N.Y. parents want to ban ice cream trucks

N.Y. parents want to ban ice cream trucks
The kids are all screaming for ice cream—but not their parents. They’re saying no!




Some parents in Brooklyn’s tony Park Slope neighborhood are trying to stop ice cream vendors from hawking their cold treats to kids in Prospect Park, according to the New York Post.

Pushcarts and trucks selling everything from Italian ice to Nestle Drumsticks begin circling the park’s Harmony Playground in the spring. For some parents getting their kids a cone come April is a tradition, but a few members of the Park Slope Parents online group just wish the ice cream trucks would go away. These parents are tired of listening to their children cry, scream and throw tantrums when they’re denied a sugary ice cream.

“Along with the first truly beautiful day of the year, my son and I had our first ruined day at the playground,” A member of the group named Sarah wrote. “Two different people came into the actual playground with ice cream/Italian ice push carts. I was able to avoid it for a little while but eventually I left with a crying 4-year-old.”

Another mom Sarah Schenck shared with the Post: “Nobody wants to be a crank, but one in three kids are going to be obese or diabetic by high school,” she said. “When my kids see other kids get ice cream, they just start begging me. I just don’t think these are the fights we should be having.”

And another mom, who wanted to be kept anonymous for fear of being ostracized by friends, told the Post that there’s a group of parents in Park Slope who are trying to get the trucks banned. But this mom doesn’t agree. “People just need to say no,” she said. “I say no to him all the time, and I feel his wrath. But he needs to hear that no.”

I get these parents’ frustration with the ice cream trucks. Our world today is filled with treats and when you’ve got kids everywhere you turn there’s a candy dish or a birthday cake or an ice cream store. You’re constantly saying, “No!” or “only one candy,” or “just one piece.” I’ve listened to the loud, obnoxious cries of a 4-year-old who’s denied a Popsicle at the park. Just about any child psychologist will tell you that if you ignore your child’s whining and screams, he will eventually learn that there’s no reason to throw a tantrum every time he wants a Popsicle and hears the word “no.” And learning to take no for an answer is an important lesson for children.

And while I wish some of the candy dishes would go away, especially the ones at dentist offices (come on guys!), I think the ice cream trucks should stay. Parents need to learn that they can’t always change the world to make parenting easier. Sometimes they just have to suck it up and say “No!”

And hey, why not get the kid an ice cream every now and then. Any kid who has never shared a Drumstick with mom or dad on a hot sunny day at the park is missing out.

What do you think? Should ice cream trucks be banned?

“People just need to say no,” she said. “I say no to him all the time, and I feel his wrath. But he needs to hear that no.”

RedBedroom wrote:...I think the reason the trucks should be banned is because they are over-priced and the carnival music is annoying.