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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Sarah Palin.

Why are you so obnoxious? I mean, in a country where almost 20% of children ages 6-11 suffer from obesity, not from being overweight, but from being so overweight as to be classified as obese, what will it take for people to realize that we need institutional change?

Oh. It's so much more fun to be a smartass, and dismiss the serious problems our children are facing by making snide comments and using a proactive solution as a platform for you to amuse yourself and get a few laughs.

Absolutely Hilarious.

Or, at least, you think you are.

I would just like to say that school board members and state representatives are elected by the people to represent us. And that it isn't nanny-state officials trying to control every aspect of our children's lives that would love to see schools outlaw the excess sweets.

Supposedly, parents should decide what their kids eat. And that is completely correct.

And yet, most parents send their kids off to school and have no way to interrupt the constant stream of cookies, cakes and candy fed to our children while they are at school.
Having had a child come home frequently having been given candy as a reward for academic achievement, having eaten a giant sugar cookie from his classmate's birthday celebration, and also having had a piece of cake served to him at lunch, because every time a teacher has a birthday the whole lunchroom gets a piece of cake made by the lunch ladies, I can say that limiting sweets given to our kids at school would not limit my control as a parent but would strengthen it.

Not to mention the school selling lollipops to kids as a way to raise money.

One more thing. Parents do decide these issues....by voting for people who they think represent their opinions.

That is what representative government is all about. We elect who we want. We give them the power to enact our wishes. We have the opportunity to speak out. We have the opportunity to elect someone else.

Actually, taking a local, state issue and trying to use for your "national" platform just shows that you don't really believe that local parents and communities should have the power to set their own standards.

/rant over

6 comments:

DH said...

Can I vote for you? :o)

jackscrow said...

I cannot understand, and dare not imagine, the desperate straits that about half of our country finds itself in: the possibility that they will nominate not only the lease qualified presidential candidate ever, but one that will doom what started as a pretty good idea - before it was co-opted.

I also cannot believe that this movement can't find another candidate -- until I remember just how MUCH they have been sidetracked and co-opted.

Then I just sigh, and go cut firewood.

terri said...

Jackscrow,

I know. I don't understand anyone who sees Palin as a viable presidential candidate. If she had remained governor and focused on politics, I could see why people might want her to go further.

But, between her resignation as governor to become a pundit for Foxnews and a personality on the speaker circuit...and then her constant in-your-face sarcasm...I don't get it.

I was watching her the other day on Fox and every time she referred to media outlets, other than Fox, she called them the "lamestream" media.

She finds herself so amusing.

Maybe I'm a snob...but I don't want a president who is constantly cracking jokes and making flip remarks about a large portion of American constituents at every opportunity she gets.

It annoys me.

And the thing is that she loves the fact that she annoys people. She does it on purpose.

Donna B. said...

My youngest child is 27 and I never, ever was faced with bringing any sweets whatsoever to her or her older siblings classrooms. Ever.

If their teachers had birthdays, I didn't know about it.

So... the problem is likely local and the solution surely is -- but just when did this "fad" of celebration get to be so big that it could get national attention?

Assistant Village Idiot said...

I'm a bit worried about what you mean by "institutional change."

As to Ms. Palin, I don't think she is particularly different from a lot of people from all over the political spectrum in her speech. Yet somehow, people (including I) react to it much worse. Perhaps it is tone, or the accent which so many find so irritating.

I feel the same about her being too willing to be confrontive, even reveling in it. But when I try and analyse why Obama calling other Americans "enemies" - a far more deeply troubling comment in terms of content - affects me with a different type of irritation, I confess I don't see much logic behind the difference.

Jackscrow - "co-opted?" That's the narrative, but I'm not sure you can justify it.

As to childhood obesity, it is not unique to the poor, but it is concentrated there. WIC has a list of approved foods that can be purchased with its monies, and as the gummint is paying the freight on that, a case could be made that it gets to make the rules. There is no such limitation placed on other government checks, however, and if you ever hang around the supermarket on the day the checks come in, you would be appalled at the impulse buying, much of it unhealthy, that we are paying for. Perhaps the WIC list should also apply to food stamps.

terri said...

AVI,

Didn't see your post on this earlier.

All I meant by "institutional change" is that schools need a revising of the school lunch nutritional guidelines...and not just school lunches, but general governmental nutrition guidelines.

One of the programs I participated in when I ran a licensed family day care in our home was a government program that set guidelines for children's nutrition. In order to participate in the program, you had to meet the federal guidelines. They would reimburse you for a certain percentage of meal costs.

Most licensed, commercial day care center also participate in the system, as do local schools.

The guidelines are dreadful. Overestimating the amount of carbs kids need and qualifying sugary drinks and milks as "healthy" options.

Things that qualify as healthy, acceptable foods are things that happen to be loaded with sugar and corn syrup.

An interesting study about the correlation of federal lunch programs and obesity--http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100824141406.htm.

Besides the guidelines, schools encourage unhealthy choices by providing a la carte items for sale in the cafeteria. In my children's elementary school, children can buy potato chips, Ice cream sandwiches, cookies, popsicles...etc. These items are sold during lunch and are available every day, not to middle and high schoolers, but to kids ages 5-11. What 6 year old is going to say to themselves, "I really should skip the chocolate milk and potato chips today."?

Not many.

I would love to see schools ban all the excess crap that our kids don't need. They shouldn't be able to earn money selling sweets to kids that don't need them. Their main goal is supposed to be educating our children, not using their sweet tooths as a fund-raising opportunity.

That's just a systematic complaint that I have.

Culturally, it's also an uphill battle trying to keep teachers from using sweets and candy and pizza as the main reward for academic achievement, or good behavior. Every celebratory event at school revolves around donuts and Kool-Aid.

Oh it makes me sound so sour....and I swear that I am not a sugar-Nazi. I let my kids indulge here and there...but I am not happy when they come home and tell me all the crap they have been given in a day...and it has happened frequently.


So..."institutional change" means that schools teach our children and provide a healthy lunch...and that's it.
Parents have little control over what kids are given during the school day. Even if you pack their lunches, you can't keep the teachers and cafeteria from constantly "treating