The scene is one we are all familiar with — piles of textbooks, pages and pages of essays all next to an ever-growing pile of Styrofoam coffee cups and cans of energy drinks.
It’s not a stretch to say that many college students would have a harder time functioning if the University decided to ban the sale of energy drinks on campus. That’s just what the University of New Hampshire is considering doing.
The proposed ban comes on the heels of a survey of New Hampshire students that showed one-fifth of the student body has mixed alcohol and energy drinks in the past month.
UNH released what was a firm decision on Monday to ban the sale of energy drinks on campus by early next year. The administration then relented under intense criticism from students and the public, saying they would review the idea.
Whatever the outcome, this has raised the question whether universities should be able to regulate the health of its students.
While ASU has not even talked about banning energy drinks, it has tried to regulate students’ health over the past year by proposing a campus-wide ban on smoking. Now, those for this type of policy would argue that smoking is not in the best interest of a healthy public, but this violates the idea that a person can choose what they consume.
The same right should adhere to regulation of what food and drink the campus sells. This is excluding the fact that energy drinks alone have no relation to alcohol. What a person eats and drinks is their choice.
“These drinks have a similar caffeine content as coffee and do not contain alcohol. Since it would not be right to ban the sale of soda, coffee or tea on a college campus, it’s also inappropriate and unwarranted to single out and restrict the sale of energy drinks,” Red Bull said in a statement.
Orange juice, tonic water and pizza are other compliments to adult beverages, but removing those items from the shelf seems far-fetched.
A line has to be drawn.
If a public university can successfully ban energy drinks, who is to say that coffee, tea, soda and other junk foods might not be next?
It is important to realize there is a difference between pulling unhealthy food and drinks from a middle school and a university.
Even a middle school is contentious, but the argument of teaching children to eat healthily carries a bit more weight than an administration trying to impose a moral agenda on a group of young adults.
If UNH moves forward with their ban on selling energy drinks on campus, other universities across the country may get the idea to make similar policies. Such a scenario would be more than unfair to students.
Poor diets are no doubt a real problem in this country, but a better solution would be to subsidize healthy foods to make them cheaper. The most we can do are make healthier foods and drinks more cost-effective and promote the importance of a weekly exercise routine. Hopefully, the University of New Hampshire comes to the same conclusion.
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