Today's Plinky prompt is about whether soda should be banned in all school. It is something that makes me fizz!! (No pun intended….)
No, absolutely not. Nothing that is freely available and totally legal should EVER be banned. I'm guessing that this question is in relation to a health drive in the US, but having suffered in the UK from similar things for a number of years (and "suffered" is the right word) things like this make me steam.
Why on earth do the powers that be think that just by banning something, in this case soda, that people will automatically improve their health? If my knowledge and experience of children is anything to go by, as soon as you tell them that something is "naughty" or "banned" or restrict them in any way, then as soon as they get a choice about it they will go overboard and over-indulge instead.
To my mind, the best way to get kids to leave soda alone (if it really is such a big health problem that is) then why not educate them about the health benefits of NOT having a soda, and by giving them informed choices about what they want instead? Substituting soda for fruit juice isn't always the healthiest option anyway, so why not give kids the choice?
Even the strictest health doctors will tell you that a little of something high in calories won't do you any harm if you have it once in a while. By banning something like soda, then there is no choice and therefore no option.
I thought the UK and the US were bastions of democracy and freedom of speech? Why then the outlandish measures like these that crop up every now and again? It won't be long before certain newspapers are banned because they have "unhealthy" stories in them and if that happens what sort of "democracy" will be in then?
Education, not removal of choice, that's my opinion!
Mushy Cloud 
Here is the US, the censors and overly sensitive and think-they-know-better-than-others have been slowly eroding the rights we used to enjoy. Seeing an article or two about the debate on whether to ban or allow soda in schools has been around for a while. It may even, finally, come to pass, but not for long.
I say don’t ban soda from schools. Just don’t supply it or keep a very small amount on hand on the first come first serve basis and teach the kids about other choices and how those choices will make them feel better and more energetic. (I feel for the teachers on that point)
Thankfully, my son naturally chooses juice, milk, or water most of the times. A couple times a week, he has a single soda. He learned it from a very early age and why, so the soda habit has not been able to settle.
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Candace Gauger says: ” . . . I say don’t ban soda from schools. Just don’t supply it or keep a very small amount on hand on the first come first serve basis and teach the kids about other choices …”
I like what Candace Gauger suggests. However my experience is that a lot of mothers and fathers are not very keen on giving their children this kind of education. Most parents are a bit lax. When the children see their peers always being allowed to choose the more unhealthy stuff they eventually forget what their parents may have tried to teach them and go along with their peers, that is if other children buy sodas every day they may do the same if there is a choice to buy it.
Here in Australia this discussion about healthy food and drinks has been going on for a long time. Most school canteens have got used over the years to make money out of selling the more unhealthy stuff. The canteens who tried to make changes found they couldn’t make the same amount of money selling only healthy things.
When children are little, the parents still have some influence on their children’s habits. It gets harder for the parents as the children get older and are more influenced by the behaviour of their peers and by advetisement. I think the children who make up their own mind without being influenced by peer groups, are the exception. It would help if certain ads could be banned. I am with you, Pam, in saying that prohibition of the product is not the answer. Maybe someone can come up with a product that is healthy, good tasting and make it fashionable among kids to drink it?! 🙂
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Freedom of choice. Exactly.
I want my kids to grow up being able to make their own choices, good or bad and not being dictated to by petty politicians only interested in their own political progress under the guise of healthy living policies.
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