Opinion: Of course students should have water at school
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Sept. 22, 2010, Chico Enterprise-Record.
Our view: Saying schools must have water available in the cafeteria is like saying classrooms must have roofs. Of course it should be mandatory.
There are two kinds of legislation that bother us. OK, maybe there are more than two, but these are the most annoying. The first are the so-called “nanny laws,” where legislators try to tell us how to live. Think of bans on spanking children, plastic bags, incandescent light bulbs, Oreo cookies, bad feng shui and procreating dogs and cats.
The second kind are the laws that shouldn’t be necessary. A bill like that is sitting on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk, waiting to be signed. It’s a bill requiring schools to provide free drinking water in cafeterias.
We’re not talking about expensive bottled water. We’re talking about faucets, or spigots, or a fountain. Why in the world would such a bill be needed? Well, it came as a shock to us, but apparently roughly 40 percent of schools in the state don’t have drinking water available for students at lunch, according to a survey.
In a state where legislators have taken steps to rid schools of sugar-laden drinks, there’s nothing requiring schools to provide the most economical and salubrious drink of all — tap water.
I find this very hard to believe. Who did the survey? Did they just call and ask the office or did they ask the Maintenance Dept.? Did they do an on site inspection? Did they check the required building specs for all schools in the state? Did we take a short cut with soda machines with available water option? I just find the 40% figure very hard to believe.
Could it be that water fountains in schools are mostly located in hallways or outside on playgrounds and not in the cafeteria? That could be the issue……….just curious.