ORCHARD, Texas – A third-grader at Brazos Elementary was given a week’s detention for possessing a Jolly Rancher.
School officials in Brazos County are defending the seemingly harsh sentence. The school’s principal and superintendent said they were simply complying with a state law that limits junk food in schools...
Jack Ellis, the superintendent for Brazos Independent School District, declined an on-camera interview. But he said the school was abiding by a state guideline that banned “minimal nutrition” foods...
Brazos Elementary Principal Jeanne Young, said the problem, in this instance, was that the candy was provided by another student – not the girl’s parents.
Every adult mentioned in the story, with the exception of the girl's mother, is an idiot.
Hat tip to NewsAlert.
7 comments:
So, now it's the school's responsibility to micromanage a child's diet. Wonderful. Why don't they just keep the little darlings there through the week and let the parents take them home for visitation on the weekend? (That would work for you, right Darren?) How many chances do kids have to eat while they're in school? Lunch, recess, and maybe breakfast if they qualify for that. Are they absolutely positive that the kids are getting fat because of what they eat while at school? It couldn't be because of what they consume at home or just unlucky heredity? Sheesh!
I see jars of candy in almost every classroom I sub in. Teacher bribes for expected behavior.
So, the girl could have brought her own jolly rancher; the girl who gave her the jolly rancher was allowed to have the jolly ranchers; the girl's mom approved of her having the jolly rancher, and the receipt of a jolly rancher is a crime punishable by 5 days whereas the giving of the jolly rancher is apparently fine.
Were I the mother in this situation, I know precisely what I would do; I would take my daughter out of school for the five days, and make sure the district knew it was for vacation, so that they would not be reimbursed by the state.
Administrators can be such morons. At my daughter's elementary school, the children aren't allowed to run on the playground. I kept trying to get her to break that rule so that I could have that parent conference. We'll tell them they can't have a piece of candy because it's unhealthy, then we tell them they can't go out to play at recess. Idiots.
Another lesson the child has learned is not to share with others.
Sad
I dunno.....when I read something like this, I have to wonder what the REAL story is. It seems too far-fetched for a 3rd grader to get a detention for having a jolly rancher.
I'd like to hear the teacher's side. And, my guess is, it's something like this. One child gave another child a jolly rancher but it was during an instructional moment where the teacher needed the class attention. The 3rd grader receiving the candy did not discreetly open it and pop it in their mouth, but decided to use it to throw across the room and hit another student in the eye. LOL.
OR.....it could indeed be the possession of just the candy. My state has a law that bans "minimally nutritional" foods from school. If a school gets caught, the state can impose a $15,000-$20,000 fine.
Thus, harsh responses for seemingly innocent and simple situations.
We live in cur-a-zz-y times!
"Every adult mentioned in the story, with the exception of the girl's mother, is an idiot."
If the story is close to accurate, and from what I can find on the web it is, you are being far too kind in your quoted remark.
Quoting from one of the stories, "On Monday, Adair came home in tears with a detention notice for her parents. The punishment was not for talking in class or for hitting another student. The notice said it was because she had accepted a Jolly Rancher candy from a friend during the lunch hour. A teacher confiscated the candy and sent the third-grader to the principal's office." That should clear up any worries about it disrupting class. According to the same news story, the friend who gave her the candy was also given detention. Lastly, according to a statement from Texas officials such sharing is not against the states rules and would not result in the school district losing its funding which is the reason the principal gave.
I would agree that this is just another example of zero tolerance gone amok. For some small districts, they cling to narrow minded disciplinarians as administrators instead of seeking out educators. I know of a school where none of the students in the entire school can have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because of the allergies of one first grader. Suddenly the whole world is supposed to be shaped to the needs of one person. This is the same type of mentality we are seeing all over the place. It's nonsense.
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