Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 13:27     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Like, you win a pizza party for finishing all your Xtra math levels? What's wrong with a little joy?


Joy is wonderful. Pizza's not the only joy though. Reward could be extra recess, free choice time, a week without homework, pajama day...


Extra recess requires extra staff time to supervise and you lose instructional time. Free play requires less instructional time. No HW would drive some parents nuts. (Kids these days don’t do any real learning!) Pajama day also drives some parents nuts (they look so sloppy! What about kids who don’t have pajamas? It’s so stressful to remember!)


Man, teachers can’t win for trying.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 13:24     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Restricted eating actually leads to disordered eating. If we stop giving sugar this power as such a bad thing to avoid we'd all likely be a lot happier!


Both restricting sugar and candy-as-a-reward problem (ie, you're restricted from treats if you do/behave badly; you get special things if you are 'good') are both poor practices. Teachers rewarding with candy is not ideal, but not the biggest deal in the world, which is why few of us, if any, complain.


yeah, both sides of the controlling access to the food coin, I agree!
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 13:07     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Kids can pick rewards at my kids' school. Some choices are food-based. Also the class can sometimes win a pizza party, but it typically replaces the cafeteria lunch they'd have instead so it's basically a food "upgrade." I honestly don't have a huge problem with it.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 12:23     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Anonymous wrote:Restricted eating actually leads to disordered eating. If we stop giving sugar this power as such a bad thing to avoid we'd all likely be a lot happier!


Both restricting sugar and candy-as-a-reward problem (ie, you're restricted from treats if you do/behave badly; you get special things if you are 'good') are both poor practices. Teachers rewarding with candy is not ideal, but not the biggest deal in the world, which is why few of us, if any, complain.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 12:11     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Restricted eating actually leads to disordered eating. If we stop giving sugar this power as such a bad thing to avoid we'd all likely be a lot happier!
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 11:15     Subject: Re:DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Anonymous wrote:Some of my kids teachers use candy as a reward. I assume they know that's a flawed strategy and a bad set-up for eating disorders. But I don't think they care. Short-term self-interest over someone else's long-term health.



Above is a prevalent practice especially in the lower performing schools.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 11:06     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Anonymous wrote:Like, you win a pizza party for finishing all your Xtra math levels? What's wrong with a little joy?


Joy is wonderful. Pizza's not the only joy though. Reward could be extra recess, free choice time, a week without homework, pajama day...
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 10:56     Subject: Re:DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Gearing up for Valentines Day I see
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 10:52     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
I happened to be looking up another wellness-related policy and found a lot of practices are "recommended" but not "required" by the Healthy Schools Act. Not sure how DCPS has written their policy.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 10:49     Subject: Re:DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Anonymous wrote:Some of my kids teachers use candy as a reward. I assume they know that's a flawed strategy and a bad set-up for eating disorders. But I don't think they care. Short-term self-interest over someone else's long-term health.


Same. I don't like it but I pick my battles.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 10:46     Subject: Re:DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Some of my kids teachers use candy as a reward. I assume they know that's a flawed strategy and a bad set-up for eating disorders. But I don't think they care. Short-term self-interest over someone else's long-term health.
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 10:09     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
OP's kid's class probably lost out on said pizza party
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 10:08     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have a link to DCPS's current policy about using food as reward/incentive/prize? (Or actually about how they are NOT supposed to do that) The most recent one I can find is the "DCPS Local Wellness Policy" from September 2017 and I want to make sure I'm looking at the most recent one.


Why do you need to know?
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 10:07     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Like, you win a pizza party for finishing all your Xtra math levels? What's wrong with a little joy?
Anonymous
Post 01/27/2023 09:53     Subject: DCPS food as a reward policy? (Wellness Policy?)
Does anyone have a link to DCPS's current policy about using food as reward/incentive/prize? (Or actually about how they are NOT supposed to do that) The most recent one I can find is the "DCPS Local Wellness Policy" from September 2017 and I want to make sure I'm looking at the most recent one.