When exactly, did parents become idiots? Parents cannot be trusted to keep their children safe and healthy. Just take a look at the baby/booster seat laws for drivers, the helmets and knee pads for riding bikes in the driveway, and the ever popular 150 SPF sunscreen to be applied even in the dead of winter because somewhere there is the ultraviolet boogyman aiming for the children. Parents have been too cavalier for too long. The government and media, among others, have to step in.
In the words of Reverend Lovejoy's wife, "Just think of the children!"
Yes, when a person becomes a parent, we apparently abdicate the use of the logic and common sense portions of our brains and we are reduced to having parenting skills only slightly above that of most monkeys. That is, of course, unless you are a parent AND a member of the government or a governing body such as a school board. Upon holding one of these positions, you are once again granted full use of your entire brain and now know how best to raise not only your children but everyone else's as well.
What evidence do I have of this? One need look no further than some school cafeterias around the nation. The most recent crusader in the "All Parents Are Idiots" fight is Chicago's Little Village Academy. A public school, by the way. Yes, they know so well how to take care of your children that they are even relieving the well meaning but idiot parents of having to pack lunches for them. They have in fact, not only taken the responsibilty of feeding children at lunch, but they have banned the parents from doing the same. yahoo news.com says that unless the children attending Little Village Academy have a medical excuse from a doctor, they will not be permitted to eat bagged lunches from home. The excuses are for potential allergies to the food being served in the cafeteria.
Why do this? The school says (as do many who have implemented similar policies) that the students need to have well balanced meals. Meals that apparently parents are too stupid to provide, never mind the fact that many school lunch menus include items such as: cheese filled bread sticks, take out pizza, and french fries. Obviously, the lunches of champions.
Mind you, the parents are not receiving this largess for free. Oh no, dear idiot friends. Parents will have to buy these lunches for $2.25 per day. That translates to $11.25 per week or $45.00 per month.
Are we supposed to believe that parents spend $2.25 a day on a sandwich, juice or milk, a bag of cookies, a yogurt and an apple? I don't. I did that math. For all the food I just listed it costs me roughly $1.35 to send my child to school with lunch and an afternoon snack. That equates to $6.75 a week or $27.00 per month. This particular school would like me to increase my food budget for my child by $18.00 a month. It may not sound like much at the outset but think about what $18.00 can do for you. Think also about that $18.00 and multiply it by the number of kids you have. How does an extra $36.00 or $54.00 sound? What if it's more than that?
So, parents are not only expected to accept the fact that they can no longer feed their children the food they choose, but they also have to dig deeper into their wallets to do it. Are we to just say to the schools, "Oh thank you so much for taking the dreaded burden of choosing what my child eats and supplying a healthy lunch for her away from me. It was just too much to handle."? I hope not.
When parents see schools behaving this way is it any wonder that very often there is an antagonistic relationship created between parent and school? Schools tell parents that they want, nay, need the involvement of all parents in the education and formation of the students. Just don't try to feed them, or get involved with the curriculum, or ask any questions about a test or homework because, while we need your involvement, we can actually do everything better than you and if you are left to your own devices your child will be as idiotic as you are.
The bottom line is this. More and more schools are taking more and more choice away from parents while demanding more and more money from parents. At every turn, parents are patronized and told that we, the teachers and school boards know better how to deal with their children. Then, teachers and school boards wonder why they can't get parents involved in the educational process.
My hope is that the perhaps well meaning school authorities who remove more and more choice from the parents will be challenged at every turn by both parents AND teachers. My hope is that both parents and teachers across the nation will trust in their own abilities to do their respective jobs that they will stand together and say enough is enough. We are not fools who failed the food pyramid in school. We will stand together and demand that we be allowed to be responsible for our respective parenting and teaching duties.
I, for one, trust myself enough to know that I can provide a healthy meal for my child. No one need do that for me. I also trust my neighbors, colleagues and friends to do the same with their children. I hope the school authorities and teachers agree with me. If the school authorities and teachers at my child's school doubt that, they will be challenged and they will not win.
I challenge every parent and teacher to support parents' rights and to stand up and say enough. This is not, at its heart, about feeding poor helpless children. It is about putting parents into a box and demanding more and more control over the lives of their children.
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