End to tradition of free ice cream for top pupils in Polish town sparks political controversy

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

An intervention by Poland’s commissioner for children’s rights ending an ice-cream parlour’s tradition of rewarding top-performing pupils with free ice cream has prompted unusually unified criticism from across the country’s deeply divided political scene.

The official argued that linking rewards to grades could place unnecessary pressure on children and exclude those facing disadvantages beyond their control. Critics said the intervention targeted a well-intentioned local tradition and sent the wrong message about recognising academic effort.

For 25 years, the Pod Dębem ice-cream parlour in Pszczyna, a town in southern Poland, had given free ice cream on the last day of the school year to pupils with a “red stripe” on their report cards. This distinction is given to students with an average grade of at least 4.75 – with 5 being “very good”, equivalent to an “A”.

This year, the business decided to end the practice after twice receiving letters from the children’s rights commissioner, Monika Horna-Cieślak, who was appointed by parliament, suggesting that it adopt “fully inclusive” awards accessible to all children regardless of academic performance, reports broadcaster TVN24.

“I am writing to urge you to consider, in future, forms of support and rewards for children that do not divide them on the basis of their academic achievements, but are equally accessible to all, regardless of their school report marks,” Horna-Cieślak wrote last summer.

Although the contents of the letters, which the owners of the shop displayed on the premises, were requests and not legal orders, the owners decided to comply.

“I knew that if I ignored it, someone might report me again this year and there could be consequences,” one of the owners, Jolanta Hałas, told the Wirtualna Polska news service.

Local councillor Jacek Granda was the first to bring the issue into the public spotlight.

“Very often, other children without a [red] stripe were also given these ice creams, but some overzealous parent reported the ice-cream parlour, and the commissioner intervened very inappropriately, without knowing the full context of the situation,” he said, as quoted by TVN24.

The dispute drew reactions from politicians across Poland’s political spectrum, many of whom defended the initiative as a local tradition. Among them was education minister Barbara Nowacka, who said rewarding academic effort was commonplace.

“The hard work, ambition and talent of pupils are worth recognising and rewarding. This also motivates other children to study and work hard. Schools, parents, local authorities and NGOs do this. It’s great that sometimes ice-cream parlours do too,” she wrote on X.

In many Polish schools, pupils who earn a “red stripe” distinction on their school reports – a reference to the white and red colours of the Polish flag – are traditionally rewarded at the official end-of-year ceremony with gifts such as books.

Marcin Józefaciuk, an MP from the main ruling Civic Coalition, noted that the state itself formally rewards high-achieving pupils. “There are concrete benefits associated with it, such as extra points in secondary school admissions,” he wrote on X.

“So I really don’t see anything wrong with a private company, a swimming pool, a bookshop or an ice-cream parlour telling a child: ‘Well done, you’ve done a good job, here’s a discount, a ticket, a book or a scoop of ice cream’.”

Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party sarcastically applauded the “heroic” prevention of a “dangerous practice”.

“We await further interventions: a ban on medals in sports competitions and a ban on diplomas in competitions…Because nothing encourages children like the message: don’t try too hard, or someone’s feelings may get hurt!”

Przemysław Wipler of the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party said he would be reporting the commissioner for “exceeding her authority”.

Meanwhile, media personality Krzysztof Stanowski said his YouTube channel would continue the tradition by offering free ice cream to top-performing pupils. “We will rent an ice-cream van – maybe even a few – so we can be in different towns. At the end of the school year, pupils with top marks will receive free ice cream from Kanał Zero.”

The children’s rights commissioner herself rejected the criticism, describing allegations against her as “absurd manipulation”.

In a post on X, she published a photograph with the ice-cream parlour’s owner and announced that an event would be held on 26 June, the last day of the school year, organised jointly with local authorities and open to all children.

“Let’s celebrate together and stand up against hate speech,” Horna-Cieślak wrote.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Erwan Hesry/Unspash

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.