As an exchange student, part of why I'm here is to experience a different school system. I'm not going to go into too much detail on the exacts at this point, just because I feel like I don't understand quite enough Italian to make a fair judgement, but I want to talk about how schools effect our health. However, first, I'd like to say I'm learning a lot about the American school system from an American student here and I'm surprised at how different they are. ("So let me get this straight, districts with more rich people get better schools, while poorer districts struggle? But if you do poorly on state tests you get extra funding, right? Oh, I got that backwards? If you do well you get more funding?") (OK clearly I still don't understand the American system in any way. I must be missing some information.)
We had a presentation on breast cancer last week (which I didn't particularly like, but not because I don't want to be educated further on breast cancer) and that got me thinking about health and how schools can effect it. One of the first things I noticed here was that more people smoke. I also saw that you can buy cigarettes from vending machines. At my school in Canada it was illegal to smoke in school property, and BC's smoking age is 19, so cigarettes are far less readily available to young people. As the students can't leave the property during school hours here, anyone who wants to smoke either fills the "little garden" (an area surrounded on all sides by the school), out to the soccer and tennis courts, or outside the front door. Although sometimes when it rains students stand in front of the open windows to the garden and smoke there (ewww).
But what suprises me the most is how ok the teachers seem to be with students smoking. Some do get a little annoyed when someone comes in late, though since professors are frequently late themselves, it doesnt make a ton of difference. During a work period or interrogation, it's normal for students to stand up and request to be able to leave, cigarettes in hand. This seems so strange to me. I can't think of any time a teacher let a student leave during class to go out and smoke. Perhaps I just wasn't paying attention.
Anyway, smoking among young people isn't discouraged as it is at my school, and I find that to be different. However, I do understand the position of schools having no right to force nonsmoking on students.
Secondly, also in relation to health at schools, I want to talk about healthy eating at school. I remember back when we had chocolate, chips, cookies, candy and pop in the vending machines at RSS, until they were replaced with baked pita chips, water, and juice so that students would eat healthier at school (though I challenge the "healthiness" of aspartame sweetened flavoured water, and sugar filled juice, but their hearts were in the right place). A group of volunteers sell fruit, vegetables, sandwiches and other yummy things during lunch hours, with weekly pizza days (again perhaps not the healthiest, but at least there are some nutrients, such as calcium, in there). Now let us compare to what I can buy from the vending machines at school: chips (not baked), chocolate bars, juice, pop, candy, croissants, Nutella doughnuts, some sort of fried sandwiches, paninis, hot dogs, focaccia, and (my personal favourite) French fry sandwiches with mayonnaise and ketchup. I have seen more French fries in my four and a half months here than I think I'd ever seen before, meanwhile North Americans are the so called fast food obsessed (more on that in a later post). At first I found this so freeing. When I was having a sugar craving I didn't have to settle for craisins, I could have a chocolate bar! If I wanted chips, I could have chips! Not those dry pita things! However, I realised that probably wasn't the healthiest thing in the world, and so have since (mostly) stopped buying things at school. And I'll admit it: I miss being able to buy healthy food at school.
I know that by my age, I should be able to decide what to eat, however the lack of choices is a little frustrating. Once again, like with smoking, I can understand that the school doesn't necessarily have the right to dictate what eat, but the push in the right direction was perhaps a good idea.
Perhaps when I understand a little more about the Italian school system I'll write a post about that.
This was really interesting!
ReplyDeleteThe smoking here surprised me too, although the age to buy cigarettes is still 18, and teachers will shoo kids further down the path when they see them smoking.
It's just generally way more normal to smoke, and really common to do socially at parties or just smoke occasionally.
The food thing was interesting too :) can't really compare, since we have milk, coffee, yogurt, granola and juice in our vending machine at school :P
I've also started noticing that american school is actually pretty different from canadian, mostly from reading norwegian exchange student's impressions of US schools.
Love your blog :D