Final Blog

When I was in middle school, I was trying my best to eat healthy. It was probably one of the hardest things to achieve in my life, considering I was around junk food 24/7. Every day, I was surrounded by greasy pizza, sugary cookies, and salty chips. When I would come to lunch with a bagged lunch full with a sandwich and veggies, I would be left tempted to ditch the nutrition to fat and sugar. As you can guess, I often caved and traded up for cookies and grease. With junk food always being at my disposal at school, eating healthy was out of the question.

Although selling junk food in school vending machines brings in additional revenue, it is only detrimental to the health of students and should be an eliminated choice. If students have junk food at their disposal over the course of the whole school day, they will end up consuming more than they need.  Students are only going to eat what’s at their disposal and it is the job of the parents and school adults to get kids the nutrition they need so they know how to make healthy choices in the future. Kids don’t always know what is best for them, which is where parents come in. Having vending machines full of junk food is only contributing to the rising rate of obesity in this country, when it can easily be prevented.

Providing junk food in vending machines only contributes to child obesity.

Going through middle school, I was surrounded by certain students who would eat every chance they got and all the sugar they could get a hold of. Once I saw those same people later on after middle school, they looked completely different. Middle school seemed to be the heaviest years for them. According to Gary Ruskin in The Fast Food Trap, between 15 and 24 percent of American children are overweight—a threefold increase since the early 1970’s. And obesity continues to grow today. As this all shows, child obesity is a growing problem that needs to be addressed.  Gary Ruskin goes on to explain, that “of these occupational illnesses of childhood, obesity is probably the greatest. Certainly it is the most apparent, as a visit to just about any elementary school of mall will confirm.” Even asking opinions of my high school peers, they can all agree that schools are the main source to blame for this growing epidemic.

“The increase in soft-drink consumption has been similarly damaging to children’s health. Between 1977 and 1996, soda consumption among 12 to 19 year olds increased 75 percent for boys, 40 percent for girls.” (Ruskin) Kids are learning that abnormally high sugar intake is okay, when kids need to be taught how unhealthy that is. Kids don’t know how to make the wisest decisions from the beginning, we need to teach them and teach them while they’re young. This illustrates how sugar consumption is rising and taking a toll on the kids in today’s world. Junk food is available at every student’s fingertip: nearly 19 out of 20 high schools have vending machines that sell soda, while nearly 60 percent of elementary schools do. More than 70 percent of high schools sell chocolate candy in vending machines. (Ruskin) Students only become more distracted and hyped up with the more sugar they have in their system, which makes it more difficult for them to learn. Providing junk food in school cafeterias and vending machines is only making it harder for kids to learn. I know from my experience, the more caffeine or sugar I have in my body, the harder it is for me to focus and concentrate, especially in school.

Kids don’t always know what is best for them; therefore it is the parents’ job to guide them.

“Many '80s parents, who were (sometimes consciously and often not) hoping that the duties they no longer had time for at home might somehow be fulfilled at school,” told by Greg Crister. As you can see most parents leave it up to the school to provide and watch over their kids, when all that is doing is harming their health. Kida are always going to be around junk food no matter what, but if they were taught how to make healthy choices, then it wouldn’t be a problem. In the early 1990s ... a group of enterprising Pizza Hut salespeople asked: Why not ... sell the pizzas outside of the federally regulated cafeteria, say, out on the lawn, or on the playground? (Crister) The media wants to be anywhere they can. Selling junk food in schools is detrimental to the health of these growing students and is only going to turn them off to healthy eating for the rest of their lives if they don’t learn now. "We feel that teaching kids to lead a balanced, healthy lifestyle and make smart choices is more important than restricting one category of food," says Jennifer Phillips, a spokesperson for the American Beverage Association. If kids are educated on healthy eating habits, then having junk food around won’t be an issue. “That sort of engagement has worked at Nettelhorst, which was part of a pilot project that put salad bars in three Chicago elementary schools. A study of the project showed that without any nutrition education, few kids chose the salads; with education, the number doubled. On some days, nearly a third of Nettelhorst students choose salad. No junk food is available.” (Amanda Paulson)

Although many will argue that having vending machines full of junk food and sugary drinks will bring in revenue for the school, there are many other ways to achieve this. Schools could focus their time and effort into creating programs to teach kids about healthy eating habits. Schools could even allow students to manage and participate in bake sales. The list is endless on other ways schools can bring in revenue for themselves. It doesn’t just have to be from vending machines that suck students’ pockets dry of cash.

Middle schools and high schools should not be allowed to sell junk food in the cafeteria, vending machines, and athletic events anymore. It should be eliminated altogether. Eliminating junk food will put an end to numerous problems in the school systems today, such as these: childhood obesity being in the high percentages, kids eating more sugar than they need, and not being uneducated on healthy choices.

Everyone needs to work together on this or it won’t happen. People need to realize the problem that junk food being sold in schools is taking a huge toll on the students. Teaching schools other ways to being in revenue is one of the biggest things we can do. Also, creating programs to teach kids about healthy eating would be among the most affective ways to get across to students.

Works Cited

“Childhood Obesity.” National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

Harris, Gardiner. “A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools .” New York Times 7 Feb. 2010: n. pag. ProQuest Platinum. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

Kaufman, Marc. Washington Post Company 23 Mar. 1999: Fighting the Cola Wars in Schools. ProQuest Platinum. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

Schlafly, Phyllis. Fat Kids: Who’s Responsible? N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

“The Lunchroom Rebellion.” New Yorker 4 Sept. 2006: 72+. SIRS Knowledge Source. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

Yes

Junk food should be available to all kids in schools. Schools are not responsible for students' obesity, their parents are the ones who take the biggest role. Just because schools make junk food available to students, doesn't mean they have to eat it. Students can still make the choice of eating healthy alternatives to the sugary choices in vending machines and cafeterias. "Parents who want their children to eat better can send them to school with a lunch bag from home," says Phyllis Schlafly. Students also participate in physical activity every day whether it be from gym class or after school sports. Although many schools would love to place healthy food options in their cafeterias, many can afford to do so according to Ann Cooper, the new executive chef of the Berkeley public schools, in California. When schools sell junk food, they are making revenue for the school and when students have food at their disposal, they will have more energy to learn.

Accidental Love Book Summary

In Gary Soto's book, Accidental Love, Alicia is Marisa's best friend. Alicia ends up in the hospital when her boyfriend at the time, Roberto, crashed his car with her in the passenger seat. She had just found out his cheating lies during their relationship and was left heart broken. Marisa meets a boy named Rene when Roberto brings him with when he goes to visit Alicia in the hospital. In seeing Roberto there, Marisa automatically gets in a fight with him. Among the scuffle, Marisa and Rene get their phones mixed up. They meet up to exchange phones and begin to build a relationship. As time passed and they grew to know each other better, Marisa transferred to Rene's school. Beginning a whole new life, Marisa falls for Rene and they begin dating. Rene's mother, though, is not too found of this idea and she does what she can to break them up. Finally, she wins by finding out information about Marisa that ends up getting her sent her back to her old school. Once Rene finds out, he decided to leave his mom behind and move in with his dad who accepts his choices and lets him transfer with Marisa. Although there is more the Marisa and Rene's story, you will only find out by opening the cover of Accidental Love. 

 Accidental Love is a fantastic read. The story is easy to follow as it flows just right, giving you enough suspension to keep reading. Personally, my favorite genre to read is romance. If this is just like you, then I really recommend reading this book. Among the love story, there is heartache, troubling situations, and hardships. You see the main character, Marisa, overcome a lot to get to where she is in the end of the book. Every chapter kept me wanting to read more. Although some parts were longer and read slower with less interest, the majority of the book was captivating nonetheless. I was definitely glad I found this book and I want to look into other books written by Gary Soto. 

Argument #3

Claim:  Focusing gym classes on physical fitness and good health is a better solution than eliminating all junk food from schools.

Evidence:  A school district in Naperville, Illinois, that focused gym classes on teaching students physical fitness, health, and wellness instead of sports skills found that only three percent of its ninth graders were overweight. 

Warrant: Although some may say that focusing gym classes on teaching sports skills would be more beneficial for students, but I believe that students need to to focus more on physical fitness, health, and wellness. As you can see, in doing so, a school in Naperville only had three percent of its ninth graders overweight as opposed to 97 percent that wasn't. Teaching kids about health and wellness doesn't only benefit their diet choices, but their knowledge of physical education as well that will continue to help them in the future.

Argument #2

Claim:  When healthy choices are available along with junk food, students will tend to select the healthy options.

Evidence:  On a typical day at River Grove High School, the lunch featured grilled chicken breasts, rice, steamed broccoli, and a fruit cup of fresh watermelon cubes.  The cafeteria reported that 819 out of 1,120 students purchased this lunch selection, while the rest selected less healthy options.

Warrant: As you can see most students at River Grove High School on a typical day in the cafeteria pick the  healthier options. When students are at least presented with healthier options, they take advantage of that. Most kids like healthy food, but are never offered it. There will still be those students who choose less healthy food options, however, most students in this day in age, try to choose healthier options for themselves.

Argument #1

.  Claim:  Removing junk food in vending machines will not significantly reduce funds for important school programs.

Evidence:  According to one principal, her school now receives nearly $100,000 a year from vending machines.  That money is used to pay for girls’ and boys’ volleyball teams, boys’ and girls’ cross country track teams, and girls’ and boys’ gymnastics teams.

Warrant: In fact, having junk food in vending machines will significantly help the schools' budget for important school programs. In receiving extra money from profit from vending machines, schools will be able to put that money towards sports teams, learning programs, and new resources for classrooms. In bringing in nearly $100,000 just from vending machine revenue, schools will only benefit from keeping vending machines in schools.