I'm will stand side by side with the cupcakes.
I like the cupcakes, myself. Then again, not having to stay up til midnight finishing them up and figuring out how to get them to school or alternatively how to get to the bakery before it closes or early in the morning.
But really, that's all about me, none of that is about obesity.
I'd love a only special occasions rule -- that's still, what 2 dozen cupcakes over 10 months of school. 2.4 cupcakes per month should be sufficient.
The problem as I see it is that kids get food everywhere now. They play 45 minutes of soccer and then get juiceboxes, chips and "fruit" treats. They play outside for 20 minutes and have a 3 course, all fat, salt and sugar snack. It's everywhere!
Coolers of water and apples or oranges, that would be fine, for pretty much any other occasion, wouldn't it?
Then at home, where I can enjoy the treat too, we can have the bad stuff for our special occasions.
Truth be told though...I don't really care. I'd much rather that my kid's school day was so filled with cool fun and learning that this was a non-issue. ;-D
Five years ago anorexia was the big concern du jour of the food police. When confronted with the paradox of obesity being today's problem the foody fascists trot out some study that claims anorexia is proof obesity is a problem.
Whether it's passing laws against using the ingredients that make a good cannoli possible, shunting smokers to the curbside in a rainstorm, banning cupcakes, requiring Hell's angels to wear safety helmets, or any other of a plethora of nanny knows best government mandates, including how many women have to be on sports scholarships in college, whether the demand is there or not, it's all a continuing effort on the part of elites to mandate how the unwashed should live their lives. It's an effort, and a successful one at that, that makes the corporate goals, so often alluded to here, seem like a pale moon next to an exploding sun.
I thought cupcakes were the hip thing now! Oh, but not for kids.
I think a special occasion is what you make of it, so about any food would do. However, there is something to be said about TRADITION. We have so few good ones anymore. Our poor kids can't even celebrate their birthdays with a little sugar high?
I also think that if we'd take a closer look at what the USDA thinks is acceptable for school lunch, a few cupcakes a year would not be a concern.
And why are the schools left to police things (children's health) that should be done at home--again?
Why do I have the sneaky feeling that if we looked at the school lunches in these places we would find a lot bigger culprits than cupcakes? Ok, granted there are more than "a few" kids with a weight problem. Let's start by getting the school lunch menu under control, providing balanced meals with no added sugars and moderate fat content (humans need some dietary fat, kids more so). Then lets get the vending machines the heck out of the school. After that, let's make sure our physical education programs are helping not hurting, and make sure kids have age appropriate recess time. And then -- only then -- let's look at class parties and cupcakes. Priorities, people.
Jen,
For many NYC school children, having a b-day party in class is all some parents can afford.
And with the test prep, it's also a welcome relief to both students and teachers.
I just put up my October birthday cakes on the b-board and only 2 children have birthdays. However, not all children have parties in class either. Some families can afford to have big parties outside of school while others cannot afford a class party.
Either way, my students make cards for everyone having a b-day so they can take them home.
Each day we have snack time, but I insist on healthy snacks (for both health reason and to keep away roaches). I always get a few parents who object. In other classrooms teachers allow whatever the parents pack and it's usually chips, cookies and candies. My kids take out apples, yogurt, and protein bars. They also put paper towels on their desks to collect crumbs.
I do not like it when we are ordered not to do this or that. Holidays have been banned in some school districts too.
Bring back the fun.
Well, for the record, my (white) kids attend an urban district in a medium-plus sized city. There are pretty high poverty rates at their schools, and they've never been in the racial majority at any of their schools. Lots of upper middle class and above black parents and many white parents of all income levels send their children to private/parochial schools. (Now, to disclose fairly, I've been in some of those schools and I can't figure out why their parents are paying for them to go there -- my kids in the city schools are getting far better educations and experiences, but hey.)
But, I've seen the cupcake parties (and honestly, I was one of the very few making the buy a box of mix and bake them myself cupcakes, but everytime I looked at the price of buying 25-30 cupcakes it made me do it again) -- and in general they're all about singing, eating the cupcakes and heading back to class (usually have to have the parties in the cafeteria, per your mentioned pest problem), end of story. The "party" is all about the eating and not about the fun.
How about a special game or two that's only played on birthdays? Making cards is great, and I seem to remember from my youth either a birthday crown or a big medal like thing to pin on. Remember 7-up, not the drink but the game? We got to play that whenever we'd been exceptionally good (or so we were told ;-D ).
My only real point first was that kids are filled with crappy food these days -- from nasty school lunches to chips, crackers, cookies and microwaved processed food to junk food and soda served up here, there, and everywhere. I don't think yes or no on cupcakes per se is going to be a deal breaker, parties can be about more than cupcakes.
Oh, on a related birthday note, we also have quite a few Jehovah's Witness children -- who can't celebrate birthdays at all in school. But that's a topic for another day, eh?
I wish I had the time to play games too. Our monthly writing schedule--and for Sept. it was memoirs which is ridiculous--makes it impossible to play games too. Everything gets collected by the admins to make sure we are keeping to the calendar. It never used to be this way when the big tests were given in April and May.
Our ELA is given in January and that's not enough time.
I remember a time I used to play math and vocabulary games in class. Now I can only find time during extended day.
Those "cool fun and learning days" that I used to do has gone far, far away. Real teaching now starts in April after the Math test along with other fun projects.
PS: The majority of the kids in my school are white also, but also qualify for free lunch. I apologize to anyone to thought I was bringing race into this issue.
OK everyone, let's put all this cupcake discourse into perspective. This isn't about cupcakes at all. It's about how government at all levels has become involved in all levels of personal life, and now it's dietary. Could this Benjamin guy get over his stupid idea of legislating cupcakes and get back to doing whatever it is government used to do and quit telling us how to micromanage our lives?? Schoolgal, you are so right!!! What the hell is wrong with having a little fun and having a cupcake (or 2 small ones if they're the kosher ones from BJ's). I have occasionally involved students in schemes involving the guilty pleasures of cupcakes and even chips. I do try for the healthier snacks,and I encourage the kids to do so on a daily basis. However, I somehow grew up as part of the Twinkie/Devil Dog/Hostess Cupcake (wow remember the icing in the middle??) generation, as did many others in the '50's and '60's, and here we are. Enough cupcake-bashing. We can educate, we don't have to legislate all these essentially non issues. Hey, Legislator, leave them kids alone!!!
Awesome post NYCEducator!
I agree with Shortwoman, Jen & schoolgal.
I think the main message to students should be that a treat is not a daily thing and happens once in a while. Crappy food is dirt cheap and honestly, until whole grains organic food, and fruit cost the same as McDonalds and Hostess, the gov is in no place to tell us what we can and can't eat. Better yet, until the school lunches become edible, they can't dictate what the students eat on treat days.
TX has a cupcake law also--penned by a portly idiot who is who she is, but not by the school system.
At the end of any novel my class reads, I offer a choice of over a hundred projects the kids can use as a novel response, and one of them involves “baking.”
The baker must READ a recipe, increase it MATHEMATICALLY to feed the entire class, and WRITE/DRAW something relating to the story atop the icing--and share, practicing CITIZENSHIP.
When will I get fired and decertified for serving cake (in TX: “Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value,” or FMNV) in my class? Or... do (cup)cakes provide teachable moments?
I say yes, they do. Bring it on, legislators!
i think we should help students understand the benefits of living healthily, then use them along with parents to crush and destroy the junk food and soda industry. just my thought s =D
A few years ago a senior in calculus asked me if his mom could bring in cupcakes and soda as he was turning 18. Although this is not usually done in the high school, I said, why not? (this was a normal, wonderful kid). The kids in class loved it. He was thrilled. His mom was happy too! Turned into a great experience for all of us.
A friend in Texas also told me she brought in cupcakes for her son's 18th birthday and kids were also happy. School has enough stress. we need to make it fun also.
Schools are not parents, and what kids eat is none of the school's business.
How about we put the education back in the schools and stop worrying about what children are eating. When the little one was in kindgergarten and he got his fitness report card it stated he was underweight for his age.
But he was far from under grade level in his education development.
I don't think it is up to the DOE to tell me what I should be feeding my child unless they are prepared to pay my food bill. Oh wait is that the next part of the Mayors plan?
Pissed Off Mom hit it on the head....local municipalities and our own DOE should not be telling us what our cupcake quotas are, nor should Mr. Benjamin be fanning the flames of this cupcake conflict by making some stupid law. The school systems should stick to education, and the municipalities, including NYC, should stick to governing. That doesn't include how or what gets fed to kids. It would be a helluva lot more productive to have an information/education campaign to inform parents about the down side of what their kids eat. I am the decider, not anyone else!!
Unfortunately, letting NYC and Washington dictate education has led to more testing. This year 3rd graders are now being tested in Science too.
Of course cupcakes should not be an issue, but when someone tells me to use cool and fun learning instead of having a 20 minute b-day party, I have to say, "What!!!!"
Cool and fun learning should be part of my everyday teaching,not just once a month, but our government would rather see results through testing. That means by passing scores and not the individual's child improvement.
We have read in NYTeacher how some admins have a fit if the "flow of the day" is off by one minute. While my admin is not that nuts, she is collecting published pieces this week.
Only 4 children have completed this task. The rest are still revising and editing. I could have easily red-marked everything and made my life simple, but that's not the way. I also spent more time on basic routines. Grade 3 is a harder transition than any other grade I have taught. Also, my assessment binder has to be completely filled out this week with skills analysis in all major subject areas as well as conference notes.
Our outside bulletin boards had to be completed as well--leveled libraries, etc. (the former teacher left the most horrible collection of library books--incorrect genres and level dots).
It would be nice is all teachers were given the opportunity to use September as a time of transition and not include mandates until October.
So I find it just as cool to have a cool reason see happy faces once or twice a month until the DoE orders me
to turn all b-days into some type of
"learning experience". Isn't learning how to hand out plates, cups and food, sit nicely and using proper manners when eating (as well as the clean-up process) part of teaching life skills?
Pissed-Off Teacher,
I am sure those students will always cherish that memory, and the parent was appreciative also.
You'd think that as an educator you'd firmlly believe want to deal with real life problems primarily through education and not government regulation.
Heck, in PA our standards are so broad that you could probably find a standard in every discipline to fit the skills of a party. I smell birthday party lesson plan..."fine motor skill development strengthened through peeling apart paper plates," "Napkins folded into different geometric shapes and labeled" "cultural awareness increased through traditional singing of birthday song (and perhaps some history calls for adding a "spanking machine"? I'm sure that fits in the standards *somewhere.*)
very funny.
As a teacher, these laws banning sweets offend me. They insinuate that I am the one making my students fat, when 50% of them come in and talk about the McDonald's meal they had the night before. Sometimes this happens 3 times a week! Yet my single tootsie roll reward on Friday is making them fat??
Unfortunately, we are not teaching these kids moderation. I am afraid that 10 years from now we will see an epidemic of eating disorders. As it is, my 6th grade girls are now checking calories and ingredients constantly. They think eating anything, ever, with more than 8 grams of fat, will make them fat. They talk about being fat, even though they are as skinny as sticks! It's a shame...
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