When should a school intervene? Never? (school lunch issue)

Unknown

I have a student (2nd grader) who usually comes to school eating from a gigantic bag of Doritos and drinking a brightly colored energy drink. That's her breakfast. Sometimes she has Cheetos instead.

I don't intervene. Would you?

Unknown

LoupGarouTFTs wrote: »

Unless the child is your child, it's not your business.

As much as this kills me, i 100% agree.

Unknown

LoupGarouTFTs wrote: »

JPW1990 wrote: »

LoupGarouTFTs wrote: »

JPW1990 wrote: »

coraborealis80 wrote: »

I don't know about your state, but in NY you are required to report neglect. Giving a second grader an energy drink isn't just neglect, it probably falls under child endangerment as well. Energy drinks have been tied to several adolescent and teen deaths in the last 5 years.

"NCANDS defines neglect as “a type of maltreatment that refers to the failure by the caregiver to provide needed, age-appropriate care although financially able to do so or offered financial or other means to do so” (USDHHS, 2007). Neglect is usually typified by an ongoing pattern of inadequate care and is readily observed by individuals in close contact with the child. Physicians, nurses, day care personnel, relatives and neighbors are frequently the ones to suspect and report neglect in infants, toddlers and preschoolaged children. Once children are in school, school personnel often notice indicators of child neglect such as poor hygiene, poor weight gain, inadequate medical care or frequent absences from school."

http://www.americanhumane.org/children/stop-child-abuse/fact-sheets/child-neglect.html

You're asking because your gut says you should say something. Teacher to teacher, go with your gut. Ignore the people who say your job is just to teach. They don't know the laws, and they don't have the training.

I find it interesting that most of the answers are avoiding that detail like the plague. Everyone is all about the Doritos, and nobody seems to be worried that Red Bull is in an 8 year old's hands.

After consuming a single retail unit, 70% of the children and 40% of the teenagers who consumed caffeine were estimated to have exceeded the adverse-effect level of 3 mg/kg body weight per day beyond their baseline dietary exposure.

The report concludes: On the basis of this review, we conclude that (1) energy drinks have no therapeutic benefit, and both the known and unknown pharmacology of various ingredients, combined with reports of toxicity, suggest that these drinks may put some children at risk for serious adverse health effects

Still not your business.

A teacher has a different legal level of responsibility than a random stranger.

I will grant you that. But the child is not being abused or neglected, apparently, or being treated in such a way that would cause her immediate harm. There are probably plenty of children who actually have a need for teacher intervention in their lives. Passing judgment on what the child is eating for breakfast and intervening in that consumption goes beyond the scope of that responsibility. At least the child is coming to school and is eating. There are a lot of children who don't even manage those two things.

Oh, and you were doing so good before....

Fallacy of relative privation

Unknown

EvgeniZyntx wrote: »

Personally I'd send a note first highlighting that she's doing well, is a gem, and mentioning your concern.

I get notes from the teachers all the time (we have a system called "cahier de correspondance", in France) which is intended to keep channels open. Mostly I get notes about "talking in class", "late hw" when it happens. I have had an ongoing discussion about one daughter and her food pickiness. It's ok when it isn't set up as a conflict between parents and outsiders.

Takes a village ....

I'd rather have teachers engaged in children's welfare through open discussion with parents than curriculum-only or cps calling. IMHO, the role of public education isn't just teaching a skill base but part of a Social Contract.

I myself am a parent and enjoy the fact the school I send my daughter to communicates with us regularly not only about our daughter's education but also about her well being. I think EvgeniZyntx nailed it on the head with his answer. An open non patronizing dialogue between the parents should be sufficient.

Unknown

avskk wrote: »

As a parent and a former childcare provider, I like @ninerbuff's idea to send a quick note that says, "If you're not aware, Kid is having chips and Red Bull every morning for breakfast. I know you're a busy family with an unusual schedule and I just wanted to be sure this was okay with you." Then leave it alone.

I agree with this. Given the context it's possible the parents don't know. (And yes, it would have to go through the proper channels assuming school rules about stuff like this.)

I also like the idea of saying positive things about the child in the note.

Unknown

Kind of related to this, I run around various local neighborhoods and look around and happened to notice that one of the elementary schools had a notice up about a nutrition discussion for parents that it was hosting. Not a bad idea, perhaps, although enough kids come from out of the neighborhood (at least for the elementary school in my neighborhood and for many around me) that I wonder about attendance. I was curious about what was involved and how successful these kinds of things are.

Unknown

7elizamae wrote: »

softblondechick wrote: »

Don't do it. And don't judge. At least this kid has food. She probably packs her own food, from what is in the home. I doubt anyone packs her lunch, or even pays much attention to her.

Some kids just survive childhood.

You hit the nail on the head. This little one is getting herself out the door in the morning -- her mom works nights and isn't up in the morning. She likes her breakfast the way it is and isn't on time for the school breakfast.

So, I just welcome her to class and carry on. She does have lunch at school. And she's doing fine in class. She's a gem.

I don't think it's the school's place to intervene on home nutrition. I just wondered what everyone thought since it's been in the news this week.

I really wish we could "LIKE" an individual post in the thread :-)

This one should end the thread.

Unknown

There was a related thread on this last week that got a lot of feedback.

I think you have to consult your school's policies and adhere to them. End of story.

My son's school has a strict policy on what can and cannot go to school in his lunch, and if I don't follow those rules, I will get a reminder. I once sent a small Halloween chocolate and it came back. My son and I had a conversation about how mommy made a mistake and forgot the rules. End of story, not a big deal. If I don't like the rules I have a choice to remove my child from that school. Although some would choose to have a hissy fit, cause a scene and call the media; a complete waste of time and isn't doing anyone any favours (in fact makes one look ridiculous).

I have a friend who is a teacher in the public system and she has a grade 1 student who comes to school every day with a can of pop and a chocolate bar or chips for his lunch. She is not permitted to say anything. Can you imagine how hopped up he is? How is any other child going to get the education they deserve when the teacher is spending most of their time dealing with an unruly child on a sugar high?

It seems different schools have very different guidelines in place. The safest thing for any teacher to do is to familiarize themselves with the rules and follow them to the letter.

Unknown

At my kids' school there is a rule. There has to be at least one fruit or vegetable in the lunch bag. Many times I've packed a banana or apple etc with crackers or popcorn or whatever and the teachers won't let the kid touch the crackers etc until she's eaten her fruit. On the odd day I didn't pack a fruit, she wasn't allowed to eat the crackers etc....now that pisssed me off because the lunch itself would be healthy ie chicken with wild rice. A kid who is getting chips and a unnaturally colourful drink daily needs to have a conversation with the teacher and the teacher with the parents.

Unknown

softblondechick wrote: »

Don't do it. And don't judge. At least this kid has food. She probably packs her own food, from what is in the home. I doubt anyone packs her lunch, or even pays much attention to her.

Some kids just survive childhood.

That is so sad, so if the parents don't care the teacher shouldn't either?

Unknown

kamakazeekim wrote: »

I would talk to the whole class about healthy eating and physical activity and send a note home to all parents expressing that your class is focusing on healthy living habits and that you encourage children to bring a well balanced meal/snack to school.

This. Work it into your lessons/curriculum if you have space or where you can.

Good luck.

Unknown

Unless the child is your child, it's not your business.
[/quote]

Exactly this!!

Unknown

When I was in jr high and high school, the school officials would make a big deal if I didn't eat lunch or if I ate out of the machines. They would watch to see if I was buying school lunch(my mom gave me cash instead of paying for it upfront)and if I headed toward the machines or just sat with my friends without lunch in front of me they'd head to the office to call my mother. After a while when they said they were going to call my mom if I didn't eat lunch(trying to scare me into eating)I called their bluff and said "go ahead, I'll tell you what she will say" they in turn called my bluff and asked what I thought she'd say. Well, my mom told me that since I ate a good breakfast and a good dinner, lunch was optional.

Unknown

The school should have a policy on what foods are allowed to be eaten there.

If a child isn't fed a nutrional diet it is neglect.

Unknown

The amount of nanny state replies in this thread is alarming. Apparently Doritos = throwing your kid down a flight of stairs.

Unknown

I would not intervene. There are safeguarding policies and procedures to follow if a child is looking malnourished or you think they are being abused. Coming to school eating a bag of Doritos in itself doesn't count as abuse, so no, I wouldn't intervene unless there were other concerns. I might think 'if that were my kid I would have given him/ her an apple'... but as a teacher, there is a boundary.

I agree with the people saying to educate the class as a whole about a healthy lifestyle and there could even be a whole school policy of only healthy snacks. That would be perfectly appropriate. Singling out one family is wrong and judgmental and crosses boundaries for a teacher.

Unknown

My niece is obsessed with Doritos and it annoys me to no end. I'm not against Doritos, but I'm pretty sure that she'd eat nothing but them if given the opportunity. There are days where getting her to eat anything other than Doritos is an uphill battle, so she's going to eat Doritos. I don't have enough control over her diet (since I only see her a couple of days per week anyway) to try and force that to change. I imagine that your situation is similar in that regard. You're not in a position to get the student to adjust a diet, so there's little to be gained by trying.

Unknown

I agree with the idea of having a group activity. Also--what is the student eating for lunch? What is she eating for dinner? You don't know what her day-to-day nutrition is like.

I remember when I was 8-11 I'd often eat a ramen noodle block smashed to high heaven with the seasoning powder mixed in every morning break. Beef flavour was my favourite. Horrific to think of the sodium levels now. I was a super active kid and ate relatively balanced meals the rest of the time and had no health problems.

I personally hate people commenting on and policing my food. I had that happen all the time growing up (I was skinny and people assumed I didn't eat) and it made me really uncomfortable and eventually led to me having a messed up relationship with food (aka didn't eat enough) for awhile.

Unknown

As a teacher, it is incredibly frustrating when people have a "pick and choose" attitude towards the role of a teacher. If my job is just to teach and go home, I wouldn't volunteer to coach sports teams for no extra pay after school hours, organize field trips, offer extra- help sessions or help with fundraisers. As educators we care about the students, not just the subject matter.

In Canada, we extensively study child and adolescent development on the physical, mental, emotional and social level. Why would we study that if the welfare of these students is none of our business.

During school hours, we are the legal guardians/ caretakers of students enrolled in our class. If a student leaves the lunch hour without parental permission and gets hit by a car, the school's going to have some repercussions.

At this grade, I would teach all students about healthy lifestyle choices and bring apples and water bottles and let students know that if they are hungry or missed break fast, they can take one without asking. I may send a letter home asking parents to participate in a healthy eating unit that the class is covering by signing up for one day in the next month to supply a healthy snack life sliced fruit, berries or grapes or whole grain crackers and cheese for the whole class with the understanding that their child would be provided a healthy snack every day for the rest of the month from the other families.

This might encourage this child's parents to reflect on what makes a healthy snack/ meal and the note send home to all parents could include ideas for inexpensive healthy foods.

This may or may not work but will give you an indication of how involved the parents are in the student's health. They may be busy but if they opt out of prepping a big snack one day out of the month instead of everyday, it may be a sign of neglect.

Unknown

Don't they teach about healthy eating in the school curriculum? I studies Childcare Learning and Development in UK and healthy eating and exercise were definitely in the curriculum. Perhaps having a healthy eating, healthy lifestyle talk in the school for parents might be an idea. You can ask the child how they feel about having the food they are bringing to school or find out from them during a class conversation the reason why they take it as breakfast. It could be the parents are intending the food as a snack for lunch but the child has other ideas. Don't pry too much and don't offend the parents. Good luck!!!

Unknown

7elizamae wrote: »

I have a student (2nd grader) who usually comes to school eating from a gigantic bag of Doritos and drinking a brightly colored energy drink. That's her breakfast. Sometimes she has Cheetos instead.

I don't intervene. Would you?

I would not intervene. I would instead ask the school to make the doors bigger so the kids could fit through and to have the school provide glucometers and insulin pumps for the classrooms. I would also ask for more wheelchair access.