Ok I know schools can get away with lots of unreasonable and unconstitutional things, but this doesn't have anything to do with the schools, why do they care what were drinking and eating? Now I could understand this better if teachers and faulty were all very healthy and perfect role models, but many if not most are far from this perfection. The ones passing these rules and regulations are in no better shape if not worse than the average teenager. There fore have no right at all to decide what I will be drinking with my lunch or during my class. Parents need to pay attention what is going on. Public approval is the most important thing to a school. If parents don't agree with the way things are getting handled, guess what? They'll change. As far as obesity among children and adolescents, the amount, type, and quality of food a person consumes doesn't start in school. It starts long before that. You learn how to eat properly or improperly in the HOME. Soda doesn't make you obese your learned eating style does. I know many people who walked up to those carbonated beverages daily and were just annoyingly skinny, they just knew what they could get away with eating and others didn't because they knew they couldn't. SCHOOLS: stop the ridiculous restrictions. Parents: Pay attention. Students: Speak your mind.

First, I want to say that here in Cincinnati we say pop instead of soda. Anyway, I don't see any problem with pop being in schools. Like in my school, besides having pop they also have things like water and gatorade or powerade. There is also one machine that sells cans of grape juice and apple juice and things of that sort. If people want the pop then it is available to them to get, but if they don't there are other options. There's no one forcing you to get pop instead of something healthier, like water. And if it's spending money that is your concern, then you could just refill a bottle of water or bring a can or two of pop from your house. If you really want to drink the pop then it's going to cost you money wether it's in the vending machines or in the grocery store. Basically, it comes down to the fact that its ultimately your choice and yours alone. if things like your weight or other health problems develop, there's no one to blame but yourself. I personally think that pop is quite disgusting, so maybe i'm not the best person to respond to this, but thats my take on it.

Have healthy drinks, simple as that.

In my old High school we had soda machines by the locker rooms and they were a great way to quench after gym thirst and they didn't cause any problems in class. In my new school they banned soda b/c it was unhealthy. I don't see a problem selling it.

All the time kids are wanting to make more of their own decisions. Whether or not drinking soda is one of those decisions. I mean, kids are pretty much independent and are able to make their own decisions. Adults shouldn't be able to make our decisions for us by ruling that there shouldn't be any soda in schools.

well, maybe in general people in America are obese, but in my school, there r more 2-skinny kids than 2-fat. So its not fair 2 those of us who exercise 10 hrs a week an never eat fast food 2 take away the little that we have bc its not like im plannin on bein obese anytime soon!

i don't think they should take soda out of schools cuz yea. If people get fat its their own damn fault. They should be exercising enough.

But what about when they only have soda, like mine? Then there's no choice. Oh well, I don't care about the issue any more. I'll just switch my career plans to medicine so I can make lots of money off all the morons fattening themselves up like Thanksgiving turkeys.

I think it's up to the person who is buying it. At my school, we have 2 soda machines. One has a majority of sodas and the other is mainly juice, water, or All Sport. So, it evens out for those who want Pepsi or those who need a bottle of water for an after school sports practice. The only reason I'm supportive of it is because I have been deprived of cool stuff in school all my life. Last year was my first year in high school and it shocked me so hard that we had soda machines.

I know that about the growing rate of obesity, and issues about weight. But in the long run, how is a soda machine in school going to change the world? If kids dont buy it in school, they will buy it at home. Plus, schools are contridicting themselves. They sell incredibly high fat foods in the cafateria, and claim that its the soda thats causing obesity. Its just a way they can tell the government theyre trying to prevent it. Honostly, i dont get the school systems sometimes...

The 250 calories in your 20 oz Coke vs the 0 in water will make you fat just as fast as the extra 250 in a hamburger as compared to a soyburger. It's too many calories in general that leads to being overweight, and sodas are an easy way to get lots of extra calories, especially if you drink more than 1 per day and think they won't contribute as much as a hamburger to making you unhealthy. The hamburger's probably better b/c at least it has protein and a few vitamins.
As for the money, schools need to lose some temporarily. They're supposed to be PUBLIC schools. That means the PUBLIC pays their expenses, not soda machines. If we as a nation are unwilling to spend enough money to keep our schools from needing to get it from vending machines, then we are doomed to failure and might as well speed it up so we use less resources on the way down.

It's stupid to get rid of sodas. I think the pizza and the hamburgers are making people fat. Not the soda. Take that away before you take away our soda. Plus they could at least serve us diet sodas then. Not to mention schools will be losing money just because the soda machines are being taken away.

Their purpose is to educate, not sell stuff to students. To those of you who think the parents should decide what the kids eat/drink: I agree! The National PTA is against soda machines in schools. That's the best indication we have of the opinion of responsible parents in general. The problem is a lot of parents don't really care about their children. If they did, would we end up with such high rates of crime, drug abuse, etc? And in the cases where the parents are negligent about these matters, the school needs to teach the children about health. If all parents were willing and able to teach their children what they need to learn, we wouldn't even need schools prior to college.
If we ban sodas in elementary and middle school, students will be able to make their own decisions by time for high school and then they'd be ok. If schools allow competition. We need more than just sodas to be sold. My school only sells coke, sprite, mello yello, etc. I stopped drinking sodas last school year for health reasons, and my needs are not met as far as drinks are concerned. Water, juicei gatorade, or some other alternative should be offered to soft drinks if they sell them.

its controversial but the thing i dont kno is we r kids we dont need to be sold stuff at skewl. But still it gives us a quick refreshment. lol. but ya still its messed up either way

my school (Mililani Middle School), is a really good school it is in hawaii on the island of oahu. it is like the best school on the island and i love it. its gonna be hard to leave it to go to high school. it has lots of soda machines and they are really crowded after school which is the only time you can buy a soda. my school is the best on the island. peace!

as if taking away soda will solve the problem. people just want an easy solution when there isn't one.

I think that soda should be sold in school, sometimes when you have class at 7:30 in the morning all you need to wake you up is a nice cold soda, ya you can always have some water but who wants to drink school water or spend a dollar on bottled water. My schools new discpline vice principal raised all the soda and even the juice in the school to a $1.25 instead of last years $1.00 price and he even raised the candy bars up 1 cents, teenagers are going to buy soda and candy no matter what the price is so you might as well keep the price low so they can spend there money on better things like college educations

I think we should have soda in school. I see nothing wrong with it. I know a lot of the time my friends and myself get energy off of soda. If they take the soda out what are we sapose to drink milk yuck! i think the kids should decide!

How about more choices?? A soda machine, and one with water and juice. let the students decide!!

Soda's should stay, but only in High School. Why have students get hooked on soda at a young age? We should limit the times the students can get soda. For example at my High School you have able to get soda only at lunch and after school. They have timers that limit when a student can buy a soda. Also schools should have options of less carbonated drinks. For example: FruitWorks is great tastful drink, it is not the healthiest drink, but it is healthier than a Coke. Yoo-Hoo for example would be good for elementary schoolers, especially when they are in the years of growth, the calcium would help.