Yiyao Tang
Kimberly Kern
IEP-7
November 21, 2014
Soft Drinks: Schools Should Take Care of It
Soft drinks are very popular among students. As a common knowledge, soft drink is a carbonated drink with lots of carbon dioxide and sugar, which can cause diseases such as obesity, liver damage, and kidney stones related diseases. “18 percent teens are obese worldwide, according to the 2008 data.” (Liu, teen obesity) as the statistics show, solely the state of New York has double the percentage of obese teens. (Kaiser family, Percent of Children who are obese) Consequently, it is important to educate young people to consume fewer soft drinks. The responsibility to instruct and monitor student’s consumption of soft drink does not only fall on the parents, it is also on the schools as well. The hours teenagers spend at school almost equal to the hours they spend at home, Therefore, it is necessary for the educators and parents to advice teens with the intake of soft drinks together. There are methods that can be enforced by the school to control the consumption of soft drinks by the teenagers, such as lowering the number of vending machines available at school or selecting healthy drinks for sell. At the same time, disseminate the causes of soft drinks. As stated by the disease control and prevention center, establishing healthy behaviors during childhood is easier and more effective than trying to change unhealthy behaviors later in adulthood (“School health”, n.d.). Schools play a critical role in promoting the health and safety of young people and helping them establish lifelong healthy behavior patterns, because during adolescent stage there are usually difficulties in the communication between parents and children.
It is better for teachers to communicate with teenagers compare to parents, because teachers are trained on educating children in different stages with specific methods. Keli (2013) who is an educator stated the emotional relationship between the parents and children leads to an exposure weaknesses of the parent in front of their children, which potentially weaken the position of parents in their children's eyes. Compared to teachers, most of parents are lacking in educational skills and the emotional attachments, they sometimes cannot offer their children with better help compare to the teachers.
School has the responsibility to guide students to a healthier life. Balanced nutrition has a direct connection to the student’s achievements in school. The North Carolina School Nutrition Action Committee (2002) stated that well-nourished children have better test results compare to their peers. Environment is also an important criterion to the children’s nutrient intake; since children spend most of the time in schools.
Some people argue that parents are more qualified to educate their children and they have more ways to restrain their children to have fewer soft drinks. For example, parents can reduce pocket money, which is the most efficient way to cut down the consumption of soft drinks. Parents can also be role models who teach and lead the kids to a healthier trend of life through years. Though it works, it takes a long time, and sometimes many parents even drink much pops. According to the report from the Ohio State University (2007), students feel more obligated