What's in the 'box?

I'm not going to skate around this issue - I am disgusted by the contents of most children's lunch boxes.

I'm a self confessed health nut and it makes me sick to constantly see children shovelling food that is no better than trash into their mouths every single day. Let me cite some memorable examples.

• A year 6 boy sent to school with nothing more than a jumbo sized bag of burger rings.
• A kindergarten girl with not one but TWO packets of chips, a packet of tiny teddies and FIVE freddo frogs.
• A group of year three girls that I observed on playground duty - cold fish fingers with packaged tartare sauce, packets of cookies, mammee noodles, chocolate bars, jelly cups and to top it all off a generous pile of canteen bought food including hash browns, garlic bread and muffins that they were all sharing.
• Toffee bars and sherbet sticks overflowing out of children's pockets that are shared around.
• Infants kids eating lollipops as though they are actual food.

And don't think the kids that have sandwiches are any better. White bread?! Every single atom of substance and nutrition has been obliterated from the grain used in white bread. Throw Vegemite or jam into the mix and you're still looking at sugar and fat sandwiched in empty calories. Kids who eat these 'standard' lunches are looking at a lunchbox full of simple, refined carbohydrates with next to no protein or fibre.

I have recently resorted to parading around the classroom chomping on whole carrots while dramatically announcing the deliciousness of my snack and asking the children who can show me a fruit or vegetable in their lunch box and rewarding them with verbal praise, stickers or even the token economy system in place in their school. Even kindergarten children know if they've been packed a good lunch - children will run up to me wielding bananas to wave in my face, showcase their baggy of grapes or join in my choruses of "Mmm... Yummy AND healthy!" while we snack on our chopped vegetables.

It devastates me that children who don't yet have the capacity to make their own nutritional decisions are given such horrendous food that is literally setting them up for unhealthy habits, weight gain, poor nutrition and no concept of foods that should just be for 'sometimes'. Since when is it normal to eat junk food daily? When did parents become so complacent or ignorant about nutrition that it's acceptable to pack chocolates into a lunch box?

I have recently been discussing this issue with my friends and it seems we all had similar childhood recollections - the standard lunch was a sandwich with a piece of fruit and a pop top drink. Although the adult me shudders at the mere idea of cordial, the lunches of the 90s seem to be generally healthier than those that I'm seeing on the playground today. In amongst the reminiscing were stories of trips to the supermarket where the child would be allowed to choose ONE treat that they MIGHT be given for their Friday lunch. For me it was usually a toss up between pizza shapes and chocolate dunkaroos although I was impartial to the occasional mixed bag of chips of which all but chicken flavour would be eaten. These treats were reserved for play dates or maybe the weekend. I definitely understood that these foods were for 'sometimes'.

Crackers with cheese is not lunch. Sugar laden muesli bars are not a great lunch box filler, despite what the packaging might say. Junk food like chips, lollies, jelly and chocolate are never appropriate for school.

What's wrong with filling your kid's lunch box with natural foods like whole grains, fruit and vegetables? Here's my suggestion:
• recess: a banana and half a cucumber
• lunch: a whole grain salad sandwich and a boiled egg

WHY is that so hard?! If your kid doesn't want to eat healthy food then stop spoiling them and giving into them. It's YOUR job to be the parent and make the hard decisions. Kids don't understand the consequences of the food decisions they make and of COURSE they want to eat junk. I bet they want to experiment with fire too but nobody lets their kids do that. I'm also sick of hearing the excuse that parents are time and money poor so packaged lunches are 'easier'. It will not be 'easier' when your child is suffering from obesity, diabetes, heart disease or cancer because they've been fed nutritionally deficient food their whole lives.

If you can't 'afford' your children, don't have them in the first place.

Hump Term

When I left university I was literally overflowing with ideas about how my pedagogy was going to change the face of teaching forever. I had visions of syntegrated programs that had students constantly pushing the boundaries of their intellect and creativity. I had fantasised about wikis and blog spaces that encouraged children to take ownership of their learning while successfully linking home and school life. Fitness programs that had kids red faced, sweaty and energised. Term long assignments that covered contemporary global issues and forced children to THINK and research and question our way of life.

This is the teacher that lives inside me that I'm saving for when I get a long term block or my own class. In the meantime, I'm a casual teacher.

I have to admit that as a casual teacher Term 2 was like a ten week long Wednesday - the term that wouldn't end and seemed the furthest from the sweet relief of holidays at either end. I felt like this because I wasn't putting any of my grand ideas into practise and had, in fact, become exactly the type of teacher I resent. I was handing out drill-style worksheets left, right and centre and constantly "shooshing".

How had I so rapidly given up on my idealistic teaching dreams? Through obligation. I was surprised to find that teachers nearly ALWAYS leave work. And I can understand that teachers want to leave simple, easy to follow work that they can trust to be completed accurately. But all this amounts to is a helluva lot of worksheets and difficult to manage, disinterested and unengaged students.

So what this means that, the majority of the time, I am simply following instructions to ensure I earn a good reputation as a casual teacher. And all of this really started to get me down in Term 2. I felt despondent and began to question whether I really was in the right career path. I was laden with guilt about making students do rote work when I know better methods. My behaviour management was on the downward slide as kids started acting out out of boredom. Clever kids would finish the worksheet in record time and then distract others while less able students would vie for my attention and help, leaving the average kids to fend for themselves.

And meanwhile my teaching basket is sitting in the corner of the room, filled to the brim with numeracy games, problem-solving, group work activities, authentic literature and drama lessons.

So if you are a full time teacher, I implore you to leave work, but unless it's absolutely necessary to complete, include a disclaimer that allows casual teachers to try out some of their own stuff too.