Should schools have complete control of what our children are drinking (and eating)?

Question

Ours is a very good school but the rule is that pupils can only
drink water. They are not allowed flavoured water or juice.
(Particularly if they take their lunch in). If they have school
dinners they might have juice then.

Answer 1

The school probably believes that the risk posed by artificial additives will have a detrimental effect on their learning, this is some what flawed as they will be going out for break after they have eaten and burning off energy, which needs replacing.
Also their is the risk of allergic reactions, some children have extreme allergies and this can be triggered by just being in the same room as the allergen, this may be the case with one of your child's school mates.
The school's heart is in the right place, but I feel it should not dictate what your child drinks. Fizzy drinks maybe, juice most defiantly not.

Answer 2

If you are packing your child's lunch then, no...they have no control! They can control what they offer for lunch...what is available for purchase. Now...i am only talking about lunchtime here...during the school day they can say no drinks in the rooms...thus the only thing they can drink is water from the fountain. If the kids are older though, they will be stopping at their lockers between each class...and they can easily keep a coke in there!

As for packing what you want...if there is a child that is way overweight...i would suggest that the school contact their parents and suggest a sit down with the district nutritionist and request that they not send soda and junkfood...that they go on the district's free meal plan and have the school feed him/her properly to hopefully get this kid back on the right track before it is too late!

Answer 3

I'm not getting involved in whether they should or not, but the reasoning behind it is really logical. When I was teaching, we had a trial week where the canteens didn't sell any liquid except water, and behaviour in lessons was a million times better. Obviously, we couldn't control what the kids brought in, but most kids had water instead of fizzy pop. Long term, this is better for hydration and for teeth, but short term - and I suspect this is why your school has done this - there are none of the additives and colourings and chemicals that cause silly behaviour, hyperactivity and mood swings, all of which cause huge disruption in lessons, and negatively affect concentration and short term memory.

Answer 4

Schools can't win with you people. If some kid sneaks in some kind of alcohol or other beverage that they should not have, parents immediately hold the schools responsible for not being able to control what their students are doing. As soon as they make a rule that would give them some kind of control over what is brought in and what the students do, those same parents immediately start complaining about that too!
Either let the schools raise your children, or raise your own damn children, but you can't have it both ways. If you don't want schools to make rules like this, than maybe we should hold the parents responsible when kids do something wrong at school or are in possession of something they shouldn't have, rather than always blaming school officials.
Kids that are raised right at home don't cause problems in schools, and if kids weren't causing problems in schools, than these rules wouldn't be neccesary!

Answer 5

I dont have any kids myself but i have heard this rule off other poeple. I think it is crazy. I think a child should be left to make there own decisions, it teaches them about making decisions and gets them ready for when they come to choosing what they want to do in life when they finish school. Ok so leaving a child to decide what they want to drink isnt hard, most are going to go for the fizzy ones. Why no just give them a choice of sugar free fruit juices, flavored waters, still/fizzy water. They are still having water then. Or why not give them milk. i heard this has also stopped in schools now. give them a bloodly chance! lol! x

Answer 6

If the issue is spilling, I could understand at least a little--juice causes stickiness, and it's harder to clean up. However, I think this is a little overboard. Water is healthy, but what about kids' Vitamin C?

Answer 7

Only drinking water in class makes sense at lunch is more strange. What about milk, we always got milk in school think that should be allowed too.

Answer 8

Everyone complains that schools don't get involved enough, and then they whine when they do.

Of course they should have control over what students eat and drink while they are there. Some parents can't be trusted to send their kids to school with something other than a PB&J on WonderBread, Pringles and a Capri Sun.

Answer 9

The reasoning behind this is sound, its to prevent kids from having drinks packed full of additives that can affect behaviour and learning. If a child is thirsty then water is the best drink for them. They are being encouraged to drink water as it offers the best hydration for them.

Answer 10

Load of rubbish, poor brats of today is being deprived of everything that is tasty and nice. Geez i am still alive and as healthy as you can get. People just want to force others to do what they think is right. Time all these tests and studies is put to better use. No salt, no sugar, no ruddy nothing, thank God i was brought up normally.