Indecisive

My two oldest sons are in school for the first time this year, in fourth and first grades, and the transition has gone pretty well.  They find the work easy but not boring, and the social adjustment has been smooth.  But I am annoyed just now.  More to the point, I am BUGged. 

The kids get BUG slips when they are Being Unusually Good.  They can cash in BUG slips for prizes, and this is the source of my annoyance.  On Friday my oldest, Alex, came home and announced that he had collected a bag of candy at morning assembly, followed by four different prizes (he chose four different suckers, which he ate in rapid succession) from one of his teachers. 

So of course I'm glad he's succeeding.  Of course I'm glad the teachers want to encourage success.  But I'm worried about his teeth and I'm wondering if no one at school has heard about the childhood obesity crisis and philosophically I'm way over on the Alfie Kohn side of the spectrum when it comes to thinking about motivation.  (I can't link directly to the article, but you can go to this page and scroll down to the "Parenting Magazines" section to read an article called "The Case Against Gold Stars" if you're so inclined.)

My MIL was here on Friday and she was outraged.  I should write to the principal, she thinks.  I should complain vociferously.  I'm not convinced.  But I'm still bugged.