By SHAUNA ANDERSON
It makes you weep for the future of our children.
The thought that a whole generation may not experience the unmatched pleasure of bringing a Women’s Weekly Choo Choo Train cake to class for their 7th birthday.
Or a Barbie fairy princess cake with Barbie’s legs squarely hacked off .. or that swimming pool cake with the green jelly and Teevee-snacks-fence.
It’s a travesty really – no birthday cakes at school.
It makes you wonder what next will they ban? Hopscotch, cartwheels, playing tip? Oh, that’s right they’ve banned them already.
The news that a Sydney primary school has banned the birthday cake has dominated talk back radio and newspaper headlines this morning. Even politicians are calling for the cake to be re-instated. APEC leaders are meeting on the sidelines discussing the catastrophe.
(Well truth be told it’s only made a small dent on social media and a local newspaper, but the potential for outrage is unlimited.)
The ban has taken place at a Sydney primary school, Beauty Point Public in Mosman.
A newsletter sent to parents has requested they provide a healthier option for students than a traditional birthday cake to mark each kid’s big day.
News Limited report that the push is fueled by a growing backlash against sugar inspired by dietary ways of life like the I Quit Sugar phenomenon
In its most recent newsletter the school has published a list of items suggested as alternatives to a delicious, fun filled, chocolatey cake.
Alternatives such as frozen fruit, popcorn, and vegetable sushi.
Guaranteed to make any birthday boy or girl feel super special when they blow out the candle on the pineapple.
The fun police school authorities even suggested that parents could donate a book to the school instead, or create a “birthday treasure chest” with small gifts at the beginning of each year.
“Although these events are lots of fun, these celebrations often revolve around foods high in sugar, whether homemade or pre-packaged heavily processed foods that have little or no nutritional value,”
According to the School Principal, Kevin Gallagher, one mother in particular was behind the push. She had been concerned, reports News Limited, about the amount of sugar in the 20 or so slices of cake the children were receiving a year as “her child did not have sugar in their diet at home but was getting it at school, Mr Gallagher said.”
Top Comments
Personally, I'd be devastated if I served a cake in my classroom only to find out one of my children was allergic to some ingredient in the cake I wasn't aware of. We also have vegans in my class, not to mention restrictions on food for religious beliefs, allergies, gluten intolerance and the list goes on. I know it's fun to bring in cakes for birthdays but it means someone misses out and I'm running around the school looking for a knife to cut the cake, then a place to safely store the knife because I can't leave the classroom, find plates/napkins to serve the cake because the parents didn't bring any...Just have a cake at home..PLEASE
I'm a teacher and my job is to teach, not host bloody birthday parties. You want cake, have a party at your house. Why should I have to store a cake, cut the damn thing up, clean up afterwards and stop my lesson? If every kid did this in my class it would be on average, once every 2 weeks and some parents go way overboard. This seems to be a new phenomena, I can't remember it happening in my day, back when it was the women's day book cake! Now, it's covered in royal icing with carefully crafted figures covering it, 3 layers tall! Why can't we just go back to the simple days of a song and a cheer and that kid gets to be the special monitor for the day.