Boy's Mother Left Furious After Teacher Throws Away 'Unhealthy' Snack

Sep 30, 2019 by apost team

A little boy and his mother both learned a hard lesson on just how merciless a school can be when strictly enforcing their rules. Back then, Elaina Doust sent her son to junior kindergarten at Romeo Dallaire P.S. in Ajax, Canada. One day, he came home upset because his teacher had thrown away his lunch snack in front of the whole class.

As reported by The Star, the school, in an effort to encourage healthy eating, had banned a lot of unhealthy snack foods. Aside from the usual suspects (chips, cupcakes, candy), students were also banned from bringing in certain homemade baked goods. 

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What could they bring in? You'd think a snack of string cheese, juice boxes, goldfish crackers and/or granola bars would be perfectly acceptable, right? But no such luck, these items weren't tolerated either. Still, parents were encouraged to pack lunches and snacks for their children within the parameters set by the school.

Doust's son came home one day with a list, a note and a story. The list and note were for Elaina, telling her what foods she should pack her son, and what foods she shouldn't. The story her son told her not only fell in line with the list and note, but it also made Doust very angry. Apparently her son's teacher threw out his banana bread in front of the entire class. The bread was deemed unhealthy because it contained chocolate chips.

Doust was upset for several reasons, not the least of which was the fact that her son's teacher humiliated him in front of his entire class. He was 4 years old, which meant he was very sensitive and inexperienced. He was still at a very tender age where he trusted adults to not only teach him but help him navigate the world. To suffer humiliation from someone he trusted implicitly could possibly have had damaging effects on him.

The school district agreed with Doust. “There is nowhere in our policy or procedures that says our staff is allowed to take food away from a student,” James MacKinnon, a teaching and learning consultant with the Durham Catholic District School Board, told The Star.

The action just seemed unnecessarily cruel  –  to both mother and child. For Doust, there was no excuse for what the teacher did.

Would you agree with her? How would you have handled the situation? Would you have remained calm, or would you have been infuriated as well? Ask your friends what they think, and let us know in the comments.