11 thoughts on “No more junk food for kids”

1. LexWolf July 2, 2006 at 7:11 pm

   Given your pronounced big-government tendencies it is no surprise at all that you would like this big-government “solution”. Now if only we could find out where these worthy educrats got the authority to do all this. Did someone elect them on a no-junk-food platform?
   Sorry but this looks to me as if the educracy once again is sticking its nose into things that are not its business while it is woefully underperforming at the one job it actually was hired to do – to educate our kids!
2. David July 2, 2006 at 7:14 pm

   It sounds reasonable – BUT
   I think it is silly and a huge over-reaction to ban cupcakes and similiar items from school parties that a class may have 2-3 times a year. Get real.
   Having cokes and candy in the vending machines in an elementary school has always sounded stupid to me.
   But it just shows the lack of common sense, I believe, to ban sugar treats from the 2-3 school parties a kid may have a year.
   Those events were always fun for me as a little kid – and no, we didn’t have vending machines in our school.
   Too ludicrous to consider.
   and- 100% fruit drinks are loaded with sugar most of the time. I get tired of seeing fruit drinks offered as some sort of anti sugar substitute.
3. Lee July 2, 2006 at 8:15 pm

   It’s another manifestation of liberalism trying to tell everyone to live the same way. Diversity is fine, as long as everyone obeys the secular doctrines, of wearing seat belts, not eating Twinkies, not smoking, etc, etc.
4. Doug July 2, 2006 at 8:55 pm

   I lived on ice cream sandwiches throughout high school… and never carried more than
   165 pounds on my 6’2″ frame. Why must the school system be the big daddy over all things????
   Here’s one of the stupid rules the schools have now: even if a student plays a high school sport, he/she must also take a one credit P.E. class at some point. What is the point of putting a kid who runs cross country or plays football in with a bunch of kids who are barely motivated to do any exercise???
5. bud July 3, 2006 at 7:44 am

   Brad, PE was worthless in the 70s when I grew up. We never did any of the stuff you cited. Basically we just sat around while a fat ole fart of a coach showed football highlight movies. It really was a worthless experience.
   Brad, what makes you think that PE is “dumbed” down today? Is that something you just made up? My kids PE experience is far superior to what I received. They are required to run a 1/2 mile course for a time. They have always done the basic calistenics stuff too.
   This is an example of perception. My kids have clearly had a superior education experience than what I had growing up. An example, all 3 of my kids have been to Washington, DC on a field trip. The only think I ever did was visit Adluh flour or the State House. Yet virtually everyone argues about how education standards have declined.
   I think people have just become conditioned to believe life was better years ago. There really was no golden age of education (or anything else) in America. All eras have their problems. We are safer, smarter and healthier than ever before.
6. Doug July 3, 2006 at 9:23 am

   Bud,
   I would agree with you on the relative quality of the education today for the most part, particularly for those students who are able to get into the magnet programs at the middle/high school level in some of the better districts. There are mostly excellent teachers in those programs.
   I do think the schools have gone overboard in the level of control they attempt to exert from an administrative level. It starts with parents having to sign agenda books every day from first grade on. Then signing reading logs as well. Then summer reading assignments with projects. I am highly doubtful as to whether this level of bureacracy and control has made any difference for the kids who need more help.
   Then we have the parents who feel like it is their right to complain about every little thing or to promote the latest pet cause they saw on the internet. These are the ones who think the school is called “My Son Johnny Elementary”.
   There are just too many rules and too much effort made to standardize, commoditize, and homogenize every aspect of the educational experience. We have to make sure nobody is offended, nobody is left out, nobody might sue. We collect reams of data but do nothing with it. We have to have schools that are blue ribbon, gold medal, and red carpet from the outside while hiding any negative information that could shine a light on real problems. We see fences erected around most of the schools to create a false sense of security
   when the reality is that anyone who wants to enter a school can do so at any time.
   We erect metal fences and gates around the
   schools to keep people out – including kids
   who could use the empty basketball courts and ballfields (paid for by tax dollars) on the weekend rather than have to pay money to play in an organized league at a rec center (paid for by tax dollars and usually rented out to someone).
   I chaperoned a 7th grade field trip to D.C. at the end of May. Before I could go on the trip, I had to sit through a Sexual Harrassment training session? Can you imagine having to do that back in the 60’s/70’s? Today, a boy snaps
   a girl’s bra strap and he ends up in mandatory therapy sessions with a school psychologist — back then, it earned you a kick in the shins and a “Knock it off!” from the teacher.
   The in-classroom experience may be as good or better than the days of our youth, but all the extra stuff that goes on today makes the experience as a parent much more difficult. I hope the pendulum swings back the other way in the future.
7. Lee July 3, 2006 at 10:33 am

   The pendulum is swinging towards school vouchers in order to escape the craziness in public schools.
8. VietVet July 4, 2006 at 8:47 am

   Allowing myself to slip back a few years to 1967 (ouch!) I distinctly recall coach John McKissick (Summerville), telling us many times to avoid sugars and eat good quality foods. But I don’t think eating habits of students is a necessity for school officials.
9. Lee July 4, 2006 at 10:38 pm

   I imagine there’s a lot of things John McKissick said that stuck with you. That’s a good thing.
10. Lynn July 5, 2006 at 3:49 pm

    I’m late posting, but this is really one of my pet peeves. Those of us who grew up in the 50’s & 60’s should remember that we were limited to junk food. My mom cooked three square meals a day. (Lucky me!)Although pretty much solid food that would be considered unhealthy in today’s terms, it was not junk. We were not served Pepsi or Coke with our meals, nor potato chips as a side dish. Bags of cookies and candy were not at our disposal 24/7. The food served in our schools today is not the problem. It is what kids get at home. Most families today live on fast food and lots of it. If we had eaten like that as children, we would all be obese today. So it’s not one cupcake on Valentine’s Day that’s going to get you, it is the sausage-egg-cheese biscuit, double cheese burger and huge pizzas that kids get everyday as a regular diet. We stress our kids out so much today with our over-regulation of them at school, they will be basket cases in adulthood.
11. Herb July 6, 2006 at 7:13 am

    Good post, Lynn. Except don’t you mean “limited on junk food” rather than “to junk food”?

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