Food as a reward in class?

Call me naive. When E started kindergarten this year, it never crossed my mind that I'd have to worry about what he would be eating. My husband and I have always been conscientious about what our kids eat.

As the first few weeks of school progressed, E would report on how he was doing on the class behavior chart. If he moved up, he was rewarded with gummy bears. He would also get gummy bears for doing well at a class game and he would get gummy bears if his teacher noticed him doing a good deed.  I complained to my sister and she mentioned that my niece was also getting a food reward for similar reasons (skittles, in her case).  We were both pretty irritated because our kids don't get treats like that on a daily basis and we don't use food to reward behavior.

After a few weeks of complaining, I grew the courage to email E's teacher.  Among other things, I wrote, "My hope is that you, and all the teachers at (my son's school), can find ways to reward the students with non-food rewards.  My husband and I would like to be able to support you in these efforts.  We very much live by a budget and can fully understand the financial strains that you, (the school) and the (the district) may face. To that end, I’ve attached a list of student reward ideas that are free. There are a lot of resources online that advocate for healthier alternatives for children. The list I’ve attached is from www.100daysofrealfood.com."

The list I attached can be found here. After some back and forth emails, E's teacher responded favorably. I didn't want E to feel left if he was the only kid that was opting out on the gummy bears and explained that. We eventually agreed on a compromise, wherein E's teacher would offer the kids a choice between the gummy and a non-food reward.  It wasn't my ideal result, as I would like for food rewards to disappear altogether. However, at the very least, E would have a choice that would hopefully be influenced by our parenting. As an unexpected bonus, E's teacher let me know that she had printed out the list of non-food reward ideas and placed them in each of the teacher's mailboxes. Woohoo! Maybe the other teacher's would use some of these ideas, too! I really was pleased to this teacher's openness and I was impressed with her quick responses.  Communicating with your kid's teachers can be rewarding and so important to making sure you are comfortable with leaving your kids in the care of someone else.

It's been two months since the emails. Lately, E has told me that he isn't being offered a choice anymore.  I suppose I'll have to contact his teacher again to verify and reiterate the point.  In all honesty, I don't like being a nag but E's health is too important to me.  I'll press on.

What do you think? Am I making this teacher's job harder than it needs to be? Do you mind when your kids report getting candy or other treats as a reward for their good behavior? Maybe this is a non-issue in your kids classroom?  I'd love to hear how its going for other parents.