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Duxbury schools banish birthday cupcakes
Boston Herald ^ | 6/4/2004 | Boston Herald Staff

Posted on 06/04/2004 11:04:01 AM PDT by saveliberty

Duxbury schools banish birthday cupcakes By Herald staff Friday, June 4, 2004

Birthday kids at Duxbury's Chandler School next fall will get dragon stickers, special seat covers and starred birthday sashes they can wear all day.

But no cupcakes - they're bad for you.

The tradition of cupcakes at school birthday parties died last month when the School Committee unanimously ratified a new handbook that redefines the way students celebrate in class.

``I'm a little saddened,'' said Chandler parent Nancy Krahmer, who favors healthy eating but mourns the loss of the childhood ritual.

School officials made the change, part of a district-wide move to improve student health, after a poll of parents found nutrition to be one of their top concerns, Chandler School Council member Ann Kalous said.

Frequent classmate parties once had students consuming numerous unplanned cupcakes each school year.

``It would be 23 times during the year that other families would not be anticipating that their kids are going to be eating something sweet,'' Chandler Principal Deborah Zetterberg said.

The new system will substitute copious special attention for frosted goodies, Zetterberg said. In addition to the sash, seat cover and dragon sticker, each birthday kid will get a birthday pencil.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Miscellaneous; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: childhoodobesity; control; foodpolice; healthnuts; obesity; schools
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To: saveliberty
But no cupcakes - they're bad for you.

Reason #483 to homeschool. Although, I suppose quite a few of them could all be lumped together under The Banner of Stupidity.

Frequent classmate parties once had students consuming numerous unplanned cupcakes each school year.

I'm quite certain we don't even have a word in our language to describe how incredibly stupid this statement is. Numerous unplanned cupcakes? Did a large quantity of miniature cakes just spontaneously appear? Sounds like Bake Sale Heaven.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I've never sat down and planned the sequencing or quantity of my children's consumption of cupcakes. They just, uh, happen.

21 posted on 06/04/2004 11:34:28 AM PDT by FourPeas ("Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery." ~Calvin Coolidge)
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To: EggsAckley

Wow, then your parents were lucky! Now that we are older, we hear stories about how we would tell Mom the night before that we needed 35 cupcakes.


22 posted on 06/04/2004 11:34:28 AM PDT by saveliberty (Liberal= in need of therapy, but would rather ruin lives of those less fortunate to feel good)
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To: saveliberty; All

BUT CAN THEY READ,.. DESPITE THE BLOOM OF IMPROVED DIETARY HEALTH???(inquiring minds want to know.....)


23 posted on 06/04/2004 11:35:38 AM PDT by mdmathis6 (The Democrats must be defeated in 2004)
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To: FourPeas

But no cupcakes - they're bad for you.

What about emotional well being? Hey, there will be childhood trauma experts to console the kids.

Think of the extended therapy in adulthood.

I am in the wrong business. :)


24 posted on 06/04/2004 11:37:11 AM PDT by saveliberty (Liberal= in need of therapy, but would rather ruin lives of those less fortunate to feel good)
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To: Lunatic Fringe
Or August. Hey, in a spiteful sort-of way, this makes up for all the school parties I never had. Nah, I feel sorry for the poor suckers who were born September thru June. At least the kiddos with summer birthdays won't have to pretend getting a pencil (a pencil?), a sticker and wearing a sash is a treat.
25 posted on 06/04/2004 11:37:36 AM PDT by FourPeas ("Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery." ~Calvin Coolidge)
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To: Lunatic Fringe

" Not if your birthday is in July."

Hey! My birthday's in July. I always thought it was cool because I would get new stuff just about time my Christmas stuff wore out. My brother's birthday is is January so he got his all at once. He hated my birthday!


26 posted on 06/04/2004 11:40:29 AM PDT by bk1000
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To: saveliberty
Hey, I think you're on to something. For the next couple years, each child will need a special birthday trip to the grief councelor to help them handle their cupcake loss. It may even be serious enough to warrant having the whole class get help, afterall they're all losing their cupcakes.

I really need to sit down and write my congresscritter. We need legislation to help these poor souls. Twenty years from now, I'm certain they'll have difficulty holding a job because of all their cupcake angst. WE NEED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR THOSE WHO WERE CUPCAKE DEPRIVED!!

27 posted on 06/04/2004 11:42:59 AM PDT by FourPeas ("Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery." ~Calvin Coolidge)
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To: mdmathis6

How can we tell? MA teachers are fighting the MCAS exam to justify graduation. It seems that even a kid who fails can get his or her score overturned. MA teachers are pretty nasty about the test- most of them want to continue passing kids who should have been held back on the grounds that it's someone else's error in an earlier grade and why should this teacher take the responsibility?


28 posted on 06/04/2004 11:43:11 AM PDT by saveliberty (Liberal= in need of therapy, but would rather ruin lives of those less fortunate to feel good)
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To: FourPeas

Duxbury MA also known as Deluxbury. Very affluent town on the coast.


29 posted on 06/04/2004 11:43:28 AM PDT by surrey
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To: FourPeas

My "adopted" grandchildren, four, ten and ten, were here last weekend for three days. Their Dad and I decided to engage in a "science experiment" and did not let them have any sugar the whole three days. No sodas, no juice drinks (worse than sodas) no candy, nothing with added sugar. Just healthy snacks, strawberries and cherries, natural sugar.

The bottom line was that they were the best behaved that either one of us had ever seen. Please, thank you, all the right manners. And moreover, they were HAPPY! They had a great weekend, and there was no fighting, grousing, sassing, crying. Just three great healthy kids. What a relief it was!

I hate to disagree with everyone here, but I think that having the schools provide ultra sweet stuff is counterproductive.


30 posted on 06/04/2004 11:43:28 AM PDT by EggsAckley (............Al Gore: I rant, therefore I am............)
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To: EggsAckley

That's great that you made that decision and I'm glad that it proved out. But why should schools decide?

When I grew up, I had instructions of what I had to eat when and when it was okay to have a treat. Yes, I disobeyed sometimes but my parents always found out.

Why should the schools stop at cupcakes? What if there is a perceived crisis in eating cheese or drinking milk? What if all kids were required to eat oatmeal and garbanzo beans, so as not to offend anyone who can't tolerate anyone else eating animal products?


31 posted on 06/04/2004 11:48:59 AM PDT by saveliberty (Liberal= in need of therapy, but would rather ruin lives of those less fortunate to feel good)
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To: EggsAckley
Family members think I'm a Sugar Nazi. My kids don't drink Kool-Aid. They drink precious little juice (empty calories even if it is natural and 100% juice). They get less than one piece of candy a week. Sometimes a month. They eat non-sugary cereal, very little Ketchup (Heinz or otherwise *grin*). For snacks they eat healthy stuff. No "fruit" roll-ups. Cookies/cakes/ice cream only on special occasions. So, I do know what you mean about how sugar effects children.

Still, 20-30 cupcakes each school year won't kill a kid. If the child's parent make sure they're eating and exercising properly, it won't even make them obese.

32 posted on 06/04/2004 11:50:44 AM PDT by FourPeas ("Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery." ~Calvin Coolidge)
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To: saveliberty

Jackasses. If you can't get a grip on your school board, you need to put your kids in private school you like.


33 posted on 06/04/2004 11:53:12 AM PDT by Cinnamon Girl
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To: saveliberty

I guess they never heard of carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.


34 posted on 06/04/2004 12:12:04 PM PDT by Chewbacca (Islam has killed more muslims than any other religion.)
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To: EggsAckley
I hate to disagree with everyone here, but I think that having the schools provide ultra sweet stuff is counterproductive.

Not everyone. The schools shouldn't be handing out sugary snacks, period.

With all of the rigors caused by "ed reform" (starting at kindergarten !) the kids would probably be happier to get a special birthday play time where the birthay person could choose what game they play for 15 minutes or so.

This is DUXBURY, for heaven's sake. It's not like the kids aren't going to get a birthday cake and anything else there little hearts desire at home.

35 posted on 06/04/2004 12:37:13 PM PDT by grania ("Won't get fooled again")
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To: Chewbacca

Probably not. This is the Peoples Republic we are talking about here.


36 posted on 06/04/2004 1:09:22 PM PDT by saveliberty (Liberal= in need of therapy, but would rather ruin lives of those less fortunate to feel good)
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To: grania

Thank you!!


37 posted on 06/04/2004 1:57:23 PM PDT by EggsAckley (............Al Gore: I rant, therefore I am............)
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To: saveliberty
In addition to the sash, seat cover and dragon sticker, each birthday kid will get a birthday pencil.

Is this the school whose mascot is the "Fighting School Supplies?"

38 posted on 06/04/2004 2:00:33 PM PDT by Liberal Classic (No better friend, no worse enemy. Semper Fi)
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To: Liberal Classic

:) LOL! I don't know! I will have to take your word for it.


39 posted on 06/04/2004 2:05:12 PM PDT by saveliberty (Liberal= in need of therapy, but would rather ruin lives of those less fortunate to feel good)
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To: saveliberty
I can't find the thread on FR but here's a reference:

Home of the Fightin' School Supplies.

A tiger was the emblem of Thomas Lake Elementary School in Minnesota. Officials there decided it was too mean and violent-looking, so they asked the students to pick a new symbol from a list that included a sweet-looking tiger and some school supplies. The students voted for the school supplies–a pen, a pencil, and a ruler.

40 posted on 06/04/2004 2:13:49 PM PDT by Liberal Classic (No better friend, no worse enemy. Semper Fi)
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