One More Reason I am Putting Off Public School

Thankfully, I don't live in Chicago (for many reason's really, but this is the front runner). While scanning the pages of Facebook working very hard this morning, I came across this article. To sum it up, some principal at an elementary school in the Chicago Public School District has banned children from bringing homemade lunches to school. Banned them, completely. She'll make an exception for kids with allergies though. How thoughtful of her (which, I am sure violates some sort of non-discrimination bull-shit law because that singles out kids with allergies and that, my friends, is politically incorrect. GASP!). Anyway, elementary school kids are no longer allowed to bring their lunch to school, they are required to buy lunch. My initial thought was, "wow, I betchya the principle just got a raise as a reward for bringing in all that extra revenue!". Required to buy lunch? You're going to have a hell of a time convincing me that is anything other than political. Someone had to have gotten a kickback from the distributor for that deal.

However, this principal is trying to hide her greediness under the guise of promoting healthy eating. Yeah, sure. I totally buy that one. But even if that really is her motivation, how is it even possible that she can get away with banning homemade lunches? 1st and foremost, I get to decide what my children eat, especially what my elementary aged children eat. I make their meals, all of them. I can guarantee that anything I make will be healthier than canned ravioli and stale bread. And you know what, if I want to send my kid with a lunchable one day because I was feeling a little lazy that morning, that is my right. I am the parent, not some dumbass principal with a personal agenda. Promoting healthy eating is always a good thing, and schools can help with that by not offering bad choices. Sodas, chips, candy- those things have no place in the hot lunch line, but if I decide to send my kid a little treat then it means I know he deserved it. If parents don't care about their kids heath and weight, I am sorry but that is their damn problem. I am sick and fucking tired of my kids suffering because some parents should never have become such in the 1st place.

Which brings me to my next point. Parents who care enough about what their kids are eating to pack their lunches in the morning care enough to give them healthy food. Parents don't pack crappy food for their kids, because at that point it would just be easier to give them a couple bucks to buy lunch. I don't know a whole lot of 2nd graders who pack their own lunches. And really, how healthy can the school lunches be? Everything is processed, and processed again. Why is it healthier for my child to eat fruit out of a can then for me to send him with fresh fruit? I see absolutely no logic in that.

I hear day in and day out about how parents aren't taking any responsibility for their kids anymore. They aren't involved enough, they don't hold their children accountable, they aren't disciplining their children; how exactly are we supposed to do any of that if we are continually told what our children can and cannot do? How are we supposed to discipline our children when strangers in the grocery store threaten to call child services for doing just that? How are we supposed to hold our children accountable when the education they deserve is being ripped out from underneath them? How are we supposed to teach our children to make healthy food choices when they aren't allowed to make those choices at school? If you want me to be the parent then back the fuck off me. I do a damn good job without any government mandates guiding me. Teachers and administrators need to focus on educating my children; I will handle the rest. And really, teachers aren't even doing that successfully, so why on earth would you think I have any faith in your "healthy" school lunches? Do the job you were hired to do, and let me do the job that I chose to do.