| 33 posts found | |
|---|---|
|
gnomexxx
 Apprentice Member
Joined: 2/26/06
"Every generation needs a new revolution." - Thomas Jefferson |
For the love of anything sane, when is this kind of crap going to stop? This is so stupid. Do we expect to just take complete control of children away from their parents some day? I know some parents would completely love that, but the idea of lack of responsibility is not virtuous. Why isn't this community up in arms over this b.s.?
Breakfast at school now is on the principal By Alfred Lubrano Inquirer Staff Writer In a locally unprecedented move, the School District of Philadelphia will hold principals accountable for the number of students eating breakfast in their schools. Breakfast participation will be part of the report card that rates principals each year, along with categories such as attendance and math and reading performance. All 165,000 students in Philadelphia public schools, regardless of income, are eligible for free breakfasts. But just 54,000 ate breakfast last year, district figures show. The new system, which begins this year, is expected to increase the number of students eating breakfast, said Jonathan Stein, a lawyer with Community Legal Services, whose efforts - along with those of Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) - helped bring about the move. Many studies have shown that breakfast boosts student performance and health. "This is the first accountability system for school meals in the history of the school system," Stein said. "It's very exciting." Wayne Grasela, senior vice president of food services for the district, said he was equally pleased. "One of our main goals is to help improve a child's ability to learn," he said. "We're working with the principals to make this happen. They're already reaching out to us." Not everyone is happy, however. "You're doing a disservice to principals by holding them accountable without controlling for other variables," said Michael Lerner, president of Teamsters Local 502, Commonwealth Association of School Administrators. Should a principal be blamed for a student who ate breakfast at home and therefore doesn't eat in school, asked Lerner, who was a principal for 22 years. "Are we going to get to forced feedings?" he continued. "I think it's wrong to assume no parent in Philadelphia is providing breakfast each day." And, Lerner added, many children wind up not eating, thereby wasting food. "If you know kids," he said, "they'll eat what they want and when they want."
Advocates point out that many Philadelphia children live in high-poverty areas, and thus are more likely to be without the kind of nutritious foods that mandatory breakfasts provide. And Grasela added that "it doesn't count against principals if kids already ate, because we already assumed that in our target numbers, which are reasonable and attainable." Not every principal will be held to the same numbers, he added, saying the targets are on a graduated scale, taking into account established lower rates of breakfast participation at certain schools. The goal is to increase breakfast participation by 35 percent over the next two years, so that participation would be 70,000 students by 2011, Stein said. There is a huge disparity among schools in serving breakfast, according to a School District Division of Food Services analysis.
=============================== |
|
10/08/09 5:46:01 PM#2
Maybe my reading comprehension has declined, but did this not make any fuckin sense to anyone else? They're trying to get the principal to essentially railroad kids into eating at school. Considering that a) The majority of them probably ate at home, and b) providing an extra meal for 70,000 kids really isn't the best way to prolong the budget. I feel like I must have read this wrong, it just isn't making sense to me. |
|
|
10/08/09 10:56:54 PM#3
Why does this not make sense to people but mandatory exercise at school does? |
|
|
10/08/09 11:05:09 PM#4
Originally posted by Sabiancym The breakfast menu for my child's school this week: Monday - French Toast w/ Syrup Dipper Tuesday - Mini Donuts Wednesday - Scrambled eggs and sausage patty Thursday - Pop Tarts Friday - Breakfast Pizza Keep in mind this is FDA nutritional standards. That is why - especially when my autistic son is on a gluten-free, sugar-free diet. By the way, I don't agree with you that the relevant market here is health care. You're not regulating health care. You're regulating insurance. It's the insurance market that you're addressing and you're saying that some people who are not in it must be in it, and that's -- that's different from regulating in any manner commerce that already exists out there. - Scalia |
|
|
10/08/09 11:17:09 PM#5
Originally posted by Dekron The breakfast menu for my child's school this week: Monday - French Toast w/ Syrup Dipper Tuesday - Mini Donuts Wednesday - Scrambled eggs and sausage patty Thursday - Pop Tarts Friday - Breakfast Pizza Keep in mind this is FDA nutritional standards. That is why - especially when my autistic son is on a gluten-free, sugar-free diet.
I didn't even know schools served breakfast. I know mine never did.
Anyway, it's a school board issue. If people don't like it, they'll complain. If they do, all is well. |
|
|
10/08/09 11:19:45 PM#6
Originally posted by Sabiancym
I didn't even know schools served breakfast. I know mine never did. And they wonder why kids are so hyper in school and so obese. To make matters worse, they sell 1 liter sodas ala carte - even at breakfast.
By the way, I don't agree with you that the relevant market here is health care. You're not regulating health care. You're regulating insurance. It's the insurance market that you're addressing and you're saying that some people who are not in it must be in it, and that's -- that's different from regulating in any manner commerce that already exists out there. - Scalia |
|
|
10/08/09 11:47:42 PM#7
If memory serves, fast food companies have invested heavily in the school breakfasts in many states anyway, no? |
|
|
//\\//\\oo
 Spotlight Poster
Joined: 4/17/04
"The dreams of youth are the regrets of maturity." -The Lord of Darkness from Legend |
10/09/09 12:28:33 AM#8
Yes, we need to force them to eat breakfast, since they seem so undernourished.
This is a sequence of characters intended to produce some profound mental effect, but it has failed. |
|
10/09/09 12:44:26 AM#9
If you read the second page which wasn't posted by the OP, they cite the actual discrepancy which seems to motivate now holding some principals accountable. In some schools, participation is as low as 18 percent, while in others it's around 98 percent. Some schools showed as much as a 50 percent increase in breakfast participation from 2007 to 2008, while others showed a decrease of as much as 20 percent. "Some schools need the push of accountability," said Kathy Fisher, PCCY family economic security associate. "We're really pleased the district is taking this important step to support kids' learning." So it makes sense when there's as much as an 80% gap in breakfast participation, when proper nutrition has been shown to aide academic performance, to start holding some principals accountable for not getting breakfast to some students who may not receive it not at home and would benefit from it. The measure isn't dictating that all schools MUST start serving breakfast during homeroom or anything, it's simply trying to solve why a voluntary breakfast program is working well in some schools, and others not. It's only ridiculous when the actual problem isn't understood and the solution consequently seems unnecessary. |
|
|
abbaba
 Novice Member
Joined: 8/24/03
Selling Propane and Propane Accessories in a MMORPG near you. |
10/09/09 1:31:13 AM#10
A big problem is distinguishing between the poor kid who eats all the candy and drinks all the soda he wants and the poor kid that eats ketchup soup and ramen noodles. |
|
deviliscious
 Novice Member
Joined: 11/09/07
"Adjusts ponytails and pulls the lollipop out of my mouth" |
10/09/09 1:47:38 AM#11
WOW.. I have eaten breakfast my entire life, and never at school. I have always had eggs, ham or sausage, hashbrowns; biscuits n gravy... No sugary cereals of anything like that . School food sucks, why would a kid want to eat that junk when they can have a real homecooked breakfast? I used to wake up extra early and make breakfast for my brother and sisters as well. That would completely suck for kids to have to eat school food instead of good home cooking . LOL |
|
deviliscious
Novice Member
Joined: 11/09/07
"Adjusts ponytails and pulls the lollipop out of my mouth" |
10/09/09 2:25:52 AM#12
Originally posted by //\\//\\oo Actually, a healthy breakfast helps them lose weight by speeding up metabolism, however, from the looks of Dekrons menu, that would not have the desired effects. It is actually better to eat 5-7 smaller meals a day rather than 3 large ones for increased metabolism. Breakfast should be one of the larger meals because you will burn it off during the day, and it kicks start your metabolism. Dinner being the smallest. Processed food should not exist in anyones diet .. I don't understand how people can eat that crap.
|
|
10/09/09 7:54:27 AM#13
A lot here seem to not realise that most of the children there are from a poor family and that this is aimed at seeing to it that they at least get a half decent meal to start the day off. Tho looking at the menu example i question the wisdome in letting buisness sponsors chose the content of such meals. Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981 |
|
|
BaronJuJu
 Novice Member
Joined: 2/27/04
"Just because it happens to you doesn''t make it interesting" |
10/09/09 8:30:57 AM#14
I think it's a good idea that schools are able to supply kids, if they want or are unable to get it from home, with breakfast. As Dekron noted however some schools fail miserably in their choices of what to serve. That's where parents need to step up and demand schools serve kids healthier choices, remove sodas/candy/etc. Both sides need to work together to make it work.
*Edited - Typos "If we don't attack them, they will attack us first. So we'd better retaliate before they have a chance to strike" |
|
10/09/09 9:10:40 AM#15
Originally posted by deviliscious
Because not everyone is so fortunate to have that luxury. |
|
|
deviliscious
Novice Member
Joined: 11/09/07
"Adjusts ponytails and pulls the lollipop out of my mouth" |
10/09/09 9:34:45 AM#16
Originally posted by Sabiancym
Because not everyone is so fortunate to have that luxury. So why would a person be forced to eat more breakfast, if they already ate at home? Supplying breakfast is fine, but FORCING them to eat breakfast at school is another. Have it available for those who need it, and allow those who don;t to eat at home. Why is that so hard? |
|
10/09/09 9:56:20 AM#17
Originally posted by Sabiancym
Because not everyone is so fortunate to have that luxury.
And how many breakfasts have you made for underprivledged youth? Please don't pass on your wealth guilt to others who have no reason to feel guilty. To the OP: Government programs always want more and more control. It's the nature of things :( It is unfortunate that more parents don't take responsibility for their children's needs and make sure they have the proper foods to help them grow strong. This is unfortunately another example of people offloading responsibility to the government. :(
Do you support Liberty, Freedom and wish to Uphold the Constitution? Join the movement - http://CampaignForLiberty.com |
|
|
Briansho
 Apprentice Member
Joined: 3/05/06
Functionless Art is Simply Tolerated Vandalism...We Are The Vandals. |
10/09/09 9:59:25 AM#18
Originally posted by deviliscious
You deserve a cookie! Why didn't we have breakfast pizza when I was in school? Don't be terrorized! You're more likely to die of a car accident, drowning, fire, or murder! More people die every year from prescription drugs than terrorism LOL! |
|
10/09/09 10:05:23 AM#19
Originally posted by Dekron The breakfast menu for my child's school this week: Monday - French Toast w/ Syrup Dipper Tuesday - Mini Donuts Wednesday - Scrambled eggs and sausage patty Thursday - Pop Tarts Friday - Breakfast Pizza Keep in mind this is FDA nutritional standards. That is why - especially when my autistic son is on a gluten-free, sugar-free diet.
This list doesn't surprise me at all. While reading the article, that's all I could think about: how healthy is eating breakfast at school if they're just going to feed them the same crap they do at lunch? While I understand that encouraging children who may not be able to afford breakfast (or don't have the time in the morning to do so) to eat even these crappy breakfasts is a good thing in the long run (ie: energy, focus), "grading" anyone on how many children take advantage of this program is just mind-boggling stupid. What's next, chaining kids to their desks until they finish their homework after school? But doing homework is GOOD FOR YOU! |
|
|
deviliscious
Novice Member
Joined: 11/09/07
"Adjusts ponytails and pulls the lollipop out of my mouth" |
10/09/09 10:12:26 AM#20
Originally posted by streea
This list doesn't surprise me at all. While reading the article, that's all I could think about: how healthy is eating breakfast at school if they're just going to feed them the same crap they do at lunch? While I understand that encouraging children who may not be able to afford breakfast (or don't have the time in the morning to do so) to eat even these crappy breakfasts is a good thing in the long run (ie: energy, focus), "grading" anyone on how many children take advantage of this program is just mind-boggling stupid. What's next, chaining kids to their desks until they finish their homework after school? But doing homework is GOOD FOR YOU! Yea, my parents hardly ever let me eat school food, and when I did I kept wondering what it was made out of. I brought hot foods such as pot roast, stew, rice and chicken in a thermos, and always had healthy sides such as broccoli and carrots, apples, peaches ect .. The school food looked like a punishment in comparison. |
