Cupcakes banned at school holiday parties
The American public ban on smoking has been one of the most successful citizen-led public health campaigns of all time. Think a similar-type ban on cupcakes might catch on?There's a growing movement out there, spurred by a law requiring schools to alter the nutrition of its students, to help kids eat cleaner, healthier diets. The latest manifestation of this obesity panic comes in the form of a cupcake ban in some Chicago schools. That's right. There will be no cupcakes at a handful of holiday parties across the Chicago region. Parents are asked, instead, to bring veggie trays in lieu of sweets and water rather than juice boxes.
I like this idea. Some don't.
"To believe that denying a couple of cupcakes during the Holiday season is going to make a difference in a child's overall nutrition is idiotic," writes the author of this editorial. "The Holidays are a time for celebration. And for generations of American kids, that celebration has taken the form of treats at school, shared in a true spirit of Christmas, with their friends and classmates."
Banning cupcakes only destroys the notion that holidays are special, says this man. What do you say?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
12-21-2007 @ 10:47AM
Heidi said...
No wonder I hate public schools and would rather home school children if I couldn't afford private school rather than send them to public school. This is immensely offensive. A daily diet of junk food is bad...but lets not ban goodies on special occasions. At the private school I attended when I grew up all students brought their own lunches and certain items like soda, cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol were banned at all times and it was rare that anyone wanted those things much less got away with bringing them to school. Trading lunches was not allowed. I find all parents who would allow the government to determine what their children eat instead of getting off of their lazy butts to make a lunch and/or teach the kids how to make their lunches is obsurd. If you care about what your child eats, you make their lunches. Stop abdicating your responsibilites and allowing the government to take over the raising of your children! I wouldn't hesitate to tell the government to go to hell if they tried to teach my kid sex education, tell me what to feed them, or tell me they have to have a flu shot and dictate their health care. If the kids are mine, I make the decisions. I wouldn't send them to be brain washed at a public school.
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12-24-2007 @ 3:02PM
mulberry204 said...
"wouldn't send them to be brain washed at a public school. "
As a teacher, I am just curious. What brain washing are you suggesting that we are guilty of?
12-24-2007 @ 3:23PM
Cara said...
So because someone wants to teach your child about sex education, you think that is brainwashing? I agree with you that the schools shouldn't be able to ban treats during holidays and special occasions, but I think you take it a little too far when you say "brainwashing". I went to private school for most of my time in school and then had to go to public school for high school, there really isn't that much difference between the two (just asked the kids who went to the private high school and were into more drugs than the public school kids). Sex education is something kids need to be taught in order to keep kids from having kids! If you think homeschooling children or sending them to private school is going to keep kids from having sex, think again. Wouldn't you rather they be having sex and be informed than having sex and not being safe?
12-24-2007 @ 7:08PM
homemaker said...
Heidi,
I completely agree with you, and that is why I DO homeschool my children. The ones that are doing the "brainwashing" may be so young that they do not realize that they ARE brainwashing their students. Others like the control and influence that they exert over their students. Some believe that OUR children actually BELONG to them and parents be damned...To each his own opinion, but as for me and my family, my kids are going to grow up and learn in a safe and wholesome place and that can be found only in my home. Merry Christmas!
12-24-2007 @ 7:52PM
Literatus said...
Mulberry, you asked what brainwashing she was referring to. I have to say, if you have to ask, perhaps you'll never know. But I'll make it simple. ALL education -- be it by a school or the parents -- is indoctrination; you indoctrinate the children with one set of values and principles or another. This isn't bad, of course, if you're instilling them with truth. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case nowadays.
Now, I'm going to ask you to be truly open-minded (as opposed to the faux open-mindedness of the left). Believe it or not, not everyone subscribes to the suppositions of our age. Yes, I and many others do not accept the validity of sex education, but that is the very tip of the iceberg. We don't want our kids being brainwashed into believing that the world is ending because of mythical anthropogenic global warming. We don't believe that multiculturalism, feminism, radical environmentalism or any other "isms" of the left are good things; thus, we don't want our children inculcated with them. Most significantly, we don't want them imbued with the humanism, moral relativism, nominalism and secularism (I know I was a bit redundant, as those philosophies are related) that prevail nowadays.
There is no such thing as "value neutral" education because everything involves values, even if they're just implicit. If you often talk about the perils of "global warming" but never about those of abortion, a message is sent that the former dwarfs the latter in importance. If you teach more about Martin Luther King than George Washington, the same message is sent. You should be able to understand these principles.
If you don't, it's only because you confuse your values with external reality. You should remember that a value is a value, whether it's accepted by the masses or not. And the philosophies I mentioned and their inherent values have not been accepted in every time and place, and may not be in the future (yes, hard to believe, but things can change radically). By the way, C.S. Lewis had something relevant to say about this:
"Their skepticism about values lies only on the surface; it's for use on other people's values. As far as the values current in their own set go, their not nearly skeptical enough."
I don't expect to convert you into a traditionalist, but hopefully you'll at least recognize that you are advocating a world view and its attendant values. It's today's fashionable world view, so at least you're going with the flow. I myself am more of a rebel.
12-22-2007 @ 10:31PM
rhiannon said...
as a teacher at a k-8 charter school, i can relate to the big cupcake debate. some may say, it's no big deal and wont ruin a child's health because its only during the holidays. the issue is that its NOT only during chirstmas, but all the holidays and then there are children's birthdays. the children and often their parents bring in cupcakes and all manner of sweets, essentially turning the learning environment we work hard to build into a sugar fueled party zone at some point each week. the girls are the worst, parading around in tiaras (even the older, middle school girls) using that sixth sense...of entitlement. dont get me wrong, i love teaching (i teach art) and i love kids, but birthdays and sugar seem to bring out the worst in them. sad sad sad. sickening even. worst part is, i supposedly work in a "green" healthy school.
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12-24-2007 @ 3:01PM
Vince said...
It's amazing to see all of the gramatical errors in a teachers wriiting.
12-24-2007 @ 2:40PM
kris said...
I love cupcakes. they are my weakness. But it's not only once in a while. There are 30 kids in a class, 10 months in a school year. Then there are holidays and special occasions. Do the math people. My children are allowed sweets but I make their lunches, sometimes healthy, sometimes not. But when my child comes home not hungry for what I've cooked and a half eaten lunch because he had cookies and cupcakes instead, I am livid. There are other options to give the kids. Just as we are responsible for giving our children good lunches, we are also responsible for setting an example. And telling out TEACHERS that we don't care enough about them and giving little Bobby with sugar issues, some MORE sugar... well, we are doing every child in that classroom a disservice. Not only does little Bobby have a bad day, but now he's disrupted the ENTIRE class over and over and the kids learn a portion of what they should have. How do I know??? My son is the little Bobby. He can't have sugar in school because he disrupts the class and can't sit still nor shut his mouth. I have 5 kids ages 20 to 7. I've learned the hard way. But I will give out pencils or trinkets instead of candy or cupcakes because I don't want MY child disrupting YOUR child while he/she is learning. I am not only taking care of my kid, I'm taking care of yours. NO CUPCAKES, CANDY,ETC IN THE CLASSROOM PLEASE.
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12-24-2007 @ 2:40PM
kahikaiwa said...
I don't have a problem with cupcakes. Our schools also ask the parents to bring in veggies and other healthy snacks too! My goodness what is this world coming to when our kids can't have cupcakes once in while! I have to say that I don't agree with the tiaras though. Our school doesn't allow it to go that far! Its to bad that some people see fit to ruin things for our children a little more every year.
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12-24-2007 @ 2:50PM
mulberry204 said...
When I taught, we didn't allow any treats because of the potential for razor blades, etc. to be hidden in the cupcakes/food. Parents could only bring treats in that were in unopened bags.
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12-24-2007 @ 2:51PM
Wil W said...
Banning cupcakes is nothing new. My children attend the Half Hollow School District on Long Island, and they banned cupcakes ever since my kids started there 3 years ago. Its ridiculus. Just like the Ban on Peanut products. Because my like like peanut butter, they get segregated from the rest of the class. Its not fair to make the peanut allergic kids sit at a separate table, but it is fair to make kids who like peanut sit alone. School districts simply continue to set the wrong example for our children by always taking the easy way out. Its easier to ban everything than it is to develop and monitor a policy that makes sense and makes almost everyone happy.
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12-24-2007 @ 7:28PM
Rebecca said...
I beg to differ on your view of "peanut butter segregation". You may find it unfair because your kids have to sit away from the general population to enjoy their peanut products, but for the people who have peanut allergies, it could be a matter of life and death for them. I myself have a peanut allergy, but it had never been severe until recently. Kids don't understand that just a smudge of peanut butter can be deadly for someone who has an allergy.
12-24-2007 @ 7:38PM
Jane said...
What you are failing to realize with the peanut allergic kids is that it's not just nuts that are contaminated. My daughter is allergic to nuts. We have to read every single label on every food product. Many are processed on shared equipment with peanuts and tree nuts. Most frostings that come prepared at the grocery stores are on shared equipment. Having that one cupcake on any holiday or other day could kill my child. Also, my daughter is so sensitive that even if her classmates ate nuts and then shared toys with her, that could cause a serious allergic reaction. I am all for any kind of ban of foods that are unsafe for any child.
12-24-2007 @ 2:58PM
Steph said...
Teachers aren't allowed to give out sugar to kids and are only allowed to have two or three parties a year. Where I work kids aren't allowed to bring stuff for their birthdays and most of the kids wonder where there next meal is coming from. You want to curtain the sweets, don't let kids bring them in for there birthdays. But two times a year on a holiday isn't going to ruin them, it may be the only time they get any.
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12-24-2007 @ 3:01PM
DL said...
Our school doesn't allow cupcakes, or anything homemade. Store bought items cannot have 'sugar' listed as the first ingredient. I guess alot of things don't make sense here; my fourth grader doesn't get recess either.
Madison County, AL
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12-24-2007 @ 3:10PM
CJ199 said...
At my children's school they are not allowed as of last year to bring in candy or sweets for their birthdays or special occasions becuase of so many children are on restricted diets or have behavioral problems due to much sugar. Some times parents disregard it and allow their child to bring in store bought sugary items but over all they bring in healthy items. I think it's silly to ban cupcakes altogether. Once in a while children that don't have diet restricts need to have the occasional sweet otherwise they binge out on them. Everything in moderation people.
12-24-2007 @ 3:39PM
Rebecca said...
In response to Heidi's brainwashing comment, I'm glad that I was "brainwashed" at the public school I attended! At least they "brainwashed" me well enough that I can spell absurd!
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12-24-2007 @ 3:58PM
mulberry204 said...
Touche'.
12-24-2007 @ 3:43PM
DL said...
Does anyone have thoughts on why the elementary school would "ban" sugar and sweets, yet have pop/soda machines in the high school???!!?
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12-24-2007 @ 4:13PM
Sarah said...
I'm glad to read comments from sensible people.
What irritates me is that most people who go on about "healthy diets" don't even eat them themselves, or think that the Atkins diet is a good example of one.
The reality is that, just as the article quotes, denying kids a few cupcakes at a holiday party isn't going to make a dramatic change in their health, just as letting them have them isn't going to, either.
The school system is the epitome of hypocrisy: schools are now banning recess, the only time children can get outside and exercise, and yet they're going to blame things like cupcakes and soda for kids getting fat? Get. Real. The problem is taking away P.E., taking away recess, and then slapping them with four hours of homework every night so that they can't go outside and run around and EXERCISE, which is what they really need to do.
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