You Stay Golden Too, Soda Pop

Soda is not good for you. We all know it, and we don't need any legislators to prove it too us. The issue at hand is not the effects of soda (or for that matter regular vs. diet soda), but rather the rights of legislators and government agencies to tell citizens what they can and cannot do. If I were a teacher in a classroom who wished to use this article to educate my students I would put aside my personal beliefs and use this article to discuss the role of government in the lives of the everyday person.

In my imaginary history classroom, I give this article to my students and ask them to read it for the first fifteen minutes of class. After waiting very patiently (and probably sipping at my concealed mountain dew while snickering at my own hypocrisy), I then ask the students what they think of the article and subsequently get quite a volatile reaction from my students. Some state quite clearly that this law is stupid, while others preach on the evils of soda and how it destroys life, and yet others proclaim confidently that diet pop is not bad for you, just regular pop, so the ban is good! (I’m assuming this is the reaction I would get based on the explosive reaction in our own 504 class). For the first 5 minutes or so I allow them to argue to their little hearts’ content and get all the initial opinions out of their system. Once they have gotten a chance to spew their indignity at the gal of New York lawmakers (and then their indignity at one another—always in a respectful way, I’m sure), I would ask why this is an issue and guide the conversation until I get the answer I want. The answer is, as one of my students in the back so eloquently words it, “People in the government shouldn’t get to tell me what to drink; I should be allowed to drink whatever I want, even if it hurts me!” With a wry grin on my lips I ask my students, “But what is the role of the government if not to protect us from getting hurt?” A hand shoots up right away, and I call on the eager teenager in the front of the class, “But alcohol and cigarettes are more harmful than pop and they’re not illegal.” she states in a matter-of-fact tone. “Okay” I say, “so how do we decide what harmful things should be illegal and what shouldn’t?” This prompts a series of arguments about what things hurt us and what don’t; the conversation sidetracks majorly, and I am forced to bring the discussion back on line with a short history recap on the effectiveness of prohibition in the early 20^th century and the ability of the government to enforce an unpopular law. We discuss this for a few minutes until a student in the back is no longer able to hold in his bursting opinion and shouts out, “The government is supposed to protect me from other people” he says, “if I want to hurt myself that should be my right! It doesn’t matter if its alcohol or pop or whatever! ” Feeling that the discussion on law enforcement I allow the students to move into a discussion on what the government should be regulating, and whether or not this particular ban is constitutional (We had recently been exploring the different rights afforded us by the constitution, and I had hoped that this prior knowledge would help drive the discourse of this class, which it did!). During this discussion I carefully keep my own opinion to myself while allowing my students to explore the concept of lawmaking and what should and should not be made into laws. This goes on for a bit until I look up at the clock and see that there is only ten minutes left in class. “Alright guys!” I interject into the lively conversation, “so let’s say that the New York ban of soda is considered unconstitutional, what would happen then?” I see a timid student who hasn’t said much raise his hand, so I call on him, “Well” he says quietly, “The supreme court would overrule it.” This comment sparks another conversation about how the Supreme Court would go about declaring the ban unconstitutional, and this conversation lasts until the bell rings. As I watch my students filter out of my imaginary history classroom I smile to myself; I have used a single article to inspire my students to eagerly explore the workings of the executive, legislative, and judiciary branch of the government. All in all, I’d say it was a good day.

E.