# Zero-Candy Policies **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 13, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210 "2008-03-13T02:56:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/21 "2008-03-13T13:58:43Z")
You can have my Reeses when you pry it out of my cold, dead, chocolately-peanut-buttery-gooey fingers. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/22 "2008-03-13T14:03:59Z")
If they can’t sell candy, how do their sports teams, bands, and clubs raise funds? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/23 "2008-03-13T14:04:40Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] It’s different state by state, it seems, but, for example, New York’s is: “From the beginning of the school day until the end of the last scheduled meal period, no sweetened soda water, no chewing gum, no candy including hard candy, jellies, gums, marshmallow candies, fondant, licorice, spun candy and candy coated popcorn, and no water ices except those which contain fruit or fruit juices, shall be sold in any public school within the State.” This kid (and the kid who sold the candy) could possibly - like I said, I don’t know what the situation is in that school - cost the school a huge amount of money in fines and withdrawn monies (the government really doesn’t take excuses into account). [/quote] An interesting point, but I think it’s vanishingly unlikely that this would ever happen. It’s clear that policy is intended to apply to food sold by the school and by vending machines in the school. How is the government going to find out if one kid sells a bag of Skittles to another? Since the school did back off its punishment, I think it’s more likely the kid was suspended for breaking a foolish rule, not for putting the school’s funding in jeopardy. > [@Hostile Dialect](#): > > Is every elementary and middle school run by fascists now Whaddaya mean “now?” > [@Orual](#): > > While the rule is moronic, and the punishment ridiculously overblown, I think it’s highly unlikely that any college is going to give a shit about middle school extracurriculars. Yeah, you’re right- it’s a very minor thing at best. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/24 "2008-03-13T15:27:19Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] School officials have changed their minds: [/QUOTE] Of course, nationwide news coverage of their small-minded idiocy had _nothing_ to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/25 "2008-03-13T15:41:32Z")
[QUOTE=3waygeek] If they can’t sell candy, how do their sports teams, bands, and clubs raise funds? [/QUOTE] Maybe they should think outside the box and have, I dunno, a raffle? I agree with the school. If they want to ban candy, then they can ban candy! CANDY is not a god-given right. Kids can LIVE THEIR LIVES for 8 hours in school without sucking down sugar. If they banned transfats, and some enteprenurial adolescent ass was peddling boxes of french fries, would you feel the same way? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/26 "2008-03-13T15:45:12Z")
Skittles look like pills. How do we know those were really chewy candies in that bag? Huh? I think the school administration busted the beginnings of a major drug ring and the kids should have been JAILED! AAAAAAAHAHahahahahahahaha!!! yes, I do think the whole situation is beyond silly. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/27 "2008-03-13T16:03:22Z")
[QUOTE=3waygeek] If they can’t sell candy, how do their sports teams, bands, and clubs raise funds? [/QUOTE] Selling crack. Just not near the schoolyard…that’s bad. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/28 "2008-03-13T16:07:20Z")
I thought it was going to be about one particular candy, the [Zero](http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/zero.asp) bar, and the policy was some kind of anti-white chocolate thing. Well, at least it hasn’t come to that. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/29 "2008-03-13T16:07:41Z")
[QUOTE=Orual] While the rule is moronic, and the punishment ridiculously overblown, I think it’s highly unlikely that any college is going to give a shit about middle school extracurriculars. [/QUOTE] Are you joking? It may keep him from getting a job as I am certain that this will go down on his permanent record. Or are you going to tell me that there is no such thing… ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/30 "2008-03-13T16:11:48Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] An interesting point, but I think it’s vanishingly unlikely that this would ever happen. It’s clear that policy is intended to apply to food sold by the school and by vending machines in the school. How is the government going to find out if one kid sells a bag of Skittles to another? Since the school did back off its punishment, I think it’s more likely the kid was suspended for breaking a foolish rule, not for putting the school’s funding in jeopardy. [/QUOTE] Heh, you’d be surprised at how much of a stickler the government is on this. There are rules for how many feet away from the cafeteria you have to be before you can install a soda machine! It applies to anything sold by any school representative…clubs, sports, band, DECA-run school store, what have you, are bound by this, too. Now, kids stockpiling candy and selling it “free-enterprise-style”…that’s just…inappropriate, I would think, but whatever. Yeah, I tend to think that the school didn’t have it all down in their policies, which is why they overturned the suspension. I just wonder why the selling kid was being secretive, or if that’s just what the honors kid said in order to not get in trouble. There’s still a lot more to this story. But, eh. To answer the other question that someone asked, there are lots, and lots of fund-raisers that don’t involve food. Firthermore, note that chocolate is allowed, so candy bars are OK. It’s something along the line of certain types of sugars…believe me, the list is several pages long. Skittles happen to be on the no-no list, so I have a hard time sympathizing \*\*too \*\* much with the kid who has dozens of candies to choose from, but \*\*has \*\* to have his Skittles fix. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/31 "2008-03-13T16:12:21Z")
[QUOTE=3waygeek] If they can’t sell candy, how do their sports teams, bands, and clubs raise funds? [/QUOTE] There’s no law saying they can’t sell candy off of school grounds, is there? If that were the case, then we wouldn’t be able to guilt our cow-orkers into supporting schools their kids don’t go to, above and beyond the taxes they are already likely paying for their own schools. What a foreign concept that would be. And has nobody else heard of Market Day? This, folks, is a whole new ballgame in academic capitalism. Those people are hardcore…seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/32 "2008-03-13T16:16:05Z")
[QUOTE=NightRabbit] Maybe they should think outside the box [/QUOTE] Heh. Candy. Box. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/33 "2008-03-13T16:23:55Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] It applies to anything sold by any school representative…clubs, sports, band, DECA-run school store, what have you, are bound by this, too. Now, kids stockpiling candy and selling it “free-enterprise-style”…that’s just…inappropriate, I would think, but whatever. Yeah, I tend to think that the school didn’t have it all down in their policies, which is why they overturned the suspension. I just wonder why the selling kid was being secretive, or if that’s just what the honors kid said in order to not get in trouble. There’s still a lot more to this story. But, eh. [/QUOTE] I just have to wonder, in just about every one of these stories, the school just metes out ridiculous punishment without seemingly ever really looking at the situation with a critical eye. That is, until the media gets ahold of the story, and everyone flips out at the administration’s audacity and lack of common sense, to which they invariably sheepishly inform us that their actions fall within normal rules or “guidelines” under which they operate. Really, is it too much to ask that school administrators be a little less reactionary and overly stringent when enforcing vaguely worded rules? Of course, the answer to my own question is probably that the vast majority are not like this, but, of course, you never hear of the good decisions in the news. ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/34 "2008-03-13T16:29:13Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Heh. Candy. Box. Heh. [/QUOTE] 😃 When I think of candy in a box, I think of movie theatres. I wonder why they sell boxed candy when other stores sell it in bags? ---
**Author:** ![Tabula\_Rasa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@Tabula\_Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabula_Rasa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/35 "2008-03-13T16:35:31Z")
[QUOTE=NightRabbit] 😃 When I think of candy in a box, I think of movie theatres. I wonder why they sell boxed candy when other stores sell it in bags? [/QUOTE] crinkliness ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/36 "2008-03-13T16:37:10Z")
[QUOTE=Tabula Rasa] crinkliness [/QUOTE] And stackability in the display case. My grocery sells candy in boxes. And, in fact, calls it “Movie candy” on the display. Mmmm…Raisinettes. ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/37 "2008-03-13T16:57:19Z")
[QUOTE=Tabula Rasa] crinkliness [/QUOTE] If they have newly innovated crinkle-free maxipad wrapping, crinkle-free candy bags can’t be far behind! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/38 "2008-03-13T17:26:23Z")
[QUOTE=NightRabbit] If they have newly innovated crinkle-free maxipad wrapping, crinkle-free candy bags can’t be far behind! [/QUOTE] Thanks so much for linking those two things. I think I’ll be off candy for a while. I guess that’s not entirely a bad thing though. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/39 "2008-03-13T17:39:57Z")
[QUOTE=Brown Eyed Girl] Really, is it too much to ask that school administrators be a little less reactionary and overly stringent when enforcing vaguely worded rules? [/QUOTE] We’ve had many a Pit thread about zero tolerance policies and things of that type. You wouldn’t think it’s too much to ask, but for some people it looks like it is. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210/40 "2008-03-13T17:46:14Z")
Perhaps the overblown reaction by the school administration is due to the lack of other alternatives. Back in the day, there were a full range of punishments available to school principles. They could assign the student to work in the school, usually janitorial work, but sometimes helping in the office. You don’t hear about those type of punishments anymore, probably because of lawsuits and labor laws. Corporeal punishment is out now, too, a perfectly good alternative spoiled by a few sadists and psychologists. What choices does a principle have for punishment? Kicking the kid off of extra-curricular groups, and suspension. That’s your choices. I also get the feeling, whenever I hear these type of stories, that the kids were probably unrepentant, spoiled rotten jerks when confronted with their transgressions, and that’s what really caused the overblown punishment. The sympathy changes dramatically if a student is doing something minor, but cops a huge attitude about being caught. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-candy-policies/441210.md?page=3)