|
CounterPunch
December
31, 2002
PepsiCo Kids
Caffeine and the First Amendment
by JOHN BOROWSKI
Apparently, defending children from the perils
of caffeine "upsets the applecart." My principal informed
me that "down town" a reference to the superintendent's
office was vexed by my overt and public criticism of our school
district's unholy alliance with PepsiCo. I was instructed not
to state that I was an employee of the Salem/Keizer school district
when I wrote editorials critical of our soda "contract"
with PepsiCo. Emails about the pitfalls of the soda contract
were not to be shared with fellow teachers during school hours.
With the opening of a 6th high school
in Salem this fall, an innovative young cheerleader named Andrea
Boyes, got permission from a booster's club to sell bottled water
under the new school's logo, the "Titans." PepsiCo
with exclusive pouring rights in the Salem schools, including
their own bottle water, 'Aquafina', quickly squashed the deal.
Besides peddling colored sugar water to bring school district's
begging for hard cash, PepsiCo would not let young Ms. Boyes
threaten their $27 Billion dollar empire built mostly on caffeine,
coloring and sugar.
Ironically, Ms. Boyes was made to be
the scapegoat, circumventing protocol and interfering with the
sacred powers that invade public schools seeking brand loyalty
and windfall profits: health be damned. Instead of scorn, Ms.
Boyes should have been heaped with praise. Her courage persuaded
me to act like the public servant I am and not a bought out corporate
quisling.
Pandora's box has swung open: spewing
the ugly and twisted alliance between schools and a corporate
seducer. Reading page 33 of the new West Salem High Parent/Student
handbook reveals a colossal blunder on part of the school district.
Under "Use of Tobacco Products, Alcohol and Other Drugs,
the policy clearly outlines rules against caffeine products.
"No Doze or caffeine tablets" are clearly grounds for
administrative action against students! With "No Doze"
specifically mentioned, the 100 mg of caffeine per tablet is
considered a health threat. With a 12- ounce pop containing 55.5
mg, students need only drink two pops and they are in violation
of the "no tolerance policy." I routinely see students
walking with open 2 liter bottles in my school, obviously they
are using too much caffeine as laid out by the districts' own
policy.
The district claims that a 10 year, five
million dollar contract is too good to renege. What is not explained
is that this dollar value is based on increasing pop sales 5%
each year, every year of the ten- year contract! What parents
don't know is that PepsiCo has all the focus on cash, not children.
They suggest the school investigate a "credit card"
type purchasing for students. I imagine the parents could be
billed later. The soda king suggests redoing the electrical capabilities
in grade schools, where antiquated buildings could handle the
new pop machines. "Pepsi would request the District name
a funding program, the Pepsi Scholarship". The only wrinkle
you ask? "This program is to act as a volume incentive for
Students in the District." The more they drink, the more
scholarship money is earned. How despicable can this multinational
be? How low will we grovel for needed money? Will we not employee
the lessons of civic responsibility we claim to teach to our
young adults?
Having two daughters, will I blindly
accept that public schools are now actively encouraging students
to pursue a life of osteoporosis and diabetes? As a teacher of
over 24 years, will I not heed my own words of encouragement
to the thousands of students I have taught, "one person
makes a world of difference."
I know we live in a time of incredible
fear. Stay quiet, stay numb and be a hapless consumer. Every
thing apparently is up for sale, even the health of children
and the integrity of schools. The First Amendment challenges
us to be citizens who question the tyranny of silence. Parenthood
urges us to protect our youth no matter the might of those backed
by the sacred dollar. Teachers need to reconsider their role
as educators nowhere does their job description call for being
obsequious lapdogs to corporate carpetbaggers looking to make
schools their market for lifelong consumers.
I refuse to sheepishly follow the new
order of corporate domination. Will others join together to get
soda pop contracts and fast food out of public schools? Will
the adults of this nation step up as elders to defend the health
of children? PepsiCo is selling and I am not buying. Nor are
young Ms. Boyes and her family.
The children of this nation are waiting
to see what we do. Maybe "upsetting the apple cart"
will be viewed as a good thing.
John F. Borowski is an Environmental and Marine Science Teacher
at North Salem High, Salem, Oregon. He can be reached at jenjill@proaxis.com
Yesterday's
Features
Bruce Jackson
Saddam
Delenda Est!
Jonathan Swift
How 9/11
Helped Democracy Evolve Toward Perfection
Vijay Prashad
The Jihad International, Kashmir
and Secularization
Salim Rashid
Pat Robertson's
Evangelical Propaganda
Kurt Nimmo
The FBI Monekywrench Alert
Anthony Gancarski
Clinton
Boisvert: Sorry with a Capital S
Tom Stephens
A Meditation on the Nature of Evil
Mitchel Cohen
What We
Say Goes: How Bush Sold the Bombing of Iraq
Leah Harris
It's the Occupation, Stupid!
Annie C. Higgins
Occupying
Time: Israeli Soldiers and Palestinian Youths
Abu Spinoza
War Crimes: Us and Them
Linda Belanger
Words Hurt, But Tanks Kill
Adam Engel
Call Me Johnson
Richard Procter
The Power of Audacity
Keep CounterPunch Alive:
Make
a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online!
CounterPunch Available Exclusively
to Subscribers:
- CounterPunch Special:
The Persecution of Gershon Legman by Susan Davis: Smut, the Post Office, Commies
and the FBI;
- Reeling Democrats: Is Pelosi the Answer?
- Gandhi v. Hitler: the Secret Race for the Nobel
Prize;
- Sullying Mario Savio's
Memory;
- Lynching Then and Now;
- Earn While You Learn: Chris Whittle and Child Labor;
The Case of the Pompous
Professor;
- The Class Struggle in
Boston: All that
Effort, But What Did They Get?
Remember, the CounterPunch website is
supported exclusively by subscribers to our newsletter. Our worldwide
web audience is soaring , with about seven million hits a month
now. This is inspiring, but the work involved also compels us
to remind you more urgently than ever to subscribe and/or make
a (tax deductible) donation if you can afford it. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe
Now!
Or Call Toll Free 1 800 840 3683
home / subscribe
/ about us
/ books
/ archives
/ search
/ links
/
|