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
OMeffingG!! I JUST CAN’T. Stupidest thing I have EVER heard. Should I stop packing yogurt and sour cream? What about pickles? WTF?
It seems the prevailing message after reading the comments is kombucha is good, public school is not so much. The exception is BC who believes that if we all surrender to giving our kids the same prescription, even if it’s toxic and potentially deadly to some, then eventually someone will see enough people get injured or even die and possibly do something effective about it. Am I getting this right? That’s what I’m reading. More people need to get in there, have something go wrong, too, and complain for the situation to get corrected. After looking at how drug companies operate and how many casualties of vaccines it takes before a parent gets a meager payout but still sees no sign of responsibility taken by drug manufacturers or changes w/ the laws but to further favor the status quo, I don’t see how anyone could blame a parent for not subjecting one’s kids to the experiment. Everyone has a choice and if it works out for someone to be in public school, that’s great. Thinking it’s irresponsible or unfair for parents to think beyond the system is just inaccurate and very limited in the scope of logic.
Well said!
Why is this argument so hard to grasp?! If you take a child out of public school, you lose not only that child’s input, that child’s parents(chaperones, PTA meetings, coaching, etc) and depending on what state you live in, you actually lose funds. This is a fact! This is your right! I would fight for you to have that right. But to say it doesn’t have an effect is ridiculous! Just because you all keep saying the system is broken, doesn’t make it so. The vast majority of college students are public school educated. The vast majority of business executives, public school educated. The arts are dominated by public school graduates. They have produced Rhode scholars, academy award winning actors and directors, Nobel prize winners, civil rights leaders, Olympic and pro athletes, great poets, play writes and designers. Can homeschooling create these folks? YES! But that broken system is still churning out some pretty productive citizens. Your system works very well but cannot possibly suit the needs of an eclectic, constantly growing population. So enjoy your right to educate your child how you choose, but your broken system, faulty foundation talk, is just that, talk!
Oh and the rest of your comment had little to do with the conversation? That’s where the schitzo comments come in. There’s a boogie man around every corner?! Mind control, brainwashing and drugging its citizens seems to be all you peeps think government does. Your dinnner parties must be a hoot! lol!
Common sense has been completely lost in our public school system.
@ twyla robinson and FYI, I must admit I have gotten a slight buzz from drinking a whole bottle of store bought Kombucha and have suspected for a while that it has alcohol levels high enough for the FCA to want it labels so. Article below states as much as 3%. I will assume that like me not knowing this, the mom who packed it probably didn’t know either. I do think the school totally over reacted. hehttp://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/kombucha-may-be-treated-like-alcohol-government-says/
It’s illegal to bring a healthy lunch because then you hinder the governments plan!!
No kidding.
Starting to look like it: Seriously, as someone else suggested: we should start calling it Conspiracy FACT, not Conspiracy Theory.
Good grief!
Makes me want to homeschool…
Come on…anti cancer drink illegal…too rediculious
Wow. I would never take my child back to this school.