I don't think that this is so stupid. For the most part any other place can control what they sell and when, with obvious legal exceptions like beer and wine. It isn't the responsibility of the school to make carbonated beverages available whenever a kid wants them, and I can see why schools wouldn't want to. But in this case they are screwed I think. One idiot parent will sue that they are taking away their kid's rights by restriciting the machines. Then another idiot parent will wait until the restrictions are lifted and sue because little Johnny got fat. They can't win on this one.

In my opinion, the kids should just STFU and take what they can get. Until they are 18 their parents are responsible for everything that they say and do, so yes, their rights are somewhat restricted.

Umm... our cocacola machines had timers on them back in 1993-1994, that was 10 years ago... :)

And I didnt see it say one thing about timers in that article, and like bwave said, my schools had them back in middle school, a good 10 years ago....

My high school wasn't smart enough to use the timer method. They just locked up the vending machine except for lunchtime and after school.

Fatty McGee wants to guzzle coke like it was water, thats his business. Doesn't mean the school has to support him.

Get used to Atlanta owning your soul now, by 2012 it'll be too late...

What about when the kids use the school grounds to play ball on the weekends?Will somebody please think of the children!

Who the hell submitted this article? Some 350lb 12 year old who needs to drink a soda every hour just to make it through Math class?

For christ sake, we were lucky to get water during the day. And we liked it.

I brought my own damn soda. Or just buy one when you CAN buy them and save it for later.

hell, we used to put vodka in our water bottles.

Our school's soda machine had a timer on it. We couldn't buy soda until 1pm.

I guess there is nothing more to add here -- I agree that it is not at all stupid to add time limits to when soda can be sold.

But here is a fascinating concept that you could try: raise taxes, and set aside additional funds for schools. That may reduce schools' reliance on soda companies.

Anyway, I'm from Norway, so taxes (and air-rage, I guess) may be running in my blood...

hell, yeah stryper. the old vodka water bottle thing got me through three years of high school.

When I was in school, we didn't even need timers on the machines. When the school didn't want kids buying Coke, the janitor would turn the machine off. Simple as that.

And when I was in ELEMENTARY school, we didn't need Coke machines, period. We had the drinking fountains, and we survived just fine.

Really, kids shouldn't be drinking soda pop in school, anyway. They always end up spilling that shiat, which leaves nasty sugary sticky spots on the already filthy-ass floor. If kids can't go for six hours without a sugary pick-me-up, that's their problem, not the school's.

This is way old news, they had these when I was in high school and they had the nasty habit of shutting off after you put your money in, but before you poked the coke button.

Damn those bastards! All they want to do is make money keep idiot kids from spritzing coke cans in the middle of class and turning into caffeine hyped soda monkeys.

They just lowered a big metal door over the pop machines when they didn't want them to be used...

At my school, vending machines sell beverages for $1. The cafeteria sells an identical product for $1.25. My school disables them during, and immediately preceeding lunchtime. I hope they have to answer to the Coca-Cola Corporation, to pseudo-quote Bat Guano.

But think about the underweight people...like me!

drinks from a 2 liter Pepsi bottle

I despise corporate america

I also agree with tharre. It's sad that so many American schools need corporate sponsorship to stay afloat. Call me a pinko biatch, but I find it disgusting that local governments refuse to allot more money for schools that have broken windows and panels falling out of the ceilings, like my middle school did.

We have the machines, they just don't work. And then they tease us: They install something called Swerve, and don't turn the damn machine on. I wanna get my Swerve on and I'm denied. biatches.

At least I can get my Yoo-Hoo out of the cafeteria.

How's this one: My school didn't even HAVE a farking coke machine.

You got water, or WATER.

GOOD.

You should thank Coca Cola for not giving your kids the diabeets!

I never knew this suffering. But it never seemed an issue that the soda machines we had were in strategic locations. Such as, one in each gender's locker room, and one in the cafeteria. Therefore, we could only access them during the periods we had lunch, or P.E.

Strangely enough, I was under the mistaken idea that Mt. Dew was a beer of some sort.
I never bought or drank any. And I never questioned the moral conundrum of having a "beer vending machine" in the cafeteria where students and faculty could access it.

Some schools don't have much of a break between classes except for lunch. Is it really necessary to further diminish the access students have to soda (caffiene?)

I had that stupid shiat all throughout highschool! That was ages ago, how can this be NEWs?

I think it would be a better idea to add timers to the children to determine when they can make noise.

It's about time. Kids need a little structure since the idea of parents is so far gone. I mean if you're going to leave it to school, television and other kids to raise your kids, you should hope that someone is making some rules.

My school has had these for the past 6 years... wow, this is BIG FARKING NEWS!

Besides, everybody found out how to reset the clock on the internet, and they buy them anyway. Of course, no soda, but you can get NONCARBONATED sugar-water such as Powerade, Brisk, and Frutopia. Because it's much better. While you're at it, grab some Swedish Fish out of the vending machine.

BUT NO SODA UNTIL 2:35!

Does anyone remember that weird shiat, Surge, that they sold in middle schools for about ten minutes? It had like twice the sugar of Coke, yet someone had the brilliant idea of selling it to hormonal, hyperactive twelve year olds. Plus, the stains it left when it spilled looked like nuclear waste. It tasted like ass, too. Carbonated ass.

Couldn't they just unplag the machine.

Eh, I think the bigger problems are what schools serve for lunch. I went to a very expensive preppy private middle school/high school, and despite the money going through it, the cafeteria was awful. The daily menu was spaghetti, burgers, fries and pizza. Their healthier foods, like salads were awful, came in small portions, and were the most expensive items. So basically everyone that purchased their lunch at the cafeteria had a burger, fries and ice cream nearly every day of the week. Not only did we have a soda vending machine, but there was also a tastecake vending machine. I imagine the same is at most schools.

The machine will need to have it's own web server so you can check to see if the drinks are cold before you trek to another building.

This actually reminds me...

In HS my Science Olympiad team always way out spent the money our school gave us. So we asked the school if we could sell candy and use the profit to expand our budget. They said sure. Because of the layout of the school, all the middle schoolers would go through this one building, down this one hallway to get their rides home from school. So we would setup a few tables in this hallway. We would buy about $200 of candy in bulk, mark it up, and in 2 days selling for about 30 minutes each day would be sold out and net about $500.

hell, yeah stryper. the old vodka water bottle thing got me through three years of high school.

The timer should be set to 24/7 without access. With one exception, if you can run a mile in 7 minutes or less, or do 50 pushups, or 15 chin ups, then you can have your little sugary caffeinated treat.

stryperswyne: that never gets old, still use that in college... nothing like the vodka in the water bottle ;p

now on to the article, i just graduated from a school brought to you by coca-cola, not a bad idea i guess, but coke got shafted becuase the vending machines did have timers 5 years ago

My school's policy was to not have the machines on (or to just lock them, depending) during times when we could buy food from the cafeteria. I can see the point, and it would have been fine with me, but the people who were responsible for this were realy just too lazy to ever unlock the farking things.

SuburbanCowboy: I can do all of those EXACTLY.

I am the epitome of just-good-enough-ness.

Yeah, well, we're IN Georgia (land of Coke), but we have Pepsi machines. I'm a sophomore, but last year we could get Cokes, snacks, etc. whenever.
Now, they have those damn locks, but they sell "Fruitworks" for $1, when you could get it for 75 cents when we had machines.
My lunchroom, though, runs a racket. You get these chicken sandwiches for $1.75 (they taste better than the regular lunches, which run for $1.50, or salad which runs for $1.75), chips for $1 (which at the store cost 50 cents), and Gatorade for $2. Bottled water? Yes, for $2.
Did I mention our lunches are junk, like hamburgers, hot dogs, fries? And we don't have a screening process for our ladies. Nope, we take them right out of "Gov't Assisted Housing" (The ghetto). Lovely. They'll be hired, gone for a few weeks (arrested or so), then come back.
Right in Lee County, GA. I want back to Peachtree City!

Now, I just bring my Soup-At-Hand, Cheese-Nips, Peach, and a small desert, and then buy a Fruitworks.

The better solution:

Parent: "I don't want you buying soft drinks at school. Or else."
Kid: "Okay."

Parent finds out kid drank soft drink. Punishes him. Kid learns life has consequences.

Unfortunately, some time during the past 40 years, "adults" decided it'd be easier to be "buddies" to their kids instead of parents.

It's called unplugging the damn machine and keeping security nearby. That's what my highschool did. We also had snack machines with timers so students couldn't buy the less expensive stuff out of the machine instead of spending $1.50 for a snickers.

pull the vending machines out of schools altogether... kids don't need that crap (alhtough they might want it)

My school does this. You can buy anything most of the day, but at lunch everything gets shut off so you'll buy the overpriced crap in the cafeteria. The soccer moms complained about all the evil unhealthy soda last year so for about 2 weeks there was nothing but fruitopia and some nasty canned milk that came in flavors like banana strawberry, but when nobody bought it the school put the unhealthy stuff back.

DAMN THOSE SOCCER MOMS!
THAT'S HOW MY LITTLE PLIGHT HAPPENED!

Right after one of our broadcast channels made a little story of it.

An even better limit would be not giving kids money to get whatever the fark they wanted. If your children have a disposable income, then you shouldn't be surprised if they waste it on stupid or unhealthy purchases.

I brought a lunch from home for 95% of my schooling, from elementary school all the way to senior year of high school. I had a few bucks I had stored for absolute emergencies, but I had no steady supply of one dollar bills for the vending machines.

On the other hand, I went to class with kids who had some sort of steady income (although I'm not sure if it was from parents or from after-school jobs) who'd open their first 20-ounce bottle of Pepsi by 8:10AM.

In a related vein, at Speech and Debate tournaments schools would almost always cut off their vending machines during a tournament (those who didn't made like no money from drinks, heh). By senior year, we got bold enough to plug in the machines, buy a drink, and unplug them again.

Regardless of what we THINK this will accomplish, is it right? Will it actually do what it says? If the answer to either is no, then there is no justification to deny young people the ability to buy sodas. If they do, it's between them and their parents.

(If I was in school)If I want a soda, I should be able to buy one, period. If your mom doesn't like you buying sodas, that's between you and her. If my mom doesn't like me buying sodas, that's between me and her.

As "adults", we are supposed to prepare them for adulthood. What sort of message does this kind of crap send? That they should entrust their well being to everyone and anyone but themselves.

Where do they get to learn not only HOW to make decisions, but what the consequences are?

Also, people of school age are regularly tried as adults. It seems kind of weird to tell a 14 year old that they can't buy sodas at school because a bunch of whiny soccer moms don't want "children" to buy sodas during school, but should that 14 year old break the machine trying to get a soda anyway those same soccer moms would want him tried as an adult or held as accountable as one in the juvenile court.

Pointless, ineffctive rules do not have any justification for existence, regardless of what politically unpopular group they are aimed at and regardless of what people think it might be able to accomplish.

Perhaps the schools could allow kids to play dodge ball again, that may help reduce this obesity "epidemic". Maybe allowing little kids to run around the playground playing "cops and robbers" will get them used to physical activity. Perhaps we could dial down the crazy a little when it comes to letting them outside, while understanding but not exaggerating the risks.

The fact that you list the ACLU as your favourite site sickens me.

Unfortunately, some time during the past 40 years, "adults" decided it'd be easier to be "buddies" to their kids instead of parents.

I'm glad that someone else has recognized this trend.

My kids are well aware that they are my kids and that their mother and I are in no uncertain terms their parents. They know that they have no reasonable expectation of privacy and that I will stoop as low as necessary to know where they are and what they are doing at all times. They are still pretty young, so I don't have much to worry about right now. I am the kind of father that will have their cars low-jacked when they are older so that they can be traced. GPS is becoming cheaper and cheaper...

"It's about time. Kids need a little structure since the idea of parents is so far gone. I mean if you're going to leave it to school, television and other kids to raise your kids, you should hope that someone is making some rules."

Maybe, but each aspect of this "structure" should be legitimate, effective, and right. We can't just do whatever we want to young people under the guise of "giving them structure" or filling in for our perceived lack of structure. Even dumber is "giving them structure" in one area just to make up for a perceived lack of structure in a totally different area.

Your statement is along the lines of "we can't just stand here, we have to do something."
This sort of thinking is exactly what has led to the impulsively passed laws we all suffer under now.

No one wants to stop and ask themselves, "Does this even make sense?" "Is this the right thing to do?" "Will this work?" "Is there a better, less restrictive, way to do this?"

When it comes to problems involving young people, everyone turns off their common sense filter and logic and rational thought go away. Hysteria, knee jerk reactions, and "feel good" policy become the rule rather then exception.

We seem to think that restriction, coercion, and compulsion are really better then suggestion and education. By only getting restrictions, they are worse off then if they had neither education nor restrictions.

Young people, the presumed "future of the country", deserve better then hamfisted, one-size-fits-all rules.
They deserve to be taught how to develop good decision making skills, not simply denied the ability to make even the most trivial of decisions on the basis that they will not only make the wrong decision, but the worst possible one with the worst possible consequences.

Wait...we've had those on our vending machines for years... =\

"The fact that you list the ACLU as your favourite site sickens me."

I'm guessing that's aimed at me.

Since one can support certain aspects of a group while opposing others, I'm curious to know what about them and/or me listing them sickens you.

As "adults", we are supposed to prepare them for adulthood. What sort of message does this kind of crap send? That they should entrust their well being to everyone and anyone but themselves.

Where do they get to learn not only HOW to make decisions, but what the consequences are?

Well, for one thing we don't give someone who is not yet an adult the ability to make all of their own choices, because they aren't ready to handle the consequences. I'm sure that every sixteen year old in the world thinks that he or she is "mature" enough to handle everything, but responsible parents know through experience that someone still in high school knows zilch about life and how to handle the consequences of bad choices. This is where the role of teacher becomes so important.

My parents always taught me to trust them. They never lied to me when I asked them questions and they always led by example. When they made bad choices they weren't ashamed to let me know what they did to get in the position that they were in. That way I experienced life's lessons vicariously through them. I saw what happened when things went bad and I learned from it. I was never shielded from the harsh realities like so many kids are.

I'm trying to do the same thing with my kids, and I only hope that I can be as good of a parent as mine were.

Yeah, such timers exist. My school's Coke machine flashes 'NO' 'SALES' 'UNTIL' '1 PM'. At 1, it lights up and starts accepting cash. We've had these machines for about 4 years.

"The fact that you list the ACLU as your favourite site sickens me."

I'm guessing that's aimed at me.

Since one can support certain aspects of a group while opposing others, I'm curious to know what about them and/or me listing them sickens you.

"They are still pretty young, so I don't have much to worry about right now. I am the kind of father that will have their cars low-jacked when they are older so that they can be traced. GPS is becoming cheaper and cheaper..."

While I may disagree with that, that is your right as a parent. I, when I have kids, will not choose to do that.

What seems to be happening is that parents who think like you seem to think that what's OK for their kids is OK to force on other people's kids.

If you want to lojack and GPS your kids, fine. But, don't expect other people to do the same to their kids, and don't expect other people to support it. If your son or daughter hops a ride with a non-GPS'd kid, that's between you and your kid.
No else's kid should be GPS'd so you can track your kid.
That is where part of this soda debate comes in.

This article is way behind the times.. I remember my highschool having these 6-7 years ago, and my girlfriend says hers had them too...

There are machines that when the temp outside goes up, so does the price. When the temp goes down, the price does also.

"Well, for one thing we don't give someone who is not yet an adult the ability to make all of their own choices,
because they aren't ready to handle the consequences"

True, but this doesn't mean we should take away their ability to make any and all of their decisions. It seems that we are passing more and more rules and justifying them each time by saying that young people aren't adults and aren't ready to make decisions.
At the same time, we're demanding "adult" behavior out of them and holding them accountable like adults at younger and younger ages.

Teens can't seem to win, young people that act young are treated with condemnation and derision and told to "act their age"-when they might just be, called immature, or even better,told to "act like an adult".
Teens who are mature and respectful and would like be treated as such in return are condemned and derided as "precocious", and are told "You are only XX years old, you can't handle doing that/making that decision."

What seems to be happening is that parents who think like you seem to think that what's OK for their kids is OK to force on other people's kids.

First of all, I never said I wanted to force anything on anyone else's kids. If you don't want to give your kids boundaries when you have them that's fine with me. I don't give a crap. But I suspect that a great number of your opinions will change once you have children and you are responsible for their safety and wellbeing.

You can always tell the kids that don't have boundaries. They are the ones screaming in the toy store when they don't get what they want. They are the ones running all over the restaurant disturbing everyone. They are the ones that hate their parents for bringing them into the world. They are the majority of ones running the streets high on drugs or pregnant, and its ok with their parents because they are just "expressing" themselves.

I don't expect that my kids will never get into trouble. I expect that they will make mistakes. But I can guarantee that it won't be because I wasn't the best parent I could be. It won't be because I didn't make the effort to know where they were and what they were doing.

Man, SOMEONE is behind the times. My old high school, four years ago, put timed locks on their PEPSI machines. Mainly the locks were for the lunch hour. I guess they figured that they're cafeteria food was greasy enough and didn't want the kids guzzling caffine with it.

Any other time the locks were off. It really farked with them when we had delays/early outs, though, because they were set up to only do it the same time every freaking day, so there were days you could get away with it.

In other news, caffine is evil. [drinks caffine free dew, dodges bullets]

I'm still waiting to be able to buy soda with my non-existant cell phone, dammit.

Ya, on the one hand we have Ambercrombie and Finch with their new catalog that features underage kids almost engaged in an orgy, but the thought of allowing them to drink soda (something they probably drink non-stop everywhere else if they choose to) is out of the question, lets get some timers on those machines!

I wonder if their drugs have timers on them?

True, but this doesn't mean we should take away their ability to make any and all of their decisions. It seems that we are passing more and more rules and justifying them each time by saying that young people aren't adults and aren't ready to make decisions.
At the same time, we're demanding "adult" behavior out of them and holding them accountable like adults at younger and younger ages.

Nobody has taken away a teen's right to make all of their own decisions. At least that isn't the way it was the last time I checked.

You don't seem to understand a very basic idea, but I'm not going to try to make you. The last thing I'll say on this is the following:

Teens are not yet adults. They have to grow into responsibility, and their parents are the best judges of when they are ready for responsibility. If they want to be taken seriously and be given responsiblity then they need to act responsibly. If they can't then they don't deserve it. Nobody has the right to respect. Respect must be earned. And when someone whines that they aren't respected and treated like an adult then they likely aren't going to be.

Timers...locks??????

We had soda available all the time in high school and that was 14 years ago.

Sounds like soda Nazi's to me.

My high school had to be shut down for a day because the water was so full of chlorine. I would much rather drink soda than the shiate that comes out of the fountain.

They had timers on coke machines back in the 80's.The janitor would open the closet the machines were in at 2p.m. after classes let out.

Parent finds out kid drank soft drink. Punishes him. Kid learns life has consequences.

And how will they accomplish this?

1. "Johnny? Did you have soda today?" (lies) "No, mom!" "good boy!"

2. The new drug/hair test for soda. Find out if your kids are drinking soda.
Test comes up positive for soda.. "Why, Johnny, WHY?!?!"
Rash of unauthorized soda consumption sparks after school specials. "Next, on ABC: He'll do anything for another drink. "But Johnny, it's not time yet!" "I don't care, I want that soda NOW!" Even put his friends at risk "But Johnny! I thought you were my friend. How could you do this to me!" Now, Johnny's life is at risk "Beep....beep.....beeeeeeeep!" "CLEAR!" Johnny does the DEW
Commercials follow... "It was just soda!" "When I say no soda, I mean no soda." "She, is the Enforcer!" "I'm a mom who cares."

and so forth. It'll never work that way.

Rip these things out. No amount of revenue they generate for the school is worth having them in there. The only vending machines that should be in a school are water. If kids just have to have their soda with lunch, they can put one in the sack lunch.

"First of all, I never said I wanted to force anything on anyone else's kids."

No you didn't. I should have phrased that differently.

"If you don't want to give your kids boundaries when you have them that's fine with me."

That's the other issue that comes up a lot. Whenever one person doesn't give their kid same type of boundaries as another, they are accused of setting no boundaries.

"But I suspect that a great number of your opinions will change once you have children and you are responsible for their safety and wellbeing."

I've taken great pains to write down what I've said I would never do.

"They are the ones that hate their parents for bringing them into the world. They are the majority of ones running the streets high on drugs or pregnant, and its ok with their parents because they are just "expressing" themselves."

I know cops and preachers kids who did all of these things times 10 and they had nothing but boundaries and structure. They were worse then the kids who had less or "no" structure/boundaries.

I always though that they did these things to feel some level of control over their lives, they have to get outside of their parents sphere of control, escape their boundaries, topple their "structure", whatever. This is where they run into problems. All along they have been structured and boundaried, many times without an explanation worthy of their intelligence.

"I don't expect that my kids will never get into trouble. I expect that they will make mistakes. But I can guarantee that it won't be because I wasn't the best parent I could be. It won't be because I didn't make the effort to know where they were and what they were doing."

They have to make mistakes. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that the people who never got to make mistakes as kids, grew up to be messed up adults.

This isn't aimed solely at you, but is more a general comment
Some people think that "Being the best parent" means always saying no, always making rules(setting boundaries), and never compromising-dictator style.

Some think it means little or no rules, no boundaries, all compromise-anarchy style. All of these seem to lead to lack of development self-discipline which I think is the key to a good person and successful adult.

I think a great parent is someone who is generally in between and is willing to occasionally fall towards the anarchy side rather then be a full time dictator.

Changing subjects a little:
Schools always say they are starting nutritional education programs, but then they lock the machines anyway. Shows an awful lot of faith in their teaching, doesn't it?

Trust me, it is annoying when one of your students asks to go to the bathroom, takes 20 minutes, comes back with a soda, and then askes, "What did I miss?"


Yes it is. Very annoying. In fact, I wouldnt let them back into class.

Timers are alright if the teacher's have their own vending machine. It would suck if I couldnt buy a snack on my planning period.

Plus its fun to yell at the kids using the machines during class :)

"Nobody has taken away a teen's right to make all of their own decisions. At least that isn't the way it was the last time I checked."

We're steadily moving towards it though. What isn't immune from being legislated away from young people on the weak basis that they aren't adults yet?

"Teens are not yet adults. They have to grow into responsibility, and their parents are the best judges of when they are ready for responsibility."

Assuming you mean adults in the age based sense:the fact that are not "adults" is irrelevant. Using that measure, a person can go from being a non-adult to an adult in mere microseconds.

Yes, they do have to grow into reponsibility. But, like everything else that grows, they grow at their own pace.

Some people figure out/are helped to figure out responsibilty very quickly. Others don't catch on as fast and/or are not given the right tools to develop it.
Using our current method of judging people based on age, both are treated the same. This is where the no-win situation for teens comes in-they are either immature or precocious, neither of which is looked on favorably.

If each individuals parents are the best judge of responsibilty, why are we wo reliant on age based third party restrictions? If my mom/dad is the best judge of abilities, why does a young person have to be denied the ability to even buy a soda at school because another kids parents don't think he/she's ready?

The restrictions are either appealing to the lowest common denominator OR because some parents misjudge their kids abilities, either way the restrictions are blatantly disrespectful to all those who are mature and responsible.

"If they want to be taken seriously and be given responsiblity then they need to act responsibly. If they can't then they don't deserve it."

This is another conundrum for teenagers.
How can they act responsibly if they're not allowed to take the necessary steps to do so?

Our society chastises all teenagers for being irresponsible and then takes steps/implements policies that almost ensure they won't be able to demonstrate responsibility. This is a self-fueling, self-defeating cycle that is, sadly, almost always based on the actions of a fraction of a fraction of teenagers.

"Nobody has the right to respect. Respect must be earned. nd when someone whines that they aren't respected and treated like an adult then they likely aren't going to be."

Absolutely true, but this statement has equal force for "adults" who complain that young people today have no respect.

"If kids just have to have their soda with lunch, they can put one in the sack lunch."

Give the admins time, they will call this a "loophole" and restrict it as well. Some schools, in Texas I believe, don't allow students to bring in outside sodas as part of the overall ban on sodas in schools.

These measures are less about health, well being, and care, and more about control and flexing their regulatory muscles.

"Trust me, it is annoying when one of your students asks to go to the bathroom, takes 20 minutes, comes back with a soda, and then askes, "What did I miss?" "

Sounds like they are abusing their ability to leave the class for restroom breaks, the same way many of us in high school did when we would go smoke or hangout.

Perhaps you should treat them the same way a college professor would, tell them to find out from someone else on their own time or give them a WTF? kind of look.

God damn it this is stupid. Drinking soda is the least of anyone's farking worries. I agree, the fat kid probably shouldn't be buying sodas for breakfast but that's his choice. Man, everytime I read about some shiat like this I think of George Carlin and the "pussification" of people in general. When some kids came in shooting, the class kept right on with their arithmetic. 20 classmates - 5 classmates = 15 classmates.

This would a "Wow! That's a great idea!" thing if it wasn't for the fact this has been there since the early '90s. Not only Coke, but Pespi machines (woah) have been doing this. The person who submitted this, and the person who approved this should really start using the dust in their heads.

In addition, vending-machine timing devices will be offered so schools can control when products are sold

When I was in high school 5 years ago, they had a similar type of control...it was a key. The machine was set to vend/not vend manually, by the office staff.

STRYPERSWINE

hell, we used to put vodka in our water bottles.

You're not alone. :)

My old school had timers on their machines.

/didn't read article, waste of suger/energy

Permafrost Awesome, that was hilarious. I like the play on that stupid anti-drug commerical.

Also, while we could buy soda at any time in my high school, we could only have clear water bottles in the classrooms.

Pepsi practically owns the school district here. They make tons of money off of all their vending machines. I know kids who buy 2-3 Mountain Dews everyday. The school I go to never shut off the vending machines because that would mean less profit for Pepsi, which would mean less of a percentage for the school itself. But then again, I do attend an Oregon school, and they gotta make money anyway they can.

Especially in elem. school, PARENTS should KNOW how much money a kid has and how they are spending it. A drinnnnk a day is at least 50 cents.
$2.50 a week spent and the kid only gets that much or so in allowance, HOW is the parent teachong the value of money?
Parent is a VERB. Do it.
Soda is not evil. But not paying attention and teachig your child, is.

Good. They shouldn't have soda machines at school anyhow.

Good.

Another reason is this will prepare young people for their first, low-paying jobs where their bosses will do these things to them.

At my school they don't give a shiat u can go and grab a drink durin class and they won't say anything. Drink em in class too in all the rooms except computer labs. The money's gotta come from somewhere...

Actually, pedrop357,

The only reason why you say about a good parent falls toward anarchy is because you, yourself, are a teenager. I'm a sophomore, and I quitely don't give a flying fark.
Obviously you, buddy, strolled on in here looking for an argument and turned it into a battle of demagoguery. (I don't know if you really know what that means or not, considering it looked like you were trying to appear intelligent. Bad maskjob.)
Oh, and on the ACLU thing, you just gave a good impression of the typical ACLU fanatic. Good job, buddy!
Oh, and, good night. Have your sweet pinko dreams.

"The only reason why you say about a good parent falls toward anarchy is because you, yourself, are a teenager."

NO, I knew and know too many people whose parents erred towards, and ended up always being on, the dictator side.
They were no better and in some cases worse off because of it.

The reason I prefaced so many remarks with (If I were in school) and tried to speak in hypotheticals was to convey the fact that I am not a teenager.

As for assumptions, the first three letters of the word generally spell out the person making them

"I'm a sophomore, and I quitely don't give a flying fark."

That's cool. People who truly don't care generally don't say anything, because they don't give a fark.

"Oh, and on the ACLU thing, you just gave a good impression of the typical ACLU fanatic. Good job, buddy!"

Care to explain how? This is the second time you criticized me about the ACLU while providing zero reasons why.

I like the ACLUs stance on core civil right issues-amendments 1,4,5,6,7, and 8, am opposed to their stance on affirmative action and taxpayer funded entitlements, and totally disagree with them on what the 2nd amendment means.

ReBurninator

You are going to be in a world of hurt, take for example Me and my older brother. My parents did the whole hardass nazi thing on him, and when he moved(out of state for college) he became such a partyer that he flunked out of high school, and now he works at Wall-Mart and tries to make ends meet. On the other hand, I was allowed my privacy and my parents wern't so strict with me, beause they were too busy punishing my brother and using me as an example("You see, he gets to stay out late because he is a good boy) and right now I am doing fine in college, in the same town as my parents.

You don't need to be your kids' buddy, but you shouldn't be their dictator, you need to be their father and relize that your kids are going to fark up somewhere along the line growing up, and if you try to prevent this they will grow up to hate you. Its sad, my brother dosen't come home anymore for anything, the only time he would talk to my parents was when he was calling for me.

Heh. My high school has the coke machines set up on timers so that they can only sell stuff before and after school. In other words, YOU CAN'T USE THE COKE MACHINES DURING LUNCH. So we all just walk across the street and buy them some place else. I'm surprised Coca-Cola is fine with this, because you would think that they would get most of their income from lunch time sales.

Kids drink too much sugar-filled crap anyway.

Should get the "asinine" tag. Let people get a farking drink when they're thirsty, jeez.

our school had vending machines in the cafeteria and after lunch they just locked out the cafeteria. so we would just go to the vending machines in the gym for the sports patrons and use it and walk back to class

We have kids that are failing 6th grade-level reading/writing tests, school shootings, etc...and this shiat is important? I say let the little farkers rot their teeth...it might keep them awake during class so they might actually *GASP* learn something.

yeah. we just didn't have soda machines til high school. in middle school we had snapple and snack machines, but no soda, since it made messes.

eh. i think the whole controlled soda idea is a load of crap, but my childhood/adolescense was different than the kids' today. i know some kids who weren't allowed to drink soda, ever, who went a little nuts in high school, but it wasn't that big of a deal.

You know, in places like the Netherlands, where soda is no longer a controlled substance, there is a much lower rate of use amoung kids. Maybe if schools didn't make such a big deal about kids on coke, there would be less kids doing coke.

Oh, and why would soda make more of a mess than snapple? From people shaking it up, or what?