Silent Killer | Teen Ink

Silent Killer

March 25, 2010
By Triscuit BRONZE, Orlando, Florida
Triscuit BRONZE, Orlando, Florida
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Adversity causes some men to break and others to break records." "Violence is the first solution of small minds." "Silence perpetuates injustice."


Junk food, “to be, or not to be…” in schools? That is not a question which is debatable to me. This pre-packaged sugar and sodium loaded food in schools is almost single handedly obliterating the current generation of young adults physical and mental being. Since teens are subjected to such temptations it is drastically declining their mental status and level of self control. Additionally their physical status will drop right along with their minds, causing early obesity which in turn causes life long health issues. All of the aforementioned is bad news for today’s youth.

A student can only take so much temptation before they lose it and over indulge. Much in the same way that Adam finally ate the apple dangling from the tree. Except this modern day forbidden fruit is junk food, but the consequences are equally as devastating. The fragile psych of a student can easily be broken and self control lost at the site of such a selection of seemingly delicious morsels in their place of learning. This is also a distraction form actually learning something in the classroom. Not to mention the amount of money students spend on this unnecessary garbage. This and the proceeding events will ruin them for life and they will grow up to be out of control adults that do everything in their daily lives on impulse. These are the people that for example, trespass on school grounds to fight a student.

When mental decline is caused by the allurement of such rubbish it is accompanied by obesity, its slow arriving partner in crime. A typical teenage student will begin to lose interest in physical activities since they are not getting the nutrients needed to function properly and are therefore tired. I’ve experienced this effect first hand and know how bad it feels. On top of the lack of nutrients, coming off of the sugar high is also debilitating. Not only does it make you feel cruddy, but it inadvertently causes your friends to be disappointed, mainly because after school is over and they want to go outside and do something and need you, you can’t to anything because you’re too tired. I don’t oppose junk food in schools because I want more friends to hang out with. I oppose it because I want not just my friends, but everyone in every school, in every country to achieve the highest standard of living possible, and that standard shouldn’t include childhood obesity.

Remember that big bag of chips you had, or that large cookie you ate at lunch? If you don’t now, you will in a year or two, because that’s when the recoils of eating that rubbish come into effect. The most shocking and life altering part of it is that most of the medical issues that arise will stay with you the rest of your existence on this earth. Some of the illnesses that can plague you are Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, and hypertension to name a few. There is also a myriad of other afflictions that can lead to heart attacks, organ failure and strokes. These ailments will ultimately cause a premature death. So tell me, was that trip to McDonald’s and that cookie you had with your lunch at school worth it?

To wrap up this case against junk food in schools all over the world, here is a recap of the facts. The ever present enticing allure is causing children and young adults to fall victim to its grasp. It is deteriorating the self control that this world needs people to have so it can function properly. The ingestion of this preserved evil is also affecting the physical abilities of the world’s next leaders. Currently the rate for childhood obesity is one in five as stated by the Institute of Medicine, and this fraction will continue to rise unless action is taken. I believe that the first step to reversing this situation is to remove the junk food from schools everywhere, forcing youth like myself to quit cold turkey. We can only hope that doing so will open the eyes of the public and make them aware of the problem at hand.



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This article has 2 comments.


on Apr. 7 2010 at 7:45 pm
Triscuit BRONZE, Orlando, Florida
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Adversity causes some men to break and others to break records." "Violence is the first solution of small minds." "Silence perpetuates injustice."

Thanks for the compliment and the opinion. I don't think it was too long. Sometimes it takes a little to get your point across on a serious topic. I absolutely agree with your perspective on how parents want their kids to be happy and will get them anything. Unfortunately since the money is pouring in and driving our country like you said, the problem is deeply rooted. It'll take a lot of digging but I hope that at some point in my lifetime we can find something else to drive our nation economically and change the way everyone in the world eats.

on Apr. 7 2010 at 6:15 pm
SantyClaws BRONZE, Louisville, Kentucky
1 article 0 photos 13 comments

You're a great writer.

Childhood obesity is a large problem. But I can't help but wonder if removing food from schools will ever do any real good. Because junk-food tastes good. And kids love junk-food. Parents love their kids. Thus causing a large part (I think, at least) in the obesity cycle, the way parents  will get their children anything they want. The only plausable way (again, to me) to decrease the obesity rise is to change food completely, doing away with the foods that are tempting children and adults alike so dangerously. And yet we know that will never happen. At least not nearly any time soon. Because this is what the people want. This is what the people will buy. I doubt the companies care about obesity at all, don't care about peoples health at all. 'Cause the money's still pouring in, and that's what's fueling the world.

Heh I think I might've made that longer or opinionated than necessary. Anyways, your article was great and I hope you continue writing (: