Sugar schools

I get where you're coming from. I get sooooo frustrated that the free breakfast at school is all sugar. Chocolate milk, cookies, donuts, sweet cereal. Then they expect the kids to sit still and listen all day. Not sure if there is a solution. Are you allowed to send snacks for him only and not allow him to eat the snacks they serve?

I’m right there with you. Our local library story hour offers goldfish and Capri Suns to all the kids including itty bitty toddlers like mine. We refuse the juice at least but it’s always a little awkward… until this last time when the librarian said “oh I understand, my kids are 8 & 10 and we still don’t do juice in my house,” but they still offer it at the library? And our 11 year old now eats “breakfast” at school because they’ve started offering sugary cereals. It sucks. We try to talk about food pretty neutrally emphasizing balance but it’s tough when our culture is all about snacking, sugar and instant gratification and we can’t raise our kids in a vacuum.

You might like the book French Kids Eat Everything. It puts our food culture into perspective

We grew up with no sugary snacks and drinks at home, and I think that made a difference in the choices we made at school. Granted, I was ten when we moved to the states but I think if we keep at it, it will make a difference when they are older

Please don't lie about medical conditions like that, I know it might seem harmless, but when people find out it's a lie, they can think other people are lying too and not take things as seriously as they should

Being diabetic is a hard thing to lie about, I had a few diabetic students and they had to be monitored constantly and had medical devices at their hips, so an experienced teacher might be able to tell. Diabetic students have 504 plans outlining how their medical conditions have to be given leeway in the school setting, please do not fib about something serious. You can always tell a teacher to give a sticker to your son as a reward or put a limit on when he can have a sugary treat (maybe a classmate is passing out cupcakes for their birthday and you’re okay with that one event). If you want to do something about the overall problem, write to the school board or attend a meeting.

Get on the PTA or school parents group, talk to the school board, principal, etc. I’m sure you’re not the only one that feels that way. Try to change things.

They'll know you're lying pretty quickly because "being diabetic" is far more than not eating sugar, especially for a child so young.

The best that can really be done is providing healthy balanced meals at home and sending them with the same. Talk to your child's teachers about your concerns. Talk to the principal. Bring it up at PTA meetings and local school board meetings. The best you can really do is raise awareness.

When I say I'm in a self debate about telling the school my baby is diabetic, I know I'm not going to do it. I know there's a lot to go into it. That's just my anger thoughts. I'm not a Gypsy Rose mom. But also my son is 14, he's gonna find his way to get the sugar one way or another. And honestly, I have not thought about talking to the school about them passing out sugar like it's oxygen but if I were now I would feel awful because of that teacher. She is wonderful. I honestly meant for it to be a joke towards my son, and not for the teacher to feel awful. The school year is almost over, I'll just ride it out this year. But the following years and schools I will take y'all up on your suggestions talking to the school about new options.

From the way you were talking about this, I thought he was much younger, like elementary school aged, not a teenager. I feel like you gotta let this one go.

I teach middle school and a lot of the kids don’t get candy from teachers or school staff, they are often passing it out amongst themselves in their friend groups. Schools can make policies about students bringing candy to school and passing it out, but school staff can’t police every interaction between students. At 14 you can’t really limit his exposure you can only encourage him to make good eating choices, or make sure you’re offering healthy meals at home so the junk he adds to his own diet have less impact.

If you tell the school your children are diabetic, the school will have to make a care plan for them. You will also be required to make sure your child has insulin or whatever medication they need, in school.

You’re better off just being straight with them and telling them you don’t want your children having sugar.

Not here they’ve changed it all now to healthy eating. My 16 year olds mind was blown when I told him we used to have vending machines at school with fizzy drinks in. He’s only allowed water

We had to be super firm with our kiddos school about all the sugar and crap they were giving him. He’s in PK and they gave him SODA, like who gives PK kids ages 3-5 soda?! We also send his lunch and do breakfast at home because the food they have is so sugary and unhealthy. He has food allergies—dairy and a fixation on food since he came from a home that he wasn’t fed regularly so we had to set boundaries and continue to advocate to the school to stop giving him foods. He would come home and puke from all the food/sugar they gave him.

I recommend being firm and telling them your expectations for your child. You will have to continually tell them.