The new evil... pizza and corproations

[cwjerome]

Story

"You've read the book, now eat the pizza. Since 1985, that's been the gist of Pizza Hut's Book It, an incentive program used by 50,000 schools nationwide to reward young readers with free pizzas. The program is now under attack by child-development experts who say it promotes bad eating habits and turns teachers into corporate promoters."


Eating pizza is bad? Corporate funding is bad? I guess it doesn't jive with their vision of smiling children circling the bowl of tofu and celery, hand-in-hand, reading the books supplied to them by the communal authorities.

There's always a cadre of stuffy do-gooders somewhere in education trying to start nonsense.

 

[BlancoNino]

Yet the schools promote laziness by not letting children run or play tag during recess.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: cwjerome

Corporate funding is bad?

When it is nefarious, yes.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
Yet the schools promote laziness by not letting children run or play tag during recess.

But it's for their self ESTEEM!!! It's easier to keep every kid fat than to make every kid athletic.

BULL ******!!!! YES. No "!" ******. That's what it is.

Edit: DANG AT Language Filters.

I was actually one of the chubby kids in elementary school, and yes I had some childish self esteem issues. See those issues now? (I'm 19) HELL NO. I'm athletic as hell and go to the gym 5 days a week. And recess was still fun, even with the self-esteem sh!t. It's called GROWING UP.

 

[Flammable]

all the schools needs to do is to cut back on the vending machines and snack bars...

 

[fornax]

Virtually all pizza sold in the US is junk food. So yes, eating pizza as a regular part of your diet is bad, especially for children. All major chains' pizza is loaded with fat, preservatives, dough conditioners, you name it. There are exceptions, but not many. Trader Joe's comes to mind.

 

[cwjerome]

Originally posted by: fornax
Virtually all pizza sold in the US is junk food. So yes, eating pizza as a regular part of your diet is bad, especially for children. All major chains' pizza is loaded with fat, preservatives, dough conditioners, you name it. There are exceptions, but not many. Trader Joe's comes to mind.

Eating pizza as a regular part of your diet? Well thanks for the diet tip captain obvious, but rewarding a kid who reads with a personal pizza is not going to make him obese.

If and when they track the tens of millions of kids since 1985 who have earned a reading pizza, and somehow determine that Pizza Hut caused weight and health issues with them, then maybe I'd agree that another healthier food be used.

 

[Craig234]

Yes, corporate funding *can* be bad, as with this sort of ulterior motive to get 'mindshare' for unhealthy food with kids, and the programs to get sodas sold. Other times it can be good, it's case by case.

 

[bamacre]

It was not that fat that elected Bush, it was the stupid.

I say, give a kid a book and a pizza.

 

[oldman420]

I say give the kids a cup of lard and a celery stick at least they will get their fiber that way. plus celery has negative calories

 

[Moonbeam]

Why can't you right winged whack-balls just leave do-gooder alone?

You always swarm like a bunch of poop flies wherever they plop to out do-good them.

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: fornax
Virtually all pizza sold in the US is junk food. So yes, eating pizza as a regular part of your diet is bad, especially for children. All major chains' pizza is loaded with fat, preservatives, dough conditioners, you name it. There are exceptions, but not many. Trader Joe's comes to mind.

If you eat in moderation you will be fine. I don't see the need to take pizza away from kids.

 

[Cerb]

We like junk food. I wouldn't she a tear if Pizza Hut went under right now, but...this is grasping at straws. Getting rid of vending machines and oh-so-sweet drinks in schools is a good idea.

But:
Kids tend not to want to read, due to whacked out social issues (you know, those crazy things that were important then, and everything you read about here)
Kids will do real work for greasy food.
2+2=4 (unless you do it with lots of floats).

That it's Pizza Hut v. some local joint that actually makes good pizzas is what makes this a story. That and these folks having an agenda to push. They want to blame Pizza Hut for bad parenting.

 

[BlancoNino]

Sweets and junk food are great motivators for children. They are okay and better enjoyed in moderation. I don't see how encouraging a child to read by rewarding him/her with free pizza is going to result in a daily intake of pizza and other unhealthy foods.

 

[Siddhartha]

I have a couple of questions:

How does not letting kids run and play tag makes them lazy?

What schools are not allowing kids to run and play tag?

Why is pizza considered to be "junk food"?

 

[Jaskalas]

That Pizza was likely the only thing that got me to read books in elementary.

 

[daniel49]

I remember my kids did that in school.
Wait there all lean still, and without govt intervention.:Q

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: daniel49
I remember my kids did that in school.
Wait there all lean still, and without govt intervention.:Q

Your kids are proof about millions of schoolchildren.

 

[beer]

Yup, for sho it's the one pizza a month that gets kids fat, and not taking away the 5x a week recess.

 

[jackschmittusa]

What's sad is there was once a time when the ban the pizza idiots would have just have been laughed at locally and blown off.

Now, with 24/7 reporting needing to fill up space, and the internet offering instant communication, anybody can reach a national audience. Even if there are only a thousand people that think the pizza for books deal is bad, all of them will likely be heard from, and it will seem like a big deal to some schools and possibly Pizza Hut.

I once though that common sense would quickly marginalize frivolous things like this, but it never seems to come into play.

 

[judasmachine]

straightjackets and blindfolds and earplugs are all next in line.

 

[sandorski]

Have Schools improved with Corporate Funding?

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Have Schools improved with Corporate Funding?

I got a bunch of free Microsoft junk a few years ago. I say it helped

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: beer
Yup, for sho it's the one pizza a month that gets kids fat, and not taking away the 5x a week recess.

No, it's a basic psychology. You're programming kids to eat pizza as a reward and something *fun*.

A psychologist would be better able to explain this, but it's the same idea behind the McDonalds happy meal.

 

[Tab]

EDIT Wrong Thread.