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
Why were the parents not informed? The boy went home after they confiscated the drink, they could have easily sent a note home…
Ridiculous.
Ridiculous! The state of California is ridiculous!!!
Amazing. I do the exact same thing, although I sort of did expect my kindergartners glass bottle to be confiscated because it’s glass. But nothing has happened since. Maybe I’ll make sure to address it on Monday with his classroom aid who is in charge of lunchtime supervision so we don’t have any issues like this. How traumatizing to sit in front of a police officer and get drilled and then have it be swept under the rug. Typical public school drama. So glad we got out of that system.
They should do a lawsuit, the more attention to this kind of abuse, they will b more careful next time. It’s Newport beach- I live close- law suit nation… It’s sad that gt’s kombucha started labeling it as having alcohol n some places requiring a 21 or older purchase, doesn’t help the case. They can inject our children w the 2nd most deadly chemical on the planet, but kombucha shud be jail time. My daughter takes inner Eco in her lunch, pretty soon coconut water fermented will be a crime too
Politically Correct Nutrition strikes again!
If there was a real police officer there, and not just a school security person, then isn’t this totally illegal? The parents can press charges. It is against the law for the police to question minors without a legal guardian present. Perhaps they consider the principal the legal guardian while the child’s at school?
I was thinking the same thing. I think it is illegal what they did.
Possibly so. The questioning that took place in the school office with no parent present is extremely troubling to me.
That could be why they backtracked so quickly and the Vice Principal acted like everything was just fine on the phone to me yesterday. Like the retraction fixed everything that had transpired prior? I don’t think so!
Sarah, thank you for this article. If you would like us to mobilize our extensive network of Kombucha fans, manufacturers, etc. on behalf of this family, just say the word.
I think the rights of the child and the parents were violated by the school, and the police. The child was interrogated without any opportunity to have an attorney present, or even his parents. If the child had said “yes”, when asked if he was taking medication, it is possible that he would have been seized by CPS and taken away from his home, on some bogus charge of child endangerment. This is one of the most disturbing things I have ever read about schools.
I
They should obtain an order of protection/restraining order for the child and against the school officials and compel those nazis to leave the school premises. If you do not go in with the biggest club you can get your hands on, they will be all over you next time.
It’s also the most troubling thing about this story to me, too. I can understand the school getting a bit suspicious of glass bottles (some schools have banned them because of the “risks”). I can even understand them taking a whiff of the kombucha and thinking it’s alcohol. It smells like a sweet beer to me.
But as soon as they thought to bring in POLICE and question a child, a parent should have been present!
We are ready to help bring pressure via our pages and mailing lists – we should be able to generate a fair amount of noise altogether – but it should be coordinated.
I homeschooled, so avoided that crud. (well, now he’s facing some of the stupidity in university) anyhow, when my son was young, he had a card I printed out, the info’s out there on the net, basically, it gave instructions that he did not have to answer any questions by authority, without a parent present, and contact info for parents. rather than answer questions (outside of, who you were, parents, phone #’s) he was just to take the card out of his wallet (Thomas the Tank Engine wallet, when he was real little) and hand it to the person in charge & wait.
Theresa Do you know/remember the general site info? I can’t seem to find anything.
Thanks
I actually think it would be great to give us the contact information for the principal and the superintendent of schools in that district so that we can inundate them with calls now. They should be ashamed of their actions and I do believe that being proactive and drawing attention to this matter would help to prevent something like this from happening again. I home school my kids and live in Vermont, and maybe if they realized that this issue is getting national attention, they might be hesitant to continue with this kind of behavior. It is inexcusable that they did not call his parents in to be with him during his interrogation, and they have no business telling him what he should be eating anyway.
I smell a lawsuit! Falsely accusing the boy of bringing alcohol to school? The ignorance is amazing!