Do you ever give candy to your students? Does your school have a policy on candy? Just curious because I promised my small intervention group that they would get a prize when they finished a certain project, and I was planning on putting candy in Easter eggs and having the students pick an Easter egg to get their surprise. It got me thinking about whether or not there is a liability or any reason at all not to do this. I have given candy before and had a parent complain about giving their child sugar so I switched to sugar free candy. Now I am kind of over trying to please everyone. But I wonder what everyone else thinks.
I give out candy to my students occasionally. I'd rather not use candy if I can help it, but I do keep some just in case.
Our P decided it would be up to the individual student. I give my students candy from time to time, though it makes some of the other teachers nuts!
I give my kids candy for sometimes for things like Halloween. I check allergies first though. But there's no school policy against it. Does your school have a policy?
I give them candy on special occasions such as Easter or just to surprise them. Probably only 1-2 times a quarter.
No we do not have a policy but I was curious if other schools had a policy, considering the fact that I did have a parent complain, and surely she wasn't the first.
Not candy, but I do give cookies, cupcakes, and brownies. Just check to make sure there are no allergies.
I see no problem with doing it. It is an incentive (as kids act like addicts if you mention candy). I would like to become a teacher known/remembered for teaching good food habits, so I don't typically do the candy thing. But if someone else does it... Do whatever works, is my response.
I don't, but that's mainly because I don't want to keep candy in my classroom. I know I'd sit there and eat it all day! I bring in cookies for the kids to decorate for Christmas and I'll have some kind of end of the year party with treats for them.
I have the same problem! Which is why I make sure to buy exactly enough candy so there's only a few leftover pieces.
In Texas, we have a very strict nutritional policy. We are not allowed to give kids food of "limited nutritional value." Basically that means that candy, sweets, pizza, soda, all the kinds of foods kids like, are off limits. Our congress had to pass a special law to allow kids to have cupcakes on their birthday! We are also allowed two parties a year where we can have whatever we want. The law is really strict and the penalties are harsh. If it is discovered that someone is not abiding by this policy, the cafeteria can lose their funding for the entire day. With my school being 60% free and reduced lunch, that's a pretty big chunk. Of course we all fudge at times - no pun intended . (I've got a jar of jelly beans on my desk right now for an activity.) But technically, I could get in trouble for that.
When I was in elementary school, our holiday parties were basically eat-as-much-sugar-as-you-can-without-puking parties. Now, the state has implemented legislation to remove all junk food from schools, including signage. I wouldn't give out food just people there would probably be someone who would make a big deal about it.
Haha, I remember those days, too. I remember drinking my first can of pop at my first grade Valentine's party and feeling sooooo sick the rest of the day... I say everything in moderation and I try to teach that in my classroom (we don't have a policy). I don't use food as a reward but more as an occasional treat on birthdays or holidays, and then the kids get one and only one cookie/piece of cake/etc. rather than as many as they want.
Depending on the grade level, you may consider giving students something like stickers, dollar store trinkets, things of that nature as an alternative.
I give out candy when we play BINGO (maybe once per quarter) and if they get a 100% on their morning work. I probably give out 3-4 pieces a week, so I don't think it is a big deal.
Yes, my school has a policy on candy. We are not allowed to give it as rewards, but for parties and such it is okay. Try going to the dollar store and getting little trinkets. The kids will love them. The little toys from the happy meals work wonders too!
We did skittles for solving regrouping problems today while the principal was observing. We also had snow cones today as a reward for everyone making their AR goal for the 3rd 9 weeks.
The teacher I am an LTS for (middle school emotional support) apparently gave candy out like, well, candy. I am continuing the tradition since I'm trying to keep the way I run the classroom very similar. If it was just me, however, I would really, really limit the candy. I don't think it's necessary.
I find candy to be completely unnecessary. Even older kids like little trinkets and stickers, and with so much potential controversy surrounding candy, I just don't see why one would put themselves in the line of fire for something in which there's a completely acceptable alternative.
We don't have an official policy. I am generally not in favor of going overboard on the junk food but I am also not averse to letting kids have it on occasion. I have a "treasure box" that kids can choose from when they earn a certain amount of points for certain behavior standards, and I sometimes toss some candy in there, but it's not like "if you do x then you get candy," it's just one of the prize choices alongside the stickers and pencils and cheap cars. In addition to that I occasionally make a special campaign such as for a few weeks I put a jellybean in a jar if you used a vocabulary word in a writing project and when the jar was full everyone got a small handful of jellybeans. I'll bring cookies or something to celebrate a holiday or as a pick-me-up at state test time. These things all together add up to a maximum of maybe 4 junk food occasions per year.
I think a lot depends on your school/community culture. At my first job (inner city school) I had a chart system where a certain amount of checks earned a small candy (taffy or lollipop) at the end of the day. The students needed that more immediate reinforcement, and honestly, it was just too expensive to give out little trinkets (even dollar store items add up if you give them out every day). In my current school, I have a chart system where the students get to choose a prize from my prize box at the end of the week--pencils, erasers, etc., but I do have some candy mixed in. Occasionally a student will choose a candy, but not usually. I will say that I am careful to only include wrapped candies. I did have one complaint years ago when I gave out jellybeans (from another teacher, not a parent).
Just a note for people concerned about the cost factor - if you go through enough prizes, you can order from oriental trading co or other catalogs/websites really cheap - you can often get better junk than what I see in dollar stores (though the dollar stores where I live are extra wimpy, granted) for less money. The best deals are in bulk and you have to factor in shipping, so it's only cost effective if you give out prizes pretty regularly, but I have seen teachers gang up to do a group order and split the goods, that could probably turn out well.
For example I think my kids would be pretty satisfied with these prizes and they come out to about 23 cents per prize after shipping. Not bad. Not more than candy unless you talk the absolute cheapest lollipops. http://www.orientaltrading.com/medi...05.fltr?prodCatId=388938&tabId=4#BVRRWidgetID
We aren't allowed to distribute food of any kind, period. The kids also aren't allowed to bring in food to celebrate their birthdays. We celebrate in other ways and I LOVE the policy. I could not handle having to distribute cupcakes 36 times a year, for one thing, and for another thing, it takes away a ton of instruction time, and I need every second I can get!
