Poll: Are bake sales necessary?
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Last week, we asked you how budget cuts affected your school. Almost half of you — 46% — reported that class sizes have grown, while more than 60% reported that in-school and after-school programs have disappeared.
A new revision to the Department of Education’s Wellness Policy — a Chancellor’s Regulation aimed at improving the quality of food in schools — has effectively banned the sale of baked goods and snacks during school hours.
“We have an undeniable problem in the city, state and the country with obesity,” Eric Goldstein, the chief of the office of school support services, told The New York Times. “During the school day, we have to focus on what is healthy for the mind and the body.”
The DOE reports that around 40% of elementary and middle school students are considered obese and a strong correlation has been revealed between the health of students and their performance on standardized tests. However, some students and parents feel that bake sales do not contribute to the obesity problem and are important for raising funds to support school programs.
Let us know what you think!
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Bake sales are a minor part of any obesity epidemic. No one disputes the larger purpose, to reduce overall caloric intake, but what comes next? Policing the lunches parents send to school? Close the Dunkin Donuts across the street?
Kids love a treat and it is ridiculous to suggest that schools are undermining the health of their students by allowing a bake sale if their parents are doing their job. BUT please take note: under Mayor Mike parents are never never never the problem. One can believe that it is a viable solution for schools to take on a parenting role when the actual family cannot perform those duties, but must it take on this role for all children by banning bake sales, a proven means for students to raise money for sports teams, theatrical performances and school trips, to name just three worthy recipients of bake sale proceeds?
I wonder.
A. Bergen
Comment by abergen — October 9, 2009 @ 9:27 pm
Bake sales are so few and far between in most schools that banning them does nothing as far as fighting obesity. The ban will deal a blow to schools around the city that rely on that money to help pay for trips and activities. Some high school senior classes use the funds raised in bake sales to offset the cost of the prom, which would otherwise be too expensive for many to attend. I think this is a misguided effort to address a major problem.
Comment by Donya Rhett, Ph.D. — October 10, 2009 @ 6:32 am
The dirty little secret of obesity in NYC public schools is that test prep has reduced physical education time in elementary schools to 1 period a week at best. Recess is almost nonexistent. After school sports activities are disappearing. As an authoritarian leader, Bloomberg makes decisions that simplify his life and have no effect on his bottom line financially and politically, without a care for the impact they have on the people of NYC in general.
Comment by Loren Steele — October 10, 2009 @ 11:38 am
I have a problem with schools stocking vending machines with sugarry drinks and ice cream (without even informing parents). My daughter has severe problems with tooth decay, but last year, her teacher was doling out candy as a reward for good behavior on a daily basis. New York City elementary schools are all out of compliance with the New York State requirements for physical education. Children are denied the recess and physical education time that is necessary for healthy functioning.
I think that bake sales are a much more wholesome way to do fundraising than having students go door-to-door selling candy that benefits a profit-making company. Bake sales are an ancient tradition that give a personal touch. It would be great to encourage parents to include healthy treats in bake sales, but it is insane to blame bake sales for student obesity.
Comment by Johanna Henry — October 10, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
The typical unhealthy school lunch of fried filet with processed cheese is more of a contributor to the obesity epidemic. How about offering fresh, flavorful, attractive healthy food so that children don’t fast all day and gorge afterschool and at night, which does contribute to obesity? Assuming bake sales are not an everyday treat, and children aren’t given money everyday to buy cupcakes, that is obviously not the cause. Light a fire under the school meal program’s workers to actually feed the children properly, instead of sickening them.
Comment by CB — October 13, 2009 @ 4:07 am
Schools should indeed model good behavior for children through all avenues, but banning bake sales will not counter childhood obesity. And, for better or worse, bake sales account for a significant source of much needed revenue to support programs that the schools don’t provide, and many parents can’t afford without aid. They can also act as fundraisers for charities the children themselves choose to support. Baked goods sell really well!
Comment by Marcine Sopko — October 15, 2009 @ 1:28 pm
The disparity between finance and education is politically driven. When parents insist on better budget appropriations, improvements will come. As I travel, as a pedagogue working per Diem, I witness first hand the stress and confinement of the students which result in verbal and physical outburst. Large class sizes nestled within rooms overwhelmed too much unused equipment. The 15min given after lunch for recess is in my opinion, restraining the student’s growth. Children are naturally energetic; without music or art their outlets to explore their creativity are stifled. I’d like to see an affordable fund raising option brought to the Dept of Education, so I created one, visual conundrums for promising erudites using a unique format. In this way the children take greater pride knowing them and their families helped bring music back as a course, or the purchase of (2) kilns for art, or the creation of a mini-zoo as a segue in science. It’s a team effort.
Comment by Stephanie Reeder — October 23, 2009 @ 7:19 am