Kids: Uninformed and Selfish? No Way!

Eric Nelson, today

Eric Nelson, his past revealed




I have seldom been so impressed with high school students as I was today. I know I rip on my school sometimes for the things it does in the name of education which are not educational, as I see them. However, a group of students proved to me that they HAVE been paying attention, they DO care about themselves and their schoolmates, and, sometimes, they are much smarter than we adults are.
Embroiled in a "soda in school in spite of health concerns" controversy, our student council stood up and told all of us that they would NOT like to see unhealthy drinks be part of our school. In fact, they insisted that only water, milk and 100% juice be offered in our vending machines! I was quite pleased that they had the courage to stand and deliver. The fact that our adults never considered such a move, at least en masse, was not as big of a surprise as this demand on their part. As a result, we will have a contract with a soft drink company, but no soda pop will be part of it.(18 teaspoons of sugar in a 20 oz. bottle, not to mention caffeine, various dyes and phosphoric acid) Hooray for our kids!
I managed to find the officers of our student council and thank each one personally, and each seemed to think it was no big deal since there was only one logical choice: no unhealthy beverages! While the whole organization and its advisor, Eric Nelson, are to be commended, the officers get special mention (only because they're the only four names I can remember!) Amanda Vandenack, Kyle Reindl, Kayte Dettman and Jeff Presslein are going to be the future which will make me proud to have taught them, even though they are astute enough not to need me!
And, although it was a clever tactic to put a sign on the Coke machine designating it as "Out Of Order 2005-2006," I had nothing to do with it. It does, however, give me additional hope for our student population as individualists who think for themselves instead of accepting the lockstep directions which we think (sometimes) are so useful. I must admit, though that the administrator seems to feel positively about limiting access...he's got possibilities.
The rest of us should think about what taurine is (thanks to Mr. Vandervest for the info.) and ask themselves, "Am I really drinking this in my high energy drink?" NO BULL!