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Childs lunch forcibly taken away by school officials

A

angellous_evangellous

Guest
Well, to be fair, Nate, no one ever said that Obama was brilliant. No, wait....

I do think that he's brilliant. Like I said, it's just saber rattling. Obviously he doesn't want to appear weak on Iran. And yes, I would lose all respect for whatever intelligence he has if anything actually happens.
 

ChristineES

Tiggerism
Premium Member
Since when are chicken nuggets more healthy than a turkey sandwich? And I thought bananas were considered one of nature's most perfect food.
The government has no right to dictate what a parent sends for his/her kid for lunch, I mean within reason. This is so sickening.
 
A

angellous_evangellous

Guest
Since when are chicken nuggets more healthy than a turkey sandwich? And I thought bananas were considered one of nature's most perfect food.
The government has no right to dictate what a parent sends for his/her kid for lunch, I mean within reason. This is so sickening.

I was thinking that the chicken nugget is actually a baked vegetable fritter made to look and taste like a chicken nugget using organic vegan ingredients.:beach:
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I was thinking that the chicken nugget is actually a baked vegetable fritter made to look and taste like a chicken nugget using organic vegan ingredients.:beach:
Beaks, claws, feathers, taints & a pinch of sodium hypotenuse...
...all processed to deliver meaty goodness in a convenient size.
Yum!
 

Draka

Wonder Woman
Ah yes, so much healthier for the child to have 3 chicken nuggets for lunch rather than a nice sandwich, a banana, some fruit juice and (oh goodness forbid) potato chips. Wait a second...they may be fried up in oil and grease and salty as all get out...but since when are potatoes not vegetables? :p And doesn't the cheese on the sandwich count as dairy anymore? Or does only milk now qualify? I can't always get my daughter to drink milk, but she well makes up for it in cheese and yogurt consumption. Isn't it more important that the child be well fed with healthy food you know that they will eat rather than sending healthy food you know they will most likely not eat on their own without parental prodding?
 

Trey of Diamonds

Well-Known Member
Ah yes, so much healthier for the child to have 3 chicken nuggets for lunch rather than a nice sandwich, a banana, some fruit juice and (oh goodness forbid) potato chips. Wait a second...they may be fried up in oil and grease and salty as all get out...but since when are potatoes not vegetables? :p And doesn't the cheese on the sandwich count as dairy anymore? Or does only milk now qualify? I can't always get my daughter to drink milk, but she well makes up for it in cheese and yogurt consumption. Isn't it more important that the child be well fed with healthy food you know that they will eat rather than sending healthy food you know they will most likely not eat on their own without parental prodding?

But then the school couldn't charge the parents for supplying nutritious chopped up chicken parts.
 

dust1n

Zindīq
Hmm... interesting.

When I was in middle school in Lousiana, (5th/6th), my parents were getting divorced. At the time, I guess I had been noticed as a quite kid who was not eating anything for lunch in the cafeteria. The school contacted my father, who in turn purchased home meals (in the form of Lunchables). The school was generally concerned for my well being, and they thought my emotional state was preventing from eating. Actually, I just remember the food tasting like ****, save the Gumbo and the Chicken & Dumplings, which were served once a month. Nothing else was even appetizing.

That being said, it's normal for a school to be concerned about what a child is eating. I don't know the full story here obviously, but I can't imagine a problem with that meal. Now, if the kid was recieving a coke and just a twinkie a day, that's a legitimate concern for the child's well being, and the school should contact the guardian in order to address the situation. If the guardian can't at least provide a somewhat basic meal, the school should be required to assist in cooperation with the parent to address the need. If the guardian seems completely disinterested in helping their own kid, then child services should probably be contacted.
 

Falvlun

Earthbending Lemur
Premium Member
I don't know if I want to compare this to rules set up for weapons and such, but I think I get the gist that overkill is habitual among a lot of school officials.

The fact that such rules are in place intentionally with real repercussions by way of fines imposed and confiscation for non-compliance as to what can and cannot be placed in a child's private lunch is what bothers me.
Never in my day in school such things were even considered and it seems that my generation somehow survived well enough*. I brought in tons of junk food into school without so much as an eyelid being raised.
On the surface, this may seem benign enough, but the fact that parents can even be fined over their child's food content in the first place seems well past what should be tolerated because this is actually something invasive. It's not like children were malnourished and underfed unless junk foods can be equated with endangerment on the level that weapons are. I think such regulations and rules like this need retraction and replaced with standard nutritional education of which schools should be doing in the first place. They have absolutely no business policing the personal affairs between parents and their children with some exception made to clear outright direct evidences of abuse.
I agree, particularly with that last line. Rules like this really should be reserved only for severe neglect, such as the child never having food, or food that was unfit to eat, or only ever bringing in junk food (aka chips, candy, snack cakes) for lunch. That last one would be the one most open for interpretation, but it should be made clear that intervention should happen if this was the only food a child was ever given to eat.


Nowhere Man said:
It might be this one school but if there are more and more following the same lines of this type of enforcement it becomes less fear of a slippery slope and more of a reality. Hopefully it stops with this and school personnel learns to have more sense as to what is appropriate and what is not when overriding parental decision making in regards to feeding their own children what they feel is appropriate. IMO it's none of the schools business. Their business is to teach. Not indoctrinate.

Schools have long kept an eye out for the welfare of the kids; I think they are required by law to report suspicion of neglect, etc. Many schools also offer free breakfast and such for kids whose families cannot provide for them. I support such actions even though it doesn't fall strictly under their primary purpose of education. (Hungry kids, after all, are gonna have a much harder time learning than those who don't have to worry about their rumbling bellies.)
 

Songbird

She rules her life like a bird in flight
Wanna hear something funny? My kids - all of my kids are considered underweight. It's not from neglect or lack of nutrition - my bmi has always hovered around being underweight, a measure which drives me nuts, because it's actually a healthy weight for me. I happen to have bird bones. True story.

Anyway, there was a time before I switched pediatricians that my oldest son's doctor wanted him higher in the charts. She recommended packing on calories wherever I could - adding butter to veggies, feeding him full-fat dairy products (which I did and do anyway), and increasing his carb and sweets intake. I basically had doctor's orders to pack his lunches with junk food. I may have needed a doctor's note for my kid's lunch at that school. :)

My kids' current doc isn't concerned with their weight. They've stayed fairly consistent on a growth curve, just waayy under the average curve, and they eat a fairly typical combo of healthy and junk food, depending on circumstances.
 

Kathryn

It was on fire when I laid down on it.
This is called "making a deal with the devil."

When tax dollars are used to fund health care in an ever increasing scope, then things like "sin taxes," and "lunch snatching," and charging parents with abuse if their child is obese come into play - and legitimately so.

If my tax dollars are going to fund everyone's healthcare, then I WANT to see taxes increased on items that are unhealthy - high fructose corn syrups, high salt content, sugars, additives, etc. It only makes sense - why shouldn't higher risk foods be taxed at a higher rate to offset the cost of probable and impending healthcare? I eat a very healthy diet myself. Why should I be forced to subsidize another person's unhealthy life choices?

This school lunch thing ties into the whole power that we give the government when we expect our lives to be subsidized. Most things usually boil down to economics. Money is power. You want to ask teachers and schools to take care of the health of our kids and be vigilant and proactive? This is that power in action.

We can't have our cake and eat it too. We can't have a nanny state without a nanny mentality. And I don't mean a hot nanny like Freddie Mercury had either!
 

4consideration

*
Premium Member
My children are in elementary school. Either last school year, or the year before, I recall noting that something the school provided (can't recall if was the handbook, or just a one page notice sent home) stated that the cafeteria rules prohibit children having any type of restaurant food items -- even if they were repackaged to conceal where they came from.

The notice specifically stated the reason for this rule. No, not nutritional quality. No, not that it causes a problem of upset with the other children, like "But, I want something from McDonald's."

The reason stated for this rule was that outside commercial food competes with the vendor that has the food service contract. But, they indicated they made exceptions for home prepared meals.
 

Circle_One

Well-Known Member
All I'm going to say on this subject is that if ANYONE tried to tell me what I can and cannot feed my child (obviously not talking about feeding him arsenic, or anything neglectful or abusive), or try to feed my child something else when I've already packed him a lunch that I, his MOTHER, deem fit for him, that school would have a riot on their hands.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
All I'm going to say on this subject is that if ANYONE tried to tell me what I can and cannot feed my child (obviously not talking about feeding him arsenic, or anything neglectful or abusive), or try to feed my child something else when I've already packed him a lunch that I, his MOTHER, deem fit for him, that school would have a riot on their hands.
That's revolting! You go girl!
(Are you sure yer a Canuckistanian?)
 
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