To the editor:
I say enough is enough. The story about the Peabody school system offering ice cream to the kids is just another example of a small group of people trying to push their ideas on everyone else.
First, let me say that I think it is a great idea. How much have they earned over the past month and a half? Over five thousand dollars? Better spent in the school than on the outside.
In the long run, if this continues, the School Department may be able to hold the line on lunch prices. Kudos to Food Services Director Janyce Harkins for coming up with this idea.
And a big "Are you out of your mind?" to Tina Smith for time wasted on protesting this idea. Come on Ms. Smith, are you in another world?
Take a drive along Lowell Street after school. Look in the pizza stores, the doughnut store, etc. Find an ice cream parlor. What do you see? Kids spending money.
I will bet if the cost of lunches rose next year you would be one of the first to be screaming about the increase. I would like to find out how much revenue has been lost by taking soft drinks out of the schools? How much money have the stores around the schools made from the kids stopping to buy soft drinks? If I had the money, I would open up a convenience store outside every school in the city and sell only snacks and goodies. I would become a rich man.
Here are a couple of things that you can do if you do not want your kid to have an ice cream.
First, pack him or her a lunch and do not give him or her any money.
Secondly, you complain about obesity in Peabody. Ice cream is not the culprit. Take a ride around the parks in Peabody, especially during the summer. How many kids do you see there? Very few.
Tell them to get off their butts and go out and get some exercise, turn off the computers and gaming devices. Get off Facebook and the other garbage that is available to them. That stuff does not do anything but spawn a generation with flat fingers and wide butts.
My kids all ate whatever they wanted. But they did get plenty of exercise. They rode bikes, skateboarded, played baseball, basketball and hockey, ran track, cheered, danced, skated and had plenty of opportunities for exercise. They are all in their 40s now and still, none of them can be considered obese.
Maybe what is needed is for officials to stand up and tell those who want to foist their ideas on everybody else to "pound sand."
The commanding officer of the USS Constitution recently stood up to "the beautiful people" of Charlestown who wanted to silence his ship's cannons. That is what we have to do in Peabody,
Buying ice cream at school is a matter of choice. The School Committee and the superintendant have enough to do to manage the schools. They do not need someone pestering them because she wants to take away our freedom of choice.
Tony Juliano
Peabody
