Teacher Reveals The One Snack She Hates Seeing Her Students Bring In & Begs Parents To Reconsider Their Snack Choices
They are equally as messy as they are delicious!
Monkey Business Images | Shutterstock A third-grade teacher issued a PSA for parents when it comes to the kinds of snacks they send their kids to school with. Even though these particular snacks may be more convenient for parents who are rushing to pack lunches, they are absolute nightmares for teachers and other school staff.
The teacher urged parents to stop packing Dole fruit cups in their children’s lunchboxes.
While these ridiculously sweet-tasting fruit cups are a big hit with kids, adults are not quite as fond of them. They are often difficult to open and when you finally get them open, the sticky fruit juice spews everywhere.
Amy, a third-grade teacher, has had enough of these troublesome fruit cups her students continue to bring in their lunchboxes. “I love love love helping your child get their lunch settled and opening things for them. I don't, however, particularly enjoy these things,” she said in a TikTok video, holding up one of the fruit cups in question.
“They are actually impossible for us to open in the classroom without spilling them and getting syrupy and sticky juice all over my clothes.” Amy said she had to downgrade her outfit choices due to constant fruit cup spills that have landed on her clothes.
“Don't get me wrong, they're delicious and I know that children love them. However, I think that they would be a fantastic snack for after school at home,” she said. The teacher was not alone in her opinion.
Other teachers said they too wanted a fruit cup ban in their classrooms.
“I banned these from my kindergarten class. Well, not really. I just politely asked parents not to send them in with them,” one TikTok user commented.
“Finally someone is telling parents how awful these are!” another shared. "As a teacher and soon to be parent. I will never send this with my kid to school."
While teacher Amy's video is in good fun, the truth is, it's important for parents to be mindful of what they are sending to school with younger kids, especially. Everything in their lunch box should be easy for little fingers to access without creating a mess for other adults to deal with.
Thankfully, some parents revealed that they are, in fact, aware of the hassle of opening the fruit cups and offered alternatives to make them less messy.
“I poke a small hole in them and have the kids drink the juice out of there before I open them,” one parent commented. “I always drain them and put them in a little easy-to-open Tupperware container. I couldn’t imagine sending one in unopened because of how messy they are!” another user wrote.
It's understandable that parents send Dole fruit cups to school because they are a healthy snack. However, there are other snacks that are far less messy and easy for children to open, including organic veggie sticks, cheese and crackers, and banana slices.
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In the classroom, a teacher’s job is to educate. They shouldn’t have to worry about having to open little fruit cups that could potentially cost them a hefty dry cleaning bill!
Megan Quinn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.