All this information about video games and too much tv viewing causing childhood obesity is a bunch of crap if you ask me. The “experts” try to fool us with all their statistical trickery, making parents think childhood obesity could be our fault.
But I wasn’t born in 197mumble for nothing. Not only did I not just fall off the wagon, I mean turnip truck yesterday, but I can run fast, so really, I’m leaving the turnip truck in the dust. I am that onto them.
Video games and television have nothing to do with it. You know what the real culprit is?
Homework.
When mom has to spend her afternoons and evenings helping her kid with homework from the SECOND GRADE on, well, who has time to cook healthy meals? All I have time to do is dial for pizza.
Or when the 8-year-old brings home a project with instructions to get on the internet or go to the library and research a famous black person for a biography, who do you think has to do the work?
Or am I raising a substandard eight-year-old who doesn’t know how to use the internet for research yet? Maybe he’s more like Forest Gump than I thought since he doesn’t quite grasp the concept of library research at his age.
I guess I’m like a dinosaur parent who lets her kid spend time watching birds outside instead of teaching him how to surf the net for research purposes by the time he turns eight.
And let’s talk about report cards. I’m not one to give money for good grades – not yet at least. I’m still in the parenting stage where my children see me as a demigod, and don’t think I’m not going to milk that as long as I can. Just my smile and telling them how I proud I am is enough.
I don’t know if I’ll ever pay them for good grades. If they want to get paid for high performance, do like the rest of us and get a job. They’re males, so they already have a leg up on me when it comes to getting good pay for high performance.
But money aside, do you know what the school sends home if your child makes the A/B honor roll? Tons of coupons for fast food restaurants.
How’s that for making kids fat?
Or when Parker turned in an item from the parking lot to the lost and found? He got yet another coupon for some nasty fast food restaurant.
I know the school is simply trying to reinforce good citizenship, but whatever happened to just feeling good about yourself being the reward?
Frankly, I don’t know what grown-ups are thinking, giving away their demigod power like that.
Take my advice and save bribery for when the kids are older. They may think you’re stupid by then, but at least they’ll be slim and can get a date.
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The public school system is really a secret society bent on turning all our children into fat, obedient automata.
It is our duty, as demigods, to point that out. Especially while doing 2nd grade homework. But such ramblings generally fall on deaf ears.
Wouldn’t it just be easier to throw a thunderbolt or two, until they get the message?
AMEN SISTER!!!!! GET ON THE SOAPBOX AND PREACH IT LOUD AND PROUD!
I cut that one short I was so excited! I am so sick of doing homework for two to three hours a night. It’s pathetic. Most of it’s just busy work…not even real homework. I swear, half the time we have “seek and find puzzles” for spelling words. PUH-LEEZ!
I’ve considered homeschooling but can’t obtain enough medication to actually make myself do it.
My parents pay my oldest for good grades and it’s crazy. When I was a kid, I had to get good grades or the wrath of Dad would strike me down…I knew better.
I have protested…no school reward coupons…no selling fundraisers for the PTO…NADA! I’m done.
Hey Dejoni, wanna know what one of our PTA fund raisers is? A coupon book full of fast food coupons. I’m not making that up.
Geez — I don’t remember doing homework until high school. (Maybe I shouldn’t admit to that yet)!
Dinosaur parent’s unite! Sunday while every other kid around us at the shuttle launch was playing video games or listening to their ipod – we bought ours a little play set of the Apollo 11 rocket, a lunar landing ship, some astronauts and a moonscape – told them all about the first moon landing explained each piece’s function – and then watched them play Moon Landing with the various parts and pieces for 2 hours. Give ‘em some information and set their imagination loose, kid will take care of the rest. No technology required.
On Monday – she took the toys to school and explained the moon landing to her class at show and tell.
I’m sure she now understands the history lesson way better than if we had received a homework lesson to write a paper on it at home. Although to our (pubic) school’s credit she did have to do a research paper (1st grade) on Rhinos earlier this year but it was done completely in class and partnered with her teacher – not me.
It’ll be a COLD DAY IN HELL before I pay for grades. And I agree with Dejoni: so much homework is busywork. Last night A had to write all his spelling words and then circle them. For realz? He knows ‘em, why does he have to write them, one of the most difficult things for him to do! Gah. And I too would consider homeschooling if there was enough medication to sedate me through it! LOL
Fast food: BLECH! I will not pay my children for good grades. EVER. Bribery is okay for some things (potty training, anyone?), but for homework? Citizenship? That doesn’t instill values, it instills a sense of entitlement. To me, that’s just wrong.
Tossing in my amen, too! My kids get rewarded for damn near everything in school. It’s part of their whole pillars of citizenship business, too. Read four books? Here’s a coupon for a fastfood kids meal. Hey, here’s an idea! How about a bookmark or let them choose from a grab bag of free books that can be picked up on the super cheap through elementary book orders? Also, if they’re not coming home with fast food coupons, they’re coming home with junk toys (often from Happy Meals that have been donated by parents to the teachers) because they earned enough coupons for being good or listening or being respectful (which are all traits I call “BEING A GOOD HUMAN BEING MINUS THE DAMN WEEBLE-WABBLE TOY I’M GOING TO THROW AWAY!) that I want to sigh heavily.
Which I think I just did. Excuse the rant. If I got prizes for showing up to work every day or just being a good parent, I’d wonder what kind of weird world I was living in. I think we’re setting our kids up for way too much by rewarding their every move while they’re in school.
TV and video games TOTALLY caused my obesity. What??
i have been a parent for almost 28 years (OMIGOD!!! IS THAT RIGHT??? time to freak out about how old i am), and i have never ever ever paid for grades.
ever.
and i never will.
You know what the medication is that makes homeschooling do-able? It’s called happiness for everyone! lol. Not that I’m trying to preach, or anything. But would YOU make your kid do tons of homework? Circle spelling words he already knows? Make him do busy work 5 hours straight? The end result is…a kid that is happy. Not, of course, that I’m preaching homeschooling or anything. No, not me!
school lunches + opting out of recess = obesity.
I got paid for grades. it worked for me, but not for my brother. There are worse things, believe me.
OH my lord. My brother decided to pay my oldest DD for good grades when she was 8. She was already a straight a student at the time. She was raking in 40 bucks every 9 weeks. I really believe this contributed to her “whats in it for me” attitude. To which my reply is “if you don’t I will be forced to beat you!”
This year my brother didn’t make such an offer. I think it was because he was getting cleaned out. And now… she is bringing home C’s and a D. I’ll let you think what you want. It’s probably true.
My rule is, “The things you enjoy are privileges, not rights. If you don’t do the things you need to do, you get no privileges.” School is the most important thing. And since I know she is perfectly capable of Honor Roll, she doesn’t watch TV, play video games, or computer during the week.
As far as homework… it’s a massive undertaking to get through the weeks homework. Plus a project every 9 weeks. Projects that require me to do most of the work. For instance, my child says to me the other day “can you make me a colonial dress for my book report?” Come again? “oh we have to dress as a character from our book” What the hell? They do all this funky crap to prove they read the book, but have no clue what an outline is? Sorry my kids doesn’t need to be pushed to read. I can’t keep her in books. What are the other parents going to do for this project. You know, the ones who can’t sew?
Missy
AMEN!!! CLAP!CLAP!
First, my daughter is 6.5 yrs old and doesn’t know how to use the computer. Shock, gasp! Wait, correction they are teaching her at school, but the kids know to stay away from my computer or feel the wrath. As far as I am concerned I don’t need to worry about my daughter sticking some weird word combo in Google and getting some off the wall site or donkey porn. I don’t need the headache of the explanation or parental controls. I not so good with the technology.
Second, you said it great on everything else. They are constantly teaching about healthy eating then give my daughter a pizza buffet or Applebee’s free meal for getting good grades or for showing up to school everyday on time. Really, I thought that was a requirement. Funny, no one rewards me when I wake up every morning and feed my kids. Maybe, because that is what I am suppose to do. And frankly, that is up to the parents anyway, so how about a coupon for a free babysitter and a dinner at Brennan’s as my reward.
You will know the smartest kids at school by their fatrolls.
I am with you on the homework thing, the “what 8 y.o. needs to know how to do research on the net” thing, and the whole crap-fast-food reward thing. HOWEVER, I hate to admit, but will rigorously defend the fact that I have offered to not only pay for good grades (with my 9 y.o. 3rd grader) but have offered basically a blank check that he can go get whatever the hell he wants at the toy store if he brings home an A, A/B, or even an straight B report card. And you know what… he hasn’t taken me up on it yet. And we still praise him for the areas that he excels in and question him about the areas he doesn’t. He doesn’t get too bent because he knows full well that he’s done what he is *willing* to do in school. So, I cannot vouch for how well it works, because it hasn’t yet.
We tried this because he is very money-motivated and our approbation just wasn’t cutting it. Everybody has something that works for them, though, so I am a little jealous of those people whose kids just do things “right” because that is what is expected. The rest of us just get by with what we can.
wow, my 8 yr old second grader doesn’t have any homework at all other than reading and he goes to a private school. all his research papers are done at school on the computer there so he comes home and plays. wierd school you go to that’s fo sho!
Hi! Great post about rewarding kids for good behavior and homework being the culprit of obesity in our nation’s children. While I think McDonald’s or Burger King is detrimental for a child if eaten on a regular basis (more than 2x/week) I think it’s okay once in a while – like once every 6 weeks – as a reward for good behavior. Moderation is so important in life and that’s what we need to teach our young people today. Thanks, David
.-= David @Fast Food Restaurant Coupons´s last blog ..Burger King Coupons =-.