Case 1:Tzippy is so excited her mother bought her one of her favorite snacks. She comes to school sits in class anxious for recess time to get to eat her favorite snack, sour sticks. The bell rings it is now recess. Tzippy rushes to her briefcase takes out her sour sticks is about to take her first bite and savor the taste. When two girls sitting next to her caught the flash of the red sour sticks and wanted some too. Rivky has been taught by her parents not to ask for snack from other kids, so she went to her briefcase and took out the same snack she got every day, homemade chocolate chip cookies and sighed. But then when she took a bite into the cookies and tasted how good they were she forgot about the sour sticks and she remembered what her mother told her about sugary nosh, that it causes cavities, and she knew she didn't like going to the dentist. Chani on the other hand saw those red sour sticks and her mouth started watering. She went over to Tzippy with her hand out stretched. "If you give me snack I'll be your best friend" she said. With such an offer, Tzippy just couldn't refuse. She gave Chani a sour stick. But then once Chani had one she wanted more and they ended up splitting up the whole bag.
Case 2:
It was recess time, Yitzi took out his bag of potato chips. He started opening the bag. All of a sudden the boys sensed a nosh bag was being open. They heard the crinkle of the bag. Before Yitzi knew it thirty hands were outstretched before him asking for some snack. Yitzi looked at his bag of potato chips, he looked at the other boys. He knew if he gave snack he would become popular and he was too embarrassed to say no, so he gave each outstretched hand a potato chip. After the boys got their share they went back to playing ball. Yitzi looked at his bag and saw he was left with one Potato chip.
After Tzippi and Yitzi tell their case to the court, it is now up to the jurors to decide what the verdict will be, Should children be told to share snack?
Pros:
- The children learn to do chesed.
- They are accomplishing the mitzvah of V'Havta Lereacha, "What's Mine is Yours".
- The children learn to share, that part of the joy of having something, is to be able to give it to others.
- The children will become less fat if they don't have as much snack.
Cons:
- The children are left with nothing for themselves and feel forced into giving their snack to others for the sake of friendship, popularity, or reputation.
- Parents spend triple the amount of money on their children's snack so that the children will have enough snack to give to others.
- Snack is all that is on the parents mind. When they are by Vorts or other Simchas and they see nosh there they stuff it into their pockets so that their children will be able to have snack for the rest of the week. Without thinking that it perhaps may be stealing.
- Children feel they have to hide in the closet when they have a good snack so that nobody will find them and ask for snack.
- Children become adults, then as an adult they carry the same traits and start hoarding their food/nosh.
Jurors: so what will the verdict be?
Posts
Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. There is too much shnorring in this world. Kids should bring snack from home. Why should the poor kid who only brings one bag of potato chips be forced to give all his snack away just because he is a nice guy.
ReplyDeleteThen again I wouldn't want to not have snack just because I forgot to bring one day. As long as there is sharing back and forth and not just one kid taking away someone else's nosh, then it could be ok.
I don't give my son not healthy crap. During the week he gets bakery cookies, raisins and rice cakes. For shabbat he has a special treat, crisps fruit chips. Those things way too freaking xpensive.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to fruit being a snack? I occasionally make onigiri and he loves them. If kids get snacks which can be divided, at most, between 2 or 3 people, problem solved.
btw, on Purim I also don't give out garbage
I think sharing should be allowed if the kids both have some snack and split it together but one just giving the other is wrong in most cases, like asking when one doesnt have enough for themselves then its a sin. tzedakah is different, then even a poor person has to give.
ReplyDeleteWould this situation improve if schools ban single-use packaging?
ReplyDeleteSure, make another ban. A great way for schools to deal with things they don't want to deal with is just ban everything. Ban different bookbags so kids don't get jealous too. And ban different pens. Ban any food or drink from home.
ReplyDeleteSet up a store in each yeshiva and sell snacks, food, drinks, school supplies, etc at double the price.
Moshe: If your kid likes that stuff then good for him! Interesting how that looked like a Hamen Tashen, but doesn't look like a kids food. Although about the fruit, they say that you should always have cut up fruit on the table so when your kids are hungry they will eat the fruit cause its already cut up. If its not cut up then the kids will be lazy and eat something else instead.
ReplyDeleteMikeinMidwood: so yea, if its a mutual thing, then it would be called trading, where they both get then it would be ok.
Anonymous: that wouldn't improve it at all. 1- the parents are gonna have to spend more to buy big bags. 2- big bags aren't practical. 3- the kids will just eat more.
4- the kids shouldn't have to share it all away. Big bags are for a siyum or a party.