A mum in Queensland, Australia, reprimanded a teacher for refusing to open a snack in her son’s lunch box because she thought it was ‘unhealthy’.
Ashley Griffiths, known on TikTok as Ashy Anne, shared the exchange along with her 330,000 followers in a viral video.
“Yesterday I sent my child to school with some individually wrapped piece of cake,” Ms Griffiths explained.
“He got here back uneaten, which may be very surprising because he’s going through a growth spurt and is eating every thing at once.”
![Griffiths tiktok screenshot](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-22-at-3.35.45-PM.png)
When she asked her son why he hadn’t eaten the snack, his answer shocked her.
Her son’s teacher, Mrs Griffiths, said she refused to open a bit of cake “because it’s unhealthy”.
“I don’t remember asking you that,” she laughed.
The mum said her son’s lunch box was “thoroughly balanced” with dairy, fruit, sandwiches and cold cuts – “a lot of alternative, a lot of variety, because that is what we imagine on this house.”
“Our job as adults is to provide enough food and variety to meet our son’s dietary needs and permit him to listen to his body and make the right decisions,” she said.
– Which means he is typically allowed to eat something sweet. I know some people call them “treats” or “sometimes food” or whatever. On this house, we just call it food. We attach no moral value to food.”
Ms Griffiths said she was “annoyed” by the teacher’s response, saying she made the decision “based on her own bull food culture” and “embarrassed (her son) in front of her friends”.
“So far as I’m concerned, if my son ate ham, cheese, yogurt, fruit and a sandwich, then if he’s hungry he can eat this fucking pie. He can eat the fucking cake because it’s not meant to be a decoration. I made the decision to put it there,” she said.
![Griffiths tiktok](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-22-at-3.35.37-PM.png)
Ms Griffiths ended the video by asking her followers in the event that they thought she should make a proper grievance to the school.
Many commenters had similar stories to share.
“I made fruit bars for my daughter that I made myself and her school deemed them unhealthy. “The next day I sent them with the ingredient list,” wrote one mum.
“My kids didn’t eat all day because apparently their lunch box was too unhealthy. I had twigs and a sandwich with fruit and white bread,” said one other.
“My son did that, so I just put every thing open in the bins and told him to tell them ‘mom agreed and she’s the boss.’ He did it,” said one other.
Incredibly, some commentators said the problem went beyond teachers, with one mum writing: “There was a parent at my son’s school who took it upon himself to undergo the classroom lunch boxes and left notes saying what’s unacceptable.”
One person even suggested Ms Griffiths buy a sticker sold by Perth pediatrician Kyla Ringrose, which warns teachers not to disturb students at lunch.
“All the things on this lunch box was packaged by someone who really cares.” sticker reads.
“I ask that my child eat as much of those foods as he/she wants, in any order.”
Son’s school responds
In an update, Ms Griffiths said she raised the issue along with her son’s class teacher, who was also puzzled by the supervising teacher’s response.
“Next time I’ll just send him to school so he doesn’t have to ask anyone and due to this fact doesn’t have that type of judgment,” she said. Peasant.
“I think if the school system wants to regulate what our kids eat and have access to, then they need to provide food. If not, they will just back off and leave their parents to do whatever they’re doing in a fairly tough situation because have a look at the economy.”