School says no flavoured drinks - water only for children

[BananaSplit]

When I was at school, my packed lunches consisted of something like Potted Dog sandwiches, apple, bag of crisps, penguin biscuit and a carton of orange juice.

 

I've still got all my own teeth and I'm not overweight!

 

But then again, my Mum would cook from scratch for our evening meal, so I was getting an overall balanced diet.

 

It's all about things in moderation, but unfortunately, there are that many unhealthy children these days who are fed nothing short of pizza, burgers and chicken nuggets at home that the Government and Education chiefs have had to step in and make all schools adopt a healthy eating policy.

 

I know not ALL children are fed turkey twizzlers every night obviously, but surely it IS in the parents interests to have their child eating healthily?

 

As such, I can't really see why there is such a fuss about these healthy eating schemes, although not allowing fruit juice with a packed lunch is a step too far IMO.

[Kaizabella]

my sons school have said no to fizzy drinks and dilute pops and fruit juices and even flavoured water. also they are not allowed to bring any unhealthy things in lunch boxes i.e sausage rolls, biscuits, crisps, cakes, buns, pasties, pastrys, scotch eggs. also sandwich filling has been restricted too they seem to monitor how many times the kids go to school with fillings such as nuttella, jam, peanut butter etc etc. but at break time they have a snack shop thing where the kids can buy things and on that stall they have capri sun sachet drink things the orange and blackcurrant versions

 

it doesnt make any sense but weve just had to live with it im afraid its rubbish that these measures have been taken but what can you really do about it?

 

 

This is the sort of thing that I worry about! If everyone has this attitude, then its just going to get worse and worse because if people don't ask why, if they don't understand, but blindly follow anyway, and are taught to do so from a young age, then whats next?

 

I know that they probably THINK they're doing right for us, but how, by taking away a parent's right to actually parent their child?

[Kaizabella]

Quick trip to Sharps fruit and veg shop at lunch, I reckon!

 

hehe. I know people knock it a lot, but this is why I love Castle Market. Myay not be the best fruit and veg ever, but it works enough for me and my juice addiction.

 

Ok, so maybe this won't solve the OP's problem, but I'm just trying to asy that there are alternatives to plain water, and I don't understand why schools won't see this.

 

For the people who say its because juice "is messy" have you never seen a sports cap bottle??

[katy1981]

This is the sort of thing that I worry about! If everyone has this attitude, then its just going to get worse and worse because if people don't ask why, if they don't understand, but blindly follow anyway, and are taught to do so from a young age, then whats next?

 

I know that they probably THINK they're doing right for us, but how, by taking away a parent's right to actually parent their child?

 

im caught between a rock and a hard place im afraid here because my son has educational difficulties and the school do give him amazing support far better than any other school would/could and hes 9 now so very setteled so moving him is a no no as far as im concernd. and most of the other schools are doing this aswell anyway.

 

out of curiosity what course of action would you take to resolve this?

[SimpyTimpy]

No these drinks are to be drunk with their lunch.

 

You're really offhand with people commenting on this thread.

 

Everyone that has a different opinion to yours is wrong in your eyes.

 

I don't think it's great that the school is only allowing kids to drink water, but what kind of example are you setting if you send them in with other drinks which completely go against school rules?

 

My advise would be to pursue your complaint with the school and board, but until the rule is changed, only allow your child to drink water at school.

[Kaizabella]

im caught between a rock and a hard place im afraid here because my son has educational difficulties and the school do give him amazing support far better than any other school would/could and hes 9 now so very setteled so moving him is a no no as far as im concernd. and most of the other schools are doing this aswell anyway.

 

out of curiosity what course of action would you take to resolve this?

 

I'd find out the schools exact reasons, well, as far as they'd tell me anyway. I'd probably speak to other parents to see if they felt the same way. If they did, I would research EXACTLY if there is a significance in the amount of difference just drinking water can make, and try and compromise with the school for healthy alternatives. I wouldn't just break the rules, I'd try and find a solution.

 

Naive possibly I know. But I've got a while before the Munchkin hits school age and I'm worried about how much contol we're gonna have over the parenting of our own child when she does.

 

I can't see anything wrong with everything in moderation and I hate the fact that schools seem to blanket ban things rather than looking at the real causes.

[MrNM]

hehe. I know people knock it a lot, but this is why I love Castle Market. Myay not be the best fruit and veg ever, but it works enough for me and my juice addiction.

 

Ok, so maybe this won't solve the OP's problem, but I'm just trying to asy that there are alternatives to plain water, and I don't understand why schools won't see this.

 

For the people who say its because juice "is messy" have you never seen a sports cap bottle??

 

Are the markets that much cheaper these days, for Fruit and Meat?

[Kaizabella]

Are the markets that much cheaper these days, for Fruit and Meat?

 

I seem to find that they are, especially when compared to supermarkets, especially for meat. Then again, I live in Crookes, and we have just natural, which is amazing, but expensive, and a butchers, which again, isn't cheap, and I just prefer the markets for that stuff.

 

Maybe I'm just a little old fashioned, but you can't beat the fish off the market either compared to the stuff you get in Supermarkets like Morrisons and Asda (they're the 2 I use, don't like the big Tesco or Sainsburys)

[katy1981]

I'd find out the schools exact reasons, well, as far as they'd tell me anyway. I'd probably speak to other parents to see if they felt the same way. If they did, I would research EXACTLY if there is a significance in the amount of difference just drinking water can make, and try and compromise with the school for healthy alternatives. I wouldn't just break the rules, I'd try and find a solution.

 

Naive possibly I know. But I've got a while before the Munchkin hits school age and I'm worried about how much contol we're gonna have over the parenting of our own child when she does.

 

I can't see anything wrong with everything in moderation and I hate the fact that schools seem to blanket ban things rather than looking at the real causes.

 

ive done some of the above and i was told it was something to do with the raising levels of child obesity and the school wanting to project the right image.

 

i was also told it was now school policy, the governers will not change the decision, i spoke to a lot of other parents and some were angry about it but not enough it seems.

 

apparently even the low sugar dilute fruit juices can still damage the childrens teeth but it is significantly lower than the others and fizzy drinks.

 

the feeling i get from my sons school is they do what ever the goverment "suggest" as they are willing to please. the school had a bad few years before my son started attending and were at risk of being closed due to many reasons but they got a new headmaster an d he is eager to see the school earn some prestige through anyway he can. and they certainly do not care what the parents think as were not the ones with the money are we?

[Kaizabella]

ive done some of the above and i was told it was something to do with the raising levels of child obesity and the school wanting to project the right image.

 

i was also told it was now school policy, the governers will not change the decision, i spoke to a lot of other parents and some were angry about it but not enough it seems.

 

apparently even the low sugar dilute fruit juices can still damage the childrens teeth but it is significantly lower than the others and fizzy drinks.

 

the feeling i get from my sons school is they do what ever the goverment "suggest" as they are willing to please. the school had a bad few years before my son started attending and were at risk of being closed due to many reasons but they got a new headmaster an d he is eager to see the school earn some prestige through anyway he can. and they certainly do not care what the parents think as were not the ones with the money are we?

 

This is what I'm worried about.

 

When did primary school stop being about the children and started being about the moeny?

 

There's a false sense of "we're doing the right thing" but by undermining parents and coming up with ridiculous umbrella policies to, basically, cover up existing problems I really don't think schools are doing the fantastic job they think they are.

 

I know it basically comes down to the government (I nearly spat my tea out when I first saw the "overfeeding your children gives them cancer" advert) but I remember when the worst thing a school could say was "I'm phoning your mum". Now it appears that even if the school does phone the parent, its not very likely the parent is even going to agree.