Should schools sign contracts with beverage companies in exchange for money?!!?

In the past 10 years, soft-drink companies and schools have formed unprecedented partnerships. In exchange for a school’s willingness to give the soft drink company the exclusive privilege of selling its products on campus, the soft drink company provides funds to the school.

Using your own knowledge and the material printed below, argue for or against this practice. Incorporate material from at least three of the sources provided here. Cite the source of the material in parentheses as Source A, Source B, etc.

Source A
In 1993, District 11 in Colorado Springs became the first public school district in the us to place ads for Burger King in its hallways and on the sides of its school buses. Later, the school district signed a 10-year deal with Coca-Cola, bringing in $11 million during the life of the contract. This arrangement was later imitated all over Colorado. The contracts specify annual sales quotas with the result that school administrators encourage students to drink sodas, even in the classrooms.

Source B
One of every four children is now overweight, double the number from two decades ago and rising every year. Complications due to the obesity epidemic�-high cholesterol, high blood pressure, insulin-resistant diabetes, and coronary plaque formation-�once were rare, but now are becoming common in the pediatrician’s office. Current childhood diet and exercise patterns will make the next generation the most overweight and least fit in this country’s history. For children of every socioeconomic level, daily food selections are high in calories and poor in quality. Only 1 in 100 children eat a balanced diet as described by the USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid; 16 percent of children do not fulfill the serving suggestions for any food group. All children take in fats and sugars-�including soft drinks-�far in excess of recommendations, accounting for nearly 40 percent of their calories.

Source D
“Kids and teachers who spend hour after hour after hour in school get thirsty,” says Coca-Cola spokesperson Scott Jacobson. “Every time they consume a beverage brought from home it’s a lost revenue opportunity for the school. So it’s kind of a ‘win win win.’ It’s good for us. Good for people who are thirsty who want our products. Good for schools.”

Source E
The school marketing efforts of the large soda companies have not gone entirely unopposed. Administrators in San Francisco and Seattle have refused to allow any advertising in their schools. “It’s our responsibility to make it clear that schools are here to serve children, not commercial interests,” declared a member of the San Francisco Board of Education.
Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation, 55.

NO, they should not. This is so wrong. Schools need to stop the growing obesity trend, not promote it. While I understand the need for money, couldn’t it be made by other ways? Even having a fruit/vegetable company sponsor them? I don’t know. All I’m saying is that this should definetly not happen, just because of sheer unhealthiness.

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