So they are trying to get rid of soda at my school...

[mineo]

Obviously because it is not very healthy. but should the school allow the option of better tasting non-healthy foods, and just leave the option up to the student?

that is what I think. if my freind wants to drink a soda everyday and eat 2 slices of pizza everyday that is his buisness.

EDIT: damn i meant to put this on critical thinking....

[gardyloo]

RE: So they are trying to get rid of soda at my school...

I would say take them out because of all the obese children these days. They obviously can't choose well themselves so you'll have to choose for them.

[Kamoa_Han_Senzui]

RE: So they are trying to get rid of soda at my school...

I'm not fat and I like soda. If they take it out of our school I will be mad.

[nestlekwik]

I think it's a good move. While yourself as a student may think it's just another instance of people being a buzzkill, you have to realize the school has to act as a parental function. While you're there the school is responsible for you and must make decisions that reflect that. Plus, as mentioned before, obesity in young children is just exploding. I honestly can't believe how fat some of these young kids are getting (I mean like early grades too). Soda is a major contributor to gaining pounds. Just by cutting out soda and fast food almost completely I lost 20 pounds in a snap and the schools are making similar decisions in order to benefit the children there.

[DracIV]

The schools are paid to teach and have foods and drink availible. They are not paid to make dietary choices for students, nor determine that "kids are too fat, so we must force them thinner!" Removing the soda is a bad decision, mostly because they completely removed the decision. It is not your place to decide whether or not students are responsible enough to make their own choices; it is the place of the school and parents to teach them to make the good choice.

[SonikTheHedgehog]

My school never served soda in lunch, and that just forced be to bring it from home. I have and always will drink soda. I usually drink a 2-liter or so a day, which is a lot compared to most people, and I'm actually underweight by about 15 lbs according to my doctor. Quite frankly, it doesn't matter what the schools do, because a) kids will just drink soda and eat a lot of food when they go home and b)some people's genetics don't allow them to lose weight easily.

[Draigun]

A few weeks ago, our school stopped serving sodas during lunch. They are defiantly going to lose a lot of that profit they were making. =\

[The_Q]

Instead of taking soda out of the schools we should just restrict it more (if that'll make the schools stop whining about their lack of power over my diet). Honestly, I'm opposed to them even restricting my ability to buy disgustingly flavored carbonated beverages (we need coffee vendors at schools, that's what).

In any case, I would suggest that instead of having the soda be taken out completely the schools should charge more or restrict the times that the machines are on. The first is probably the best choice. If the price of a soda goes up 100 % (all the way to 2 bucks!) that'll be a huge disincentive for kids to stop buying the drinks. Any child would still be able to purchase said drinks, though.

Here's something tricky. Sell products with more content, not necessarily twice the content, for at least twice the price. This looks like it's still a reasonable buy so kids will purchase it, assuming they have the money, and the profits that come off of that will be good enough for the school to quit bitching. Let's say that I get a 24 oz soda instead of a 12 or 16 oz. Although I'd be less likely to cough up the cash to pay for this monstrous drink, I'd still be paying for it.

In any case, there are much better solutions than taking sodas away completely.

Q

[Arch0wl-R2]

Q I think you strayed off what he was asking. I'm sure he just wanted to know if there should be sodas in schools or not, not what the schools should do to improve. But at the same time you probably assumed he was going to present this topic to someone or use it as a base for an argument, but I think you presented your point a bit obscurely.

Regardless though, I think taking them out is a bad move. If a kid is too tempted by soda and doesn't have the willpower to cut back on it to not get fat, then there's no way he's going to lose weight. I mean cutting back on soda is one of the EASIER parts of a diet, this coming from someone who used to drink ONLY soda, and I used to be REALLY FAT. Now I'm like 150 lbs and 5'10". There's going to be lots of places where he's going to be confronted with many choices to drink it, not just school. And I highly doubt his school only has soda to drink.

[QreepyBORIS]

Heh, Arch, Critical thinking threads change topic REALLY fast.

Personally, what do I think?

I never really considered the issue much, but I think that schools ought to keep soda machines as a source of revenue. Schools need money, especially when in Michigan, $40,000 per year is spent on a single prison inmate as opposed to like...$9000 on schoolkids per capita per year.

Granted, supporting a person in prison DOES cost a fair amount, for very, very obvious reasons. But Schools need more funding--there are rampant book shortages, overcrowding (My school has about 3000 kids in a building meant to fit much, much less than that). And soda machines, though they wouldn't help the problem A LOT, would provide a small but necessary boost.

Obesity is unfortunate, though.

Our school also has various milk flavor machines. Still has plenty of sugar in the Chocolate and Strawberry flavors, but hell, it's better than high-fructose corn syrup (that particular sugar is linked more heavily to obesity than any other sugar. Having it makes you fat much more easily than with, say, glucose). And if it was not clear, it is a milk machine, not a milk flavoring machine.

But agh, obesity...Gym credits are necessary, but only ONE for all four of your years is required where I live. It's THAT that should be increased!

[The_Q]

Q I think you strayed off what he was asking.

What was being proposed was whether taking soda machines being taken from schools is a good thing. I stated that, if the schools do get a say in the situation (which I think they shouldn't), there are other solutions to the problem than taking out the machines.

I gave the other solutions. I thought past the question and gave a better answer than "yes" or "no."

Q

[Arch0wl-R2]

Gym doesn't give you near the activity you need to lose weight. Whatsoever.

I lost zero weight from gym in elementary school. I lost more weight from DDR in three months than every bit of weight I lost from gym.

[MalReynolds]

At my school, Gym class is weight training every other day, and hard cardio training every other day. Maybe you just took in more than you put out, Arch.

Mal

[QreepyBORIS]

Some of our Gym teachers are pretty nuts, and DO make you do serious stuff.

But team sports really help you get in shape, MUCH better than in gym.


And if nothing else, having a decent gym class helps stave off weight gain (even if there is no actual LOSS).


Major digression, but my opinion stands.

[psychic25]

The middle school that I went to just changed it so that they give Snapples instead of sodas. That's right, they don't sell sodas anymore.

Now look at these statistics:

Kiwi Strawberry Snapple

Pink Lemonade Snapple

Coca-Cola

Although I must say that I don't trust that last site too much because it says there's no sugar in Coca-Cola, but that's the only site I can find.

So basically, if my math is right, Snapple actually has MORE calories and sugar per serving than Coke. Just a little more, but still. And plus, when you take into account that a Snapple is twice as big as a soda (at least I think so) Snapple actually is WORSE for the kids.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think our school made a worse decision :P