Should Schools Ban Parental Fast Food?
Well, in Pennsylvania they’re considering just that. According to the AP story:
Parents who visit their children at lunch would be required to eat school food rather than bring the children fast-food lunches under a proposed wellness policy…
This is all part of a big push in Pennsylvania to promote wellness and good eating habits in schools.
I’m all for the schools not providing junk to the kids. But guess what? Even with the new guidelines banning sodas and other things from vending machines, the schools in Texas still find a way to sell bad stuff to kids. Every single day at lunch, The Boy has the option of getting a fried chicken sandwich, a pizza, onion rings, cookies, etc. Just because it’s not in the vending machines does not mean it’s not available. If I were a kid in the school and buying my own lunch…of COURSE I’d get the pizza and fries or whatever. Truthfully, most of what they serve for lunch at school is far less nutritionally sound than what we give our son at home.
So I really wonder if this is a push to protect the kids from fast food, or maybe it’s that the schools have found another way to make money….force the parents to buy the school food if they want to eat with their kids?
I find this proposed policy WAY too intrusive. The schools are already crossing the line with their “morals” initiatives and teaching younger kids about lifestyles they are far too young to comprehend…many things that should be left to the parents to teach at home.
Now they want to control what parents give their kids to eat? To be sure, many parents don’t always make the right choices when feeding their kids…but I think this proposed policy is so far over the line it’s hard to believe they’re even considering it.
So what do you think? Is banning parental fast-food going too far?
My first instinct is always to say “You’re not the boss of me!”
Intrusive doesn’t cover it. I feel like soon they’ll be giving out Soma pills as we all stand in a food line…
Comment by aka_monty - June 9, 2006 4:13 pm
I’m totally against it. I don’t want the schools involved in my kids’ diets, much less mine. Sure, they should get rid of the vending machines and sell “neutral” food at lunch. Turkey sandwiches, apples, cookies, milk–not pizza and fries. That’s enough involvement. What we bring from home is none of their damn business. I also resent the health questionnaires the kids are coerced into taking to report on their home/outside lives. Kinda Nazi-esque, IMO.
Comment by Paula - June 9, 2006 4:44 pm
Would Subway be fast food??? Is there a scale at the door that measures caloric intake? You know, at least these parents are making an effort to see their kids…just saying.
Comment by DrinkJack - June 9, 2006 9:47 pm