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Monday 13 October 2014

Debating On School Vending Machines

By Jocelyn Davidson


The phrase vending machine is one that is used to refer to a machine which sells items to consumers without necessarily using a cashier. Some examples of things that can be sold using these devices are snacks and beverages. They can be installed in public institutions like hospitals and schools where many people can access them. Many people however debate the issue of having school vending machines. Others support their installation while others think it is harmful for the students. Here are some pros and cons of these selling machines in educational centers.

One of the advantages is that these devices can help to save a lot of time that the students would have spent going to the retail shops. School going children need to always use their time in a good manner and this can be achieved if they do not have to walk a long distance every time they want to grab something to eat. The machine usually has almost all the common snacks that a student would want.

The machine can also have an advantage to the school management as it can be used to make payments for instance for the activities or the computers. They can also use the devices to make sure that their students maintain a healthy diet by including only the healthy foods in the machine. These foods can be sold at a low price so that the students can afford.

The arguments illustrated above make it seem like the hawking devices have more good than harm especially to students. It is important to first look at the other side of the debate before making a decision because there are a significant amount of disadvantages too. The issues listed below are some of the disadvantages of having vending devices in schools.

Truth be told, many people only consider the profits they are going to make when putting up these devices but they do not deliberate on the health of students. School authorities make a lot of money by signing contracts with junk food companies to sell their products to students. This causes a lot of junk eating by the small kids.

Study shows that the cases of sugar related illnesses in children have been increasing drastically over the years. Some of these illnesses include diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and also arthritis. This has made some states to even ban completely the move to install the automatic vendors especially in learning institutions.

Most vending machines bring in a lot of money for the companies that own them. It will be unfair to force them to remove them from schools because it is a good market for their products. For this reason, the best move will be to control the kind of items that they sell to make sure they are only selling goods that are not harmful to students.

It is also necessary to educate the children about matters of healthy living so that they can understand why it is harmful for them to consume a lot of sugary items. If the facts about vending machines and the effects of consuming junks are explained to the children properly, they will be able to help in making a positive change which will promote their health.




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