What Next … Mandatory Aerobics During Recess?
Students are now forced to become more creative to raise money and awareness for their causes at school:
The old-fashioned school bake sale, once as American as apple pie, is fast becoming obsolete in California, a result of strict new state nutrition standards for public schools that regulate the types of food that can be sold to students. The guidelines were passed by lawmakers in 2005 and took effect in July 2007. They require that snacks sold during the school day contain no more than 35 percent sugar by weight and derive no more than 35 percent of their calories from fat and no more than 10 percent of their calories from saturated fat.
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In Guilford, Conn., the school district’s health advisory committee has decided that birthday parties belong at home. At A. W. Cox Elementary, birthdays are celebrated with an extra 15 minutes of recess, special pencils or a “birthday book club” with commemorative inserts. “The children have totally refocused,” said the principal, Merry Leventhal. “They’re happy to celebrate in these other ways.”
Props to California for trying to be healthy and prevent child obesity. I appreciate the effort and the purpose, but oftentimes bake sales are associated with raising awareness for important causes, and those delicious cupcakes and brownies bring in the dough! (pun intended) Without bake sales, students resort to selling items that people don’t really want (like pencils and wrapping paper), yielding less money for charity. Or they have to organize car washes, which really only can occur on the weekends. And, who trusts teenagers and pre-teens washing their cars? Or they just sell baked goods across the street from school, like “Tommy Cornelius and the other members of the Piedmont High School boys water polo team [who] never expected to find themselves running through school in their Speedos to promote a bake sale across the street.”
And birthdays have been overtaken too?? When I was little, all I wanted was to bring in my mom’s red velvet cupcakes so I could share them with my classmates. But now that sweets are banned, I get a special pencil rather than a cupcake. Or I can have fifteen minutes of valuable class time taken away from me so I can play outside. At least I won’t be fat though, right? Happy Birthday to me.
Thanks to reader Nasseem for forwarding the article.
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El fatto
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KPC
