School’s ban on fizzy drinks
ABERDARE Community School has been praised by parents after it banned pupils from having energy and sugary fizzy drinks during school hours.
AN Aberdare school has been applauded by parents after it banned all energy and sugary fizzy drinks.
Aberdare Community School enforced the ban on pupils drinking them during school hours, including lunchtimes, with the new rule coming into play this week.
Officials from the secondary school posted a notice to parents and pupils on its social media platforms, which read: “Information for parents and students. From Monday June 5 ALL energy drinks (Lucozade, Monster etc) and high sugar fizzy drinks (Coke etc) are banned from our school.
“Any pupil caught with these drinks during the school day, including break and lunchtime, will have the drinks confiscated. Thank you in advance for your support.”
Samantha-Jade Bevan, whose younger sister attends the school, replied to the post by remembering a time when her school had tried to enforce the rule when she was a pupil. She claimed that many pupils “hated the idea” at first, but added that “it was definitely a good decision looking back”.
As well as that, the school’s Facebook post received a lot of good feedback, and was shared 150 times, with more than 150 likes.
One of the comments was from Wendy James, a parent at the school. She described how she nearly lost her 13-yearold son after he drank an energy drink and went into a fit. She added: “Kids shouldn’t have them. There is warnings on them saying children shouldn’t have them.”
Michael Bailyes is another parent at Aberdare Community School, and said the restriction on sugary drinks does not affect his twin girls that much, as he and his wife “have always tried to encourage the girls to drink alternatives, like flavoured water”.
He added that he believes “the school has the kids’ best interest at heart” due to the health risks associated with these drinks.
He added: “The school goes to excellent measures to ensure that pupils lead a healthy lifestyle.”
A statement from the school said: “Aberdare Community School is striving towards the next step of its Healthy Schools Award and is committed to the health and wellbeing of its pupils, as their young minds and bodies continue to develop and grow.
“This commitment, as well as many evidencebased UK health recommendations, has led to the decision to ban the consumption of energy drinks and sugary drinks in school. Feedbacks shows us that the majority of parents support us in this.
“The decision has been made for the overall wellbeing of our school community and we hope it is supported as widely as possible by parents and carers.
“Anyone with any concerns about the decision, or those who would like further information on the potential harm energy and sugary drinks can cause our children, are welcome to contact us at any time.”
The ban comes after a recent NHS study found 68% of young people between 11 and 18 consume energy drinks daily and the popularity of energy drinks in the UK increased by 155% over an eightyear period.