Big Brother In Your Schools?

It has begun…  the systematic removal of freedom by the Federal government.

A few weeks ago the Chelsea Heights, Minnesota, school board voted to disallow “sweet, sticky, fat-laden and salty treats” in all district schools.  It seems they have a problem with obese children in their district.  According to a quoted recent study, 40% of the 4^th graders in the St. Paul area, most of whom are poor and minority, are obese.  The school district says this move is an effort to assist with the President’s recent new law to fight childhood obesity.

St. Paul administrators say they're preparing for stricter rules that could soon be handed down through the $4.5 billion Child Nutrition Bill signed by President Obama last week.  The bill will disburse that federal money to school districts to provide healthier lunches to more students. In the next year, the federal government will write new rules that can determine what kinds of foods are allowed to be sold on school grounds, including in vending machines and at fundraisers.

The Federal government is going to give schools more money but in return it will now dictate what kids can and cannot eat.  Parents will no longer have a choice in what their kids will be eating in schools.  I know to some it sounds like a good thing that the government is looking out for our children and “just trying to make sure they’re healthy.”  But the important thing here is that the government is taking more and more control away from parents.  We are quickly turning into a nation in which the government tells us all what to do, when and how to do it and dictates the consequences if we fail to live up to their rules.  What will happen to children and parents if they refuse to comply with the government’s new rules in nutrition?  Are schools going to expel or suspend kids who bring a candy bar to school?  And who determines whether it’s a banned sweet or an approved, nutritional item?  How much salt is too much?  Pretzels are good for you but they have salt on them.  Will the schools serving breakfast serve eggs?  Will they be served without salt?  Who’s going to eat them that way?  Are we going to open concentration camps or re-education camps for dissenters?

Some think I’m over reacting but where does it stop now that it has begun?  Unless the new Congress, led by Republicans, overturns the health care law we will all have government run health care in a matter of a few years.  And if you look openly at most of the programs the government runs you see that most are failing or are on the brink of failing.  The Post Office is broke.  Medicaid and Medicare are nearly bankrupt, as is Social Security.  And this isn’t the fault of the Obama administration but the government in general.  Why then would be expect a government run health care plan (or a child nutrition plan) to be any different?

I, for one, am happy I don’t have any children in a public school because I would be one who would find out first-hand what happens if you defy the government.   No government official or agency would tell me how and what to feed my child.  That is my decision.  How much longer are Americans going to stand by and let the government make things in our daily lives illegal?

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/112131574.html