Newburyport Massachusetts School System Bans Students from Bringing in Junk Food
It's Your Birthday? Sorry, No Cupcakes for You!
Included within that policy were guidelines related to "junk food", including all sodas and candies as well as cupcakes, donuts, ice cream, cookies, chips, and other treats. This policy instructs teachers and school workers to refrain from using any junk foods in any parties or celebrations within classrooms. It further requests that junk foods not be given as rewards for grades or good behavior.
This ban will also affect school fundraising events, which commonly include sales of candies and cookies among other forms of what would be considered junk food.
The most unusual portion of this Wellness Policy now bans students from bringing in their own junk food items for snacks or meals. There is no mention of how the students will be policed, nor what punishments will be implemented for students who defy the ban, nor whether replacement meals and snacks will be provided to students who bring in forbidden junk food..
The Wellness Policy specifies that each school principal, nurse, and school council can refine the guidelines and bans for their specific school. Nuts and nut-based foods may be included in the ban at an individual school if they pose a health risk to any students or faculty, regardless whether they are brought in as junk food or a 'healthy choice'. What is sold by school sponsored vendors at sporting events or other after-school activities is also decided at the school rather than district level.
The Newburyport School District also states that it will create a Health and Wellness Advisory Council which will advise individual schools on how to implement the ban and other policy changes, as well as review and refine these policies annually.
In addition to the ban on students bringing in junk food, the policy states several other actions it plans to take in order to promote health and wellness. This will include reviewing school meal menus and ensuring the foods offered are nutritious and flavorful. It will also promote physical activity both during school (recess or physical education) and through after school programs or by offering access to sporting facilities after school hours.
Other health and wellness policies will include those that discourage drug or tobacco usage, as well as offering a smoking cessation program at some high schools.
There is no mention on the Newburyport School District website of how the community has reacted to these policy changes.
Sources:
Newburyport School District, Wellness Policy, http://www.newburyport.k12.ma.us/policydocs/wellness_policy_implementation%20draft_9-30-08.pdf
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- schools are discouraged from having cupcakes at class parties
- no final decision on junk food at sporting events
- students banned from bringing in junk food