Soda ban wrong fix for teen obesity
By Sidney Asercion For the Appeal-Democrat
September 21, 2006 - Next year, a state law takes effect to ban the sale of soda during school. The only beverages distributed to students will be milk, electrolytes, Gatorade and water. The ban will apply to the Marysville High School campus, which just got rid of its soda vending machines.
But there remains one question: Should this bill be accepted by Californians to ensure our health, or is it taking away our rights as Americans to choose?
To answer this question, I asked Mr. White's civics class at Marysville High School. What I discovered shocked me.
After taking a poll of the 36 students, 15 agreed with the banning of soda while the majority disagreed.
The students supporting the ban believed obesity in America has to stop. It is one of the causes of self-inflicted death. In addition, one of the seniors pointed out the fact that already the state has had many court cases concerning health. In banning soda, it's one step to ensuring the state's protection from liability problems involving health.
On the other hand, an argument against the ban was, “* it's cutting into our civil liberties.” Most of the students in high school are not yet 18 and thus cannot have the same freedom as adults. However, because of this being a law, students aren't able to learn good decision-making skills. If the choice were left to students, they would be able not only to make good decisions about not drinking soda, but make the best decisions for their health.
Besides taking away our rights, students against the ban consider economic issues. Schools with tight budgets used to be sponsored by leading soda companies, but due to the removal of soda machines, schools are getting less money.
Some students questioned how effective this bill would be. One student remarked the bill wouldn't stop the purchasing of soda. There are other ways of getting soft drinks in school. They can be brought from home to drink for lunch or break.
Secondly, obesity can't be controlled through just the sale of sodas. Other factors that bring about obesity are the lack of exercise, lifestyle, genetics and eating habits.
During this discussion, some students were on the borderline of the soda bill. A beneficial idea from the debate was to educate kids more about the importance of nutrition and to ban soda for elementary and middle school students. Many of the students during this age need guidance and to learn the routine of eating healthy, before becoming adults.
However, when students enter high school, it's their decision to choose what's best for their own nutrition since they will be at the age of making important decisions.
Although I don't drink soda often, I believe it is up to high school students to make their own choices. They have more experience about the right choices to make, and they're one step away from being legal adults. It is time to put their decision-making skills into practice to know what's best for them.
Sidney Asercion is a senior at Marysville High School. Her column appears every other week in Education
Nutrition in School