Question
My son's school is using a new foodservice company. There have been some bumps as they navigate how to configure it. As of now 5-12 grades are allowed to bill whatever they want to the family account. They offer soft drinks and candy and cookies in addition to lunches. We send our son with a lunch and allow him to buy two days a week but we keep getting billed when he buys soft drinks and candy and we are trying to figure out a consequence that works. We have tried billing him for the things he purchases without permission. While he has that debt, he has to be in bed by 7 PM. We give him a chore list to earn the money back to repay us. He didn't seem too bothered by it and dragged it out for over a week , even when we moved his bedtime to 6:30 until we told him they had to be done that day. Any ideas? We discovered today that in addition to the sugar he has been tossing his lunches and billing lunches to his account.
Answer
Hello, and thank you for your question. My idea to solve this problem is to close the "family account" so that he is unable to purchase anything whatsoever on it. If, for some absurd reason, that is not possible, I suggest you contact the school administration to impress upon them how irresponsible it is to allow growing children to choose from unhealthy menu items.
Your son is abusing the freedom his parents and the school have given him. Take that freedom away now and do not grant it again until you are certain it won't be an issue. Clearly, the reasonable consequences you imposed were not sufficient enough to get him to change his behavior. Close the account and require him to make his own lunches using a parent provided list of options from which to choose.
Warmly,
Wendy Faucett
Certified Leadership Parenting Coach
wendyfaucett@gmail.com
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