School Bans Packed Lunches…and Parental Rights are at stake
By Krystle Weeks | Tuesday, April 12th, 2011 | Catch-AllWould you want a school principal to determine which lunch option is better for your child? Just think about it for a second. You are the parent, and you prepare food for your child on a daily basis, meals that are nutritious for the most part. You send your child to school with a packed lunch, only for a school administrator to make the child throw the lunch away for one that is made by the school.
This situation is one that many parents are facing in Chicago, Ill., as schools are forcing children to eat their lunches. These lunches are often unappealing, as the Chicago Tribune points out, but this is not the point I am trying to get to here. A school administrator actually thinks that she can determine what is better in terms of nutrition for children, not their parents. Many school lunches are loaded with preservatives and sodium, which does not bode well for nutritional quality. The other point that is often ignored is how much will the school cafeteria benefit from such a decision. In Chicago, the company that services school lunches will receive financial benefit from such a decision and create a monopoly of sorts.
While you may or may not disagree with the decision in Chicago, this should pose a question: How would you feel if you were told how to raise your child? It is not the responsibility of the government or the school system. It is the parent’s responsibility on how they raise and feed their child.
Cross posted at Crystal Clear Conservative
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About the author
Growing up in Maryland typically does not yield a Republican. Fortunately, Krystle Weeks was one of the lucky few booted to the Commonwealth for her staunch conservative views. From an early age, she has been debating politics, and since 2006, she has been involved here in the Commonwealth helping Republican candidates to victory. Aside from politics, Krystle is a runner and a dynamite cook. You can email her here. Krystle also blogs at Crystal Clear Conservative and Charm Offensive Cooking.
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9 Responses to "School Bans Packed Lunches…and Parental Rights are at stake"
After insisting that students be forced to get an education through the Chicago Public Schools, forcing them to eat school lunches won’t sentence them to a lifetime of failure and unemployment like their education likely will.
But it’s still wrong, and I’d hand-deliver lunch the next day and dare the Principal to take it in front of me.
I think drawing the nutritional quality of the school lunch into it is probably a red herring, since some parents probably send their kids to school with peanut butter and banana sandwiches and a Coke (that sounds like a good lunch to ME, but probably not all that nutritious). The real issue is, who do these school officials think they are? I don’t want school officials second guessing me on what my kid eats and I don’t want them spanking my kid. Neither of those is their role.
Calling parental rights into the equation is a bit extreme…but that seems to be the theme these days around here.
Brian, prior to free mandatory public schools many kids were simply left uneducated. I believe that led to higher unemployment/child labor/underemployment and worse. Lest you forget that fact.
The responsible post would be along the lines of “how do we encourage healthy eating without food restrictions in schools.” Sarah Palin and many in the Tea Party crowd don’t see the correlation between poor food/beverage choices and obesity. It is a large and growing problem here and maybe the government should take some action to reverse the trends.
This argument could be made against any/all regulations and laws. Why should seat belts be required? Why shouldn’t we allow abortion? Why should there be a speed limit? Why can’t I have an incandescent light bulb? You know, even with all of the people complaining that the government tells me what do and I have no freedom, etc. we still live in a very free and open society. I don’t see anyone clamoring to move to countries where there are no taxes, laws, or regulations. At least when the anti-war people didn’t like Vietnam they went to Canada.
Steve V,
Peanut butter and banana sandwiches were my favorite when I was in grade school. And guess what? They were full of protein (peanut butter), complex carbohydrates and niacin (white bread), and vitamins and potassium (bananas). Just what a growing 6-10 year-old boy needed for good nutrition.
My mother grew up in the Great Depression and she knew how to feed little kids with stuff that was both good for them and that they liked without wasting money.
In this case, I say, “follow the money.” Somebody is making a lot of money selling school lunches to the Chicago school district. And that somebody has friends or relatives in the school administration.
P.S. As for Coke, I had to drink the school milk most days. But every Friday (except during Lent) Mom would give me a nickel and a penny for a small Coke from the vending machine at school. How many people remember when you could buy an 8-oz Coke in the bottle from a machine for 6 cents?
Thanks for the trip in the time machine, Krystle.
Bonus question: does anyone know what was on the bottom of those small Coke bottles? It was the source of many party games and school yard competitions.
HR-I remember those “pony” bottles of Coke, but not the 6 cent price tag. You must be a little older than me.
Frankly I don’t care what they do in schools in Illinois… This is a Virginia poltical blog.
Thank you Ms. Weeks for drawing attention to this issue.
First, let me say to Mr. Baily’s last comment “I don’t care what they do in schools in Illinois…”. Mr. Bailey, do you not understand that if it starts somewhere, soon all the schools will think that they have to do so and then it will be your neighborhood soon enough? Stop it early.
And yes, it does involve parental rights. If you send your children to school, you have given up much of your parental rights already. Go to http://www.parentalrightstn.blogspot.com to learn more or to http://www.parentalrights.org.
Our public school system is doing nothing but dumbing our children down as American parents watch. Please America, wake up and do something to stop it.
Eric Potter MD
Tennessee Director Parental Rights.Org
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