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Birthday Evelien (5) is not allowed to give pens to treats in class: 'This is going too far'
She was in tears, 5-year-old Evelien from Nijmegen. For her birthday, she wanted to give pens to treats in her class, but the school wouldn't allow it. Her parents Denny (37) and Maria (30) from Baardewijk think it's lame. "I understand that you're not allowed to hand out whipped cream cakes and bitterballen, but this is going too far."

'Hip hip hooray, Evelien 5 years old!' That's what it says on the labels attached to a number of brightly colored pens. Ready to be handed out on Wednesday in group 2 of the Aquamarijn primary school in Nijmegen-West.
But when she enters the classroom, the teacher wonders whether that's allowed. She consults a colleague. No, is the answer. It's in the school's 'treat policy'.
Her daughter was devastated, says father Denny a day later. "I thought it was so lame and annoying. Luckily we had also brought some pieces of watermelon, which were allowed to be handed out. But the pens are now at home. This morning Evelien pointed to them and said: ‘I want to give them to the class’.”
Handing out sweets is no longer allowed
More and more schools have a so-called treat policy. This is intended to prevent children from eating unhealthy food at school. Bags of chips or candy boxes? That is often a thing of the past.
This is also the case at Aquamarijn. There, children are allowed to hand out (dried) fruit, vegetables and plain rice cakes, according to the website. Sweets, cookies and chocolate are not allowed. Toys are not allowed either.
And the pens ‘apparently’ fall under that, says Van Baardewijk. He doesn’t understand that at all. “A pen is not a toy, is it? We had already made that decision. Furthermore, we considered that something tangible would be a nice memory. And yes, even if we were wrong, why couldn’t she just hand it out and have we had a conversation afterwards? Then my daughter wouldn't have had to cry on her birthday."

I wondered out loud whether this school would suit us
-Denny van Baardewijk
Conversation with principal
The principal of Aquamarijn refers to the school association Conexus, which the primary school falls under, for an explanation of the policy. "A treat policy is drawn up per school. Parents and the Works Council are often involved in this," says Conexus chair Lucienne van den Brand.
"We often draw up such a policy in connection with health. Or with finances, so that not too big things are given. It sometimes happens that a parent is not happy with the policy. Then there is contact with the school. It is a pity that we did not succeed in solving that here."
Van den Brand cannot say anything about Evelien's situation. "We do not discuss individual cases."
In the meantime, Van Baardewijk has had a conversation with the principal, he says. "It's great that it was possible, although I did wonder out loud whether this school would suit us. I understand that you're not allowed to hand out whipped cream cakes and bitterballen, but this is going too far."



https://www.gelderlander.nl/nijmegen/jarige-evelien-5-mag-geen-pennen-trakteren-in-de-klas-dit-slaat-wel-door~a5b1a06a/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFRUspleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcrwqX7mesE6X5DVxzE3Spxcn22lo9pXKWKTr-J8EULEZm7XLV4Xj5L-0w_aem_UYPIgyuQ1EFrc5GrjlaZuQ