K-12 schools should ban junk food sales.

Hi, thanks for setting up the debate, it should be interesting. First, I would like to clarify exactly what the debate is about. I am assuming it is purely that "The vending machines should be removed", rather than "Junk food is bad for kids", because the two statements are not necessarily exclusive. One can believe that junk food is unhealthy whilst believing the vending machines should stay, or one can believe that junk food is fine, but still want the vending machines removed for other reasons. I will be arguing that the vending machines should stay, rather than arguing that junk food is good for kids. My view is that chocolate, sweets and fizzy drinks are not the optimal diet for a child, or indeed anyone, but I will be arguing in favor of keeping the vending machines in school anyway, as they are not only the preferred drinks for most kids in general, but what they are likely to be most used to drinking outside of school. That's why they're there in the first place - they're what kids want, and what kids like, therefore they make money. The decision to force kids to abstain from what they prefer dietary wise should be the decision of the parents alone, not the school. In support of the keeping the vending machines I will offer the following additional points: 1) School is not just a place of learning, it is a place of preparation. Kids are essentially being given the skills needed to survive and thrive in the real world. The real world contains vending machines - lots of them. By being exposed to things that exist in the real world, they can be taught how to make dietary decisions wisely. 2) Children are rebellious. If you prevent them access to the foods and drinks they enjoy, not only are they likely to get these things elsewhere, perhaps in a less controlled manner, but they are likely to resent you for violating their sense of freedom. In a recent case here in England, a student was banned because he was making about $50 a day selling fizzy drinks in a school that had banned them. He bought them in bulk outside of school, and sold them in secret in the playground. Funny how school often mirrors the real world, isn't it. Echoes of the war on drugs, perhaps. Children are just younger less learned versions of adults after all, and we should be careful not to treat them as a different species entirely. We don't ban vending machines in the real world, or the adult workplace, so we need a good reason to do so in schools, and I don't think great reasons exist. Even if such a student did not exist, more children would leave school premises at lunch times and buy sweets from local shops. 3) Vending machine foods and drinks while not optimal, are not particularly harmful. The machines usually contain mineral water for kids who wish to drink healthily, and for the others, the fizzy drinks are a nice reward for the children. Is your plan to ban fizzy drinks altogether, or only remove the vending machines? Should we check lunches to make sure there are no sweets, or foods we deem "not healthy enough"? As for the obesity epidemic, I do not agree that fizzy drinks in schools are a significant part of that problem.