Schools should teach what’s best -- in everything from math to social studies to health. Giving away soda pop in lunchrooms is like handing out horror comic books in English class. If schools cared one whit about their students’ health, they would be encouraging them to drink less, not more, soda.

Soda pop, which we call “liquid candy,” has become teens’ favorite beverage. Twenty years ago, teens drank almost twice as much milk as soda. Now, they drink twice as much soda as milk. The average teen downs more than a can a day, with many drinking three or four cans a day.

All that soda squeezes more nutritious foods out of their diets. Girls, in particular, should be building their bones by consuming plenty of calcium-rich foods instead of sugar-rich soda. There is evidence that girls who drink a lot of soda have a higher rate of bone fractures than other girls. Later in life, of course, they’ll probably have a greater risk of osteoporosis.

Soda is also a big source of calories for many students. It’s probably no coincidence that as soda consumption has doubled in the past 20 years, so has the rate of obesity in teenagers.