The lunch police have struck again. First, there was the story of a preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School in North Carolina who was given a highly processed, cafeteria lunch containing pink slime chicken nuggets because the school decided that the turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice her mother packed was not nutritious enough.
Now comes the story of an elementary school boy from Newport Beach, California who was suspended from school this week for the kombucha in his lunchbox that school administration said violated the school district’s drug and alcohol policy.
The boy’s mother contacted me 2 days ago the very afternoon her son was suspended in a plea to help her resolve the situation.
The trouble apparently started because the kombucha drink was packed in a glass bottle which is the appropriate container for this healthy, vitamin and probiotic filled beverage. The mother even took care to safely place the glass bottle in a foam sleeve as I’ve demonstrated in my videos which is exactly what I do for my own children so that if the bottle is dropped, it would not break and cause harm. It is important to note that the mother had sent kombucha to school in her son’s lunch many times before with no problem.
When the lunch police noticed the glass bottle safely tucked into the foam sleeve in the child’s lunchbox, they confiscated it. The next morning, the boy was called into the Vice Principal’s office and interrogated about the drink and where he got it. The school even called in the Police Officer assigned to work with all the schools in the area.
The Police Officer told the boy that the kombucha was illegal and very dangerous if he takes any medications – antibiotics or anything. Then, the officer asked the boy point blank if he takes any medicines.
Most outrageously, the Vice Principal told the boy that he may have to transfer out of that school and that she was looking into it. She even tried to enroll him in an alcoholics class for teens! The boy ended up spending the entire day in the school office and then was suspended for 5 days for violating the school’s drug and alcohol policy. The issue was also reported to the Newport-Mesa School District. Lest the school or the district deny the child was suspended or try to spin the story, the boy did indeed SIGN a 5 day suspension form.
It is important to note that these events took place without the school even attempting to test the alcoholic content of the kombucha or conducting due diligence of any kind which would have revealed that kombucha is a healthy beverage similar to apple cider and clearly not the equivalent of beer or wine.
The child’s distraught mother managed to get a meeting with the school’s Vice Principal the next morning who informed her that the Principal had decided to retract the suspension and not pursue the issue further. The child was then immediately allowed to return to school.
Unfortunately, the incident had already been reported to the Newport-Mesa school district so it is possible that the parents of the boy could face additional disciplinary action if the school district decides to pursue the matter.
The worst aspect of this incident is the extreme embarrassment, emotional trauma and shame the child no doubt experienced for being called out by the lunch police and then interrogated like a criminal the next day by school administration and even a uniformed Police Officer!
When I talked to the Vice Principal on the phone yesterday, she acted as if the incident was minor and that everything had been resolved satisfactorily. What? Giving a child the third degree in the school office with a Police Officer standing by and no parent present to defend him is no minor scene!
This incident could have far reaching implications for the child’s emotional state and could even result in bullying or snide remarks from classmates for years to come!
For all you traditional cooking Moms and Dads out there who also send healthy homemade foods and drinks in your child’s lunch, it may prove worthwhile to have a discussion with your children about this story and what to do should school administration ever harass them about the contents of their lunchbox.
I will keep tabs on this story in the coming days and if the Newport-Mesa School District decides to do something ridiculous like pursue disciplinary action against this family, I will be sure to let you all know so that the phone lines can light up and public pressure exerted to restore sanity to the situation.
**Update: Following the publishing of this article, the Newport-Mesa School District issued a press release regarding this incident. Click here for the full transcript and rebuttal.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
The world has gone mad.
I’m sure it was promptly replaced with chocolate skim milk and adderall.
It’s shameful that any school aged child was interrogated by the police about anything without the parents being called first!!
Back in the 1960’s my mom packed papaya juice and healthy food for me to take to school.The teachers and many students ridiculed me. It took a couple visits to the principal’s office by my mom so I could just bring the stuff. I had been severely allergic and this diet (along with homeopathy and vitamins) saved my life.
In the 1990’s my son had severe anxiety before school and could only eat a raw carrot for lunch. He ate normally at home. The lunch police reported us to Child Services. It took a note from an endocrinologist to the school board to let James eat his carrot.
WTF??? Why was the police officer even allowed to interrogate the child without a parent present?!?!?! How dare they do this to a small kid and then brush if off as a minor incident? Not only their statements about Kombucha are ignorant, and they have no right to take it away from the child… but the way this situation was handled is appalling. The principal and all adults involved should be suspended… If it were my child I would contact a lawyer.
Thank you for helping this family to deal with this situation!
Good lord people, get a grip. What I take to be the real issue is that GLASS BOTTLES are not allowed in schools. Yes, the way the school handled it was pretty horrible, but if there’s a “no glass” rule at school, then there you go. No. Glass. Allowed. I don’t care if the bottle has water, air, milk, or hippy-dippy-whatever — it’s not allowed. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to say no glass at school…
Yes, it is reasonable for a school to disallow glass, but if they do, they need to inform the parents and be consistent. The disturbing thing is that the parents were not called. I doubt if anybody would have jumped all over this if the school had taken the bottle, given the child a glass of water and called the parent to inform them that glass is against the rules.
Jennifer, the fact that the police officer told the boy that the kombucha was illegal and very dangerous if he takes any medications and asked if the child takes medicines indicates this was not about the container. Glass may have been secondary, or an initial red flag to school officials on the lookout for hidden alcoholic beverages, but the bigger issue was their assumptions and blundering, bullying actions concerning the contents.
Why dont you contact the superintendent to have this vprincipal educated to proper disciplinary actions. And then contact the local media and have the school reported.
maybe the VP woulld be happier if he/she drank some kombumcha during school hours.
Our school serves “Peanut butter and FLUFF” sandwiches everyday as a choice. Yikes. Then preaches the “new healthy initiative” the district has adopted. Yeah, right.
It kills me how no one even ask questions about what it was or what was in it BEFORE they ripped into this child. Good grief.
Thanks for sharing this story. Do you have a link to where it was originally reported?