Around Town
Let them eat (some) cake
AMY ROSEN
Being a mom is not easy. Being a teacher is tough, too. Being a class mom is no breeze either.

Class moms volunteer their time in their child's classroom to assist the teacher with organizing anything they may need help with. Very often the class mom organizes parties for special events, too.

Our class moms once baked and sold cupcakes for snacks on half-days. On the children's birthdays we would send treats for the whole class.

The birthday child would wear a crown and even visit his or her former teachers who would make a big deal over them and on occasion offer a little hug and kiss. Self-esteem soared for the birthday child.

We can kiss those days good-bye. Thanks to the bureaucratic red tape dispenser and the politically correct police, most of those things are no longer allowed in many schools. Big brother is watching and he thinks our kids are too fat; and if a teacher tries to hug and kiss a child, the real police are called.

It is commendable to promote better health in children, but as a result teachers are being made to jump through hoops and class moms are thinking twice before volunteering to coordinate snacks for parties. Finding acceptable alternatives is a challenge.

The New Jersey Model School Nutrition policy, implemented in 2007, states that all public and private schools that participate in any of the federally funded child nutrition programs must follow guidelines set forth by the New Jersey Division of Agriculture's Division of Food and Nutrition for foods allowed during the school day.Many foods that were once accepted in schools are no longer permitted.

Parties are permitted, but items deemed by the United States Department ofAgriculture (USDA) as foods of minimal nutritional value are not. To put it simply, all foods and beverages that list sugar in any form as the first or main ingredient and all forms of candy are prohibited, but it's more complicated than that.

Snack and beverage vending machines are only allowed in the teachers' lounges - even in high schools.

Some school districts have eliminated birthday parties. Celebrations now involve arts and crafts instead of candy and cookies - even on Halloween. Those days that stand out most in kids'memories are gone.

Students who are allowed a special day can't have birthday cake unless it is low in sugar - no frosting. They can eat fruit, but they may not drink fruit juice - not allowed. How about a birthday carrot instead of a birthday cake?

Kids can drink water, but not flavored water.

In my son's school, water bottles are not permitted at all during the day anyway.

D

ehydrated, hungry kids are fine as

long as they aren't fat. Right?

My son's school recently had a feast. Sugar limitations were honored, in addition to nuts, shellfish and pineapple - to accommodate children with food allergies - another challenge.

We had to send in a list of all the ingredients in all foods and the poor teacher had to peruse each item. Don't teachers already have enough on their plates with state testing mandates?

Dedicated moms and teachers are trying valiantly to come up with solutions to these limitations to allow the kids to still have fun, but it's not easy. After all, who wants to be an agent for the USDA?

Try making edible gingerbread houses without candy on them.

The state rules do not apply to lunches and snacks that are brought from home, but individual school districts may adopt their own stricter standards.

Some schools have eliminated snack time. Other teachers scrutinize each snack and send some home uneaten.

Where do we draw the line? It's getting out of hand. Hungry children can't concentrate. Overweight children aren't healthy, and the parents of extremely thin students are alerted because incidents of anorexia and bulimia are on the rise.

What happened to teaching individual responsibility? Years ago there were heavy kids and thin kids and kids who had food allergies and medical issues. They knew their own limitations, and if a problem arose in school, it was handled on an individual basis. The state did not have to set up legislation other than daily exercise to keep us healthy.

Daily exercise? Maybe that's the key. In addition to gym class, how about increasing the time allowed for recess to let schoolchildren work off any additional calories?

The school nutrition policy encourages school administrators to allow adequate time for recess, but standardized guidelines for recess do not exist and some teachers use the privilege of recess time as a punishment.

An article published recently in Greater Media Newspapers describes the efforts of a group of parents from Howell and other communities who are fighting for uniform rules for recess in their schools and making progress.

I'm all for healthy choices and foods prepared with less fat and fewer trans fats being served in school lunchrooms, but we should not be regulated on what we choose to consume. Students must be taught to make wise choices and need not be denied celebrations.

No candy, no cookies, no soda, no juice, no allergy-causing foods for all children to prevent a reaction in some (no one knows which children are allergic to what because of privacy laws, so everyone must suffer), and no recess if they're bad.

How about if schools and lawmakers just simplify things a bit? Healthier foods in the lunchroom, party on in the classrooms and mandatory recess with lots of running around to balance it out?

Instead of holding schools responsible for what kids eat, how about mandating that nutrition courses be taught to educate children about something that is obviously relevant to their lives? After all, isn't education what school is all about? Let parents regulate their own children.

Perhaps schools could tweak the extensive dinosaur curriculum they teach and add nutrition and healthy eating so happy children, teachers and class moms don't become extinct.

Amy Rosen is a staff writer with Greater Media Newspapers. She may be reached at arosen@gmnews.com.