by Richard Garcia // Staff Writer
Everyone’s been there. Your in class, stomach growling, and you look through your bag to find that you have a complete lack of anything to eat. Lucky for you, the kid two seats over is here to save the day with a bag of Hot Cheetos for the low, low price of one dollar. In this scenario, everyone involved wins right? The seller makes money, and the buyer walks away with a bag of chips that can satisfy his hunger, so is selling chips, candy, etc. really that bad? The simple answer is yes.
Let’s take a look at why some students sell in the first place. In an interview with Carson High Student freshmen Yahir Patino he stated that, “They [students] can actually, like, save it for their college years as well, or for things that they would go out and buy for school supplies.”
Patino makes a good point in that some students struggle financially at home, and selling chips is one way students can help parents, or even buy things that they would need for school such as notebooks, pens, pencils, etc. Students may also use this money to pay for things such as uniforms or other supplies for sports or activities that they participate in.Most students would agree with Patino, that students should be able to sell during school. However, if you look at this from the perspective of the school, you’ll see why selling food items becomes a bad idea.
“I don’t believe they [students] should. My main concern is safety for the student” replied Ms. Vasques, a CHS math teacher when asked for her opinion on the topic. “Once it’s known that they are selling chips, drinks, etc. then the student body knows that those students have money on them, and that makes them a target for being robbed.” She later added that, “Years ago we had an article on this in the school paper and they actually talked to kids who said they made $2000 a month selling things.”
She brings up a good point in that students often walk away with a lot of money from all of their transactions, roughly $100 a day in cash. If the student didn’t have a safe way of getting home such as a ride from a parent/guardian, it would be easy to follow them after school and catch them off guard. Unfortunately, even if this wasn’t a problem, the school wouldn’t be able to lift the ban anyway.
“California education code 49431, 49431.2, 49431.5, and 49431.7, the sale of candy, chips, soda, and high fat/high calorie items on campus is prohibited including for team/club fundraisers, and this applies throughout the entire school day.” read Dean Allen from the school dress and safety code
The ban isn’t simply from the school, or even the district, its from the state. These additions to the california education code are a result of Obama administration, more specifically Michelle Obama’s push to put healthier food items on school menus to reduce childhood obesity.
For the foreseeable future, the ban on students selling chips is here to stay, and while many students want to see it lifted, it’ll be better if it remains. The health and safety benefits of reducing obesity, and risk of students being a target of robbery outweigh the little monetary gain, that could be obtained in other ways such as a job, that a few students will receive.
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