The aspect of giving kids too much of candy.
By cream97
@cream97 (29087)
United States
May 15, 2010 10:12am CST
My son's teacher always give them candy whenever they do something good in class. And she gives them ice cream every Friday. My husband has even noticed that she gives our son candy all of the time. Each and every time they do great, she gives her students candy. She does not give them anything else that will be beneficial to them. I think that she should try to give them something that is going to help them learn, like puzzles, books, school supplies and a gift certificate. I know that items can get very expensive on a teacher, but I feel that she should buy items into bulk, that way she can save more money. This will also allow her to have more while spending less. I think that she can give her students everything else except for candy all of the time. There are nutritious fruit snacks that kids can eat. It has 100% vitamin C. or 10-20% vitamin C. I feel that this is more nutritious then candy all of the time. Fruit cups are another way of eating healthy too. I have already told the teacher that I don't let my son or other children eat too much of candy. My son always comes home from school telling me that a certain classmate in his class is going to give him money for cookies. I told my son that he does not have to buy a cookie everyday at lunch, because we have sweets at home. Just as soon as my son comes home from school, that us what he wants, something sweet to eat. I told him, that same money that he is spending on cookies, he can buy a toy, book or something that he may personally need. Do you let your children eat a lot of sweets? What do you think about a teacher that always gives her students candy all of the time when they do well in school? It is nothing wrong with candy, but just eating it too much can not be very healthy.
6 people like this
17 responses
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
15 May 10
Geesh, those kids must be bouncing off the walls in her class. No, this is not a good idea everyday, it's terrible. Not only is it bad for their teeth, it's just plain unhealthy. There are so many other ways to reward children besides candy, it's a shame she's taking the easy way out. Once a week, fine, more than that, is not ok.
I'd have a talk with her for sure, and maybe give her a few suggestions, like maybe paying for your son's dental bill.
3 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
15 May 10
hi Kashmeresmycat OH my sugar binges you should have seen what happened when our well meaning childless childrens librarian stuffed her little ones with candy after the children s reading hour. they were so wild its unbelievable, yanked books off shelves,climbed up on the shelves,threw books at each other and made the adult readers get up and grumble loudly to the staff about the noise, and I mean real noise.now days libraries are not so hush hush but this was beyond good common sense. Gale was just trying to be kid to the children but they acted like wild little monkeys all because of too much sugar.they were yelling and screaming at each other.
3 people like this
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
15 May 10
Eating all of that candy probably explains why the kids are so talkative. My son says that the teacher complains about always having a bad headache from the noise of the students. The kids don't listen and they are being bad. It comes from these kids eating too many sweets.
2 people like this
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
15 May 10
Hi Hatley!!!!!! I finally fixed my computer so I can respond to discussions on myLot, yea! I've only been back a while now and it's good to hear from you! Yeh, too much candy can make kiddies go nuts, haha. Not a good thing after a nice quiet reading hour, too bad no one had a video camera going. And parents wonder why their kids are so bad? It's not the kids, it's the treats.
Hi cream!!! And the teacher complains about all the noise? Doesn't she get it? And then these fun loving kids go home to the parents and drive them crazy. Hatley's comment sounds like something out of a horror movie...and the kids went crazy, like children of the corn, haha.
2 people like this
@saphrina (31552)
• South Africa
15 May 10
Hi sweetie, i have no kids. But, it is not heathy at all. I would suggest you go and talk to this teacher. Giving candy once a week maybe. But everyday, i don't think so. I agree, rather give them some puzzles or books. TATA.
@kun2349 (23381)
• Singapore
15 May 10
haha =D Dun be blaming the teachers.. They are just doing their job, and rewarding the students for good work, is a kind of motivation.. TEachers can be giving candies, but students can choose not to be eating them right?? haha =D
It will be expensive to be buying other forms of gifts as rewards for students, because if any of the students were to get something different, and he/she prefer his/her classmate's gift, then what's gonna happen??
A fight?? hehe
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
16 May 10
I can see that you still don't get it! Yes, it is up to me to control this but only at HOME. When the teacher gives the students candy at school, I am not there to stop it. If they eat it at school while I am at home, then the teacher has control then over what a child can tolerate. The best thing that I can do is consult with the teacher, which I have already done, and tell her that I don't want to her to give my son candy all of the time. That is when I have control then. Now do you feel me?
2 people like this
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
15 May 10
These are 7 and 8 year old students. So of course, a child is going to eat sweets when it is given to them. That is the norm of most children. This teacher has two young girls of her own. I would think that she would at least care about the health of their teeth. If not, then that is a damn shame. The teacher is to blame here. She should have enough of common sense not to ALWAYS give kids candy when they do something well! Like I said in my discussion, it is expensive to give rewards to students that are different. But as a teacher she should come up with creative ideas, instead of candy all of the time. I am sure that she knows cheaper items that she can give to her students instead of candy all of the time. If she does not, then she need to resign from being a teacher. It is just that damn simple.
If she does not, then she need to resign from being a teacher. It is just that damn simple.3 people like this
@BeccaM1989 (59)
• United States
9 Apr 11
You could try suggesting to the teacher the whole "treasure box" idea. The kids could win stickers for doing good and these add up to small things or can be saved up for something bigger like maybe a folder or something. The teacher could use bulk decorative pencils and little erasers and stuff. Those are incentive items that don't come with a migraine and kids hopped up on sugar.
2 people like this
@Professor2010 (20162)
• India
10 Apr 11
Hello cream
You must tell the teacher not to give too much because ultimately it will effect the tooth, the teacher must be aware of it, you should also tell your son too to avoid,
Thanks for sharing in details
Enjoy life to fullest. Cheers.
BE HAPPY ALWAYS.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
2 people like this
@wei237 (94)
•
16 May 10
Having too much candy is bad for their teeth and bad for their health as well. I think the teacher can buy them fruits like apples instead of candy.Not all fruit snacks are healthy. The one that can be considered as healthy fruit snacks is with dried fruits in it.
2 people like this
@ladysurvivor (4746)
• Malaysia
17 Jun 10
Well.. maybe you can tell about your ideas to your son's teacher. She may not be aware of her act in the first place. Maybe she thinks it is just one of the ways to appreciate and honor your son's achievement in class, and haven't thought about the negative consequences of giving children a lot of sweets on a regular basis.
As for me, I don't have a kid but I have several nieces and nephews. Every time I meet them, I do not encourage them to eat sweets and I never buy them sweets either. I would rather buy them books so that they can keep them and remember the books were from me.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
15 May 10
cream97 sometimes people are trying to be kind and think that a lot of candy will make them more popular with the kids, and they have no idea of the havoc that causes. About fou r years ago I was still working in the old Tustin Library and helping out at the kids story hour. the children's librarian had a soft spot for kids as she could have none of her own. so they all got a lot of candy those days. and oh my G what a disaster. they ran wild in the library yanking books off the shelves, pushing each other, yelling loudly ,going off on laughing binges and acting more like little monkeys than well behaved children in a library. This of course miffed a lot of the older people who were working on papers and reading etc etc then they would grumble loudly, the kids would imitate them and all because they were on a sugar binge. My mom always gave me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when I came home from school or sometimes a banana with peanut butter. candy was only for special occasions and being on a farm I loved to eat apples, grapes, plums, watermelon for my snacks. she was bent on healthy living and this was in the 1940'too. I never let my own children stuff on candy either,fresh fruit or peanut butter something healthy.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (158958)
• Boise, Idaho
16 May 10
There is a snack that I got at the movies the other day. It is real fruit in little gels. It is tasty and better than a candy bar or something. There are options if people will think alittle bit. I think this teacher may do this because it is easy to get the kids to do something for candy.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
18 May 10
This is so very wrong. I would go absolutely nuts if I found out that my child's teacher was giving them these horrible treats. Like you say, they should be getting rewarded with educational tools such as pencil, books, rubbers, anything like that. Not junk food! 
We never, ever have sweet junk food at home for our kids and dislike it very much when we find out that they have eaten junk food from other kids at school. We are trying to be as healthy as possible in our home and this means no junk food at all.
Everyone knows that children's behaviour changes for the worse when they eat these things, yet people are stupid enough to buy them for their kids. Teachers should know better. I would be having a word to this teacher and informing the other parents if I were you. This is not acceptable behaviour from a teacher.
We never, ever have sweet junk food at home for our kids and dislike it very much when we find out that they have eaten junk food from other kids at school. We are trying to be as healthy as possible in our home and this means no junk food at all.
Everyone knows that children's behaviour changes for the worse when they eat these things, yet people are stupid enough to buy them for their kids. Teachers should know better. I would be having a word to this teacher and informing the other parents if I were you. This is not acceptable behaviour from a teacher. 
@much2say (53960)
• Los Angeles, California
15 Jun 10
We are a family of sweet tooths . . . but certainly we limit the sweets. We don't buy candy (we know we're going to get candy at parties or on holidays - that will last us weeks). Fruit gummies (snacks) and certain fruit cups fall into the category of too much sugar as well . . . even juice. Natural sugar or not, sugar is sugar to the body. Sure we have our share of sweets, but we just try not to have too much of it.
I don't agree with the teacher giving any food as a reward to her students. For one, what if there are food allergies that any of the kids may have that the teacher may not be aware of . . . or even diabetes or hypoglycemia? What kind of message is the teacher sending by giving sugary rewards when there are problems with obesity and such out there? Not only about sugar intake into the body, but is the teacher thinking of the childrens' teeth? As a once and a while treat for the students that might be fine - but every good job and ice cream every Friday sounds excessive to me. Sugar may be a super motivating factor for the kids for obvious reasons, but I agree with you that puzzles or books or supplies would be a BETTER choice for rewards.
When my husband was a kid, his dentist used to give out lollipops at the end of their visit. What's up with that?
2 people like this
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
19 May 10
I just think that this is just a lazy way of dealing with kids. To be healthy, you've got to be more creative with children. Candy is readily available anywhere. Although it might be good that children would associate candy with school work, I also don't think that it will be that good in the long run.
I've never liked eating too much candy when I was young, and I certainly don't want my kids eating too much of it too.
2 people like this
@zedrick_11 (931)
• Philippines
16 May 10
I agree on you. Even though i dont have kids i think that it will be bad for them to eat candies everyday. And does the teacher know that too much sweets can result to tooth ache thats the number one cause of absents in school. She's a teacher she must teach children to eat healthy foods not sweets it's okay to eat sweets but not that much. I think you should talk to the teacher, cause she must understand what she is doing , its not bad your goal only is to express what's on your mind and it will cause on harm on the teacher , it will improve her more. Your right she must be giving nice things except candies or sweets it will be good if she will give fruits just what like you and explain to her students that eating fruits is good for our health.. Hope you'll consider my opinion have a nice day.
2 people like this
@zedrick_11 (931)
• Philippines
16 May 10
I agree on you. Even though i dont have kids i think that it will be bad for them to eat candies everyday. And does the teacher know that too much sweets can result to tooth ache thats the number one cause of absents in school. She's a teacher she must teach children to eat healthy foods not sweets it's okay to eat sweets but not that much. I think you should talk to the teacher, cause she must understand what she is doing , its not bad your goal only is to express what's on your mind and it will cause on harm on the teacher , it will improve her more. Your right she must be giving nice things except candies or sweets it will be good if she will give fruits just what like you and explain to her students that eating fruits is good for our health.. Hope you'll consider my opinion have a nice day.
2 people like this
. Candies badly affected their teeth 
@williamjisir (22819)
• China
29 Nov 12
Hello cream. My baby son in the kindergarten is given some cookies as snacks after they get up in the afternoon. I do not wish my son to eat cookies because he easily gets a sore throat if he has cookies every day. So I agree with you that the kindergarten teachers can make some changes by giving something else to eat as snacks. Candy is not encouraged as it is not good to kids' teeth if they eat too much. Have a good day, cream.
@atv818 (1980)
• United Arab Emirates
2 Dec 12
Well, the teacher is doing the best that she can to reward students for doing well in class and candies (I guess) is the most inexpensive thing she can give the students. I know she meant well and since you already told her your side. Maybe she can adjust or come up with other rewards for the children.
If you can think of any cheaper and healthier things for rewards, maybe you can suggest that to her. The more ideas, the better. This is not only for the teacher but for the students as well.
