have to believe that if PSD202 communicated to Sodexho the desire to see a change in the lunches (like lower fat, lower salt and more whole grains, fruits and vegetables) that Sodexho would take it seriously. Maybe if PSD202 showed that kind of an interest in really making a difference in their students' nutritional health, other school districts (like Naperville and Oswego, just to name two) might follow.
I understand, also, that school lunch programs are regulated by the government, but isn't education also regulated by the government? Doesn't PSD202 strive to exceed those government guidelines when it comes to test scores, etc? Why can't they exceed the government established guidelines for the school lunch program?
There is something else to consider, here. The increase in obese children from when we were children may also have to do with activity, or a lack thereof. I remember, as a child, hearing my mother say to my siblings and I as we went out to play for the day "Be home by lunchtime." or "Be home by 3:00." or "... by dinner." or "... by dark." And my brothers and sisters and I would run or ride our bikes to our friend's home, then to another friend's home, then to the park to play a game of softball with our neighborhood buddies, then back to another friend's house, etc.
It is a different world now, and we can't turn our children out into that world and tell them to be home by dark. Let's face it, our kids just don't get that same kind of exercise that we got. It's not possible to get that kind of exercise in the back yard, or the park and certainly not in front of the television, DVD player or computer. Don't you think that good nutrition and exercise have to go hand in hand?