March 27, 2008, 9:31 am
When elementary and high schools ban the sale of candy and sodas, students create flourishing underground economies to satisfy demand for the sweet stuff.
In the ensuing crackdown, even high-profile figures are laid low.
For example, in Connecticut last week, an eighth-grade student body vice president was forced to resign after he was caught buying an illicit packet of Skittles from a classmate.
Is there a better way to quash the candy black market?
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2008
9:48 am
Candy sniffing dogs and an ID system that redflags previous offenders.
— Posted by The Enforcer
2008
9:50 am
“I’m sorry I let you down with my unconquerable addiction. I’ll be entering rehab and will come back stronger than ever in high school!”
— Posted by discordian
2008
9:54 am
I guess that here also we can curb the same with the help of incentives.
If it is been explained to the kids about the effects of the same then they will definately opt for healthier food option
Kaushik
— Posted by Kaushik
2008
10:14 am
If candy is outlawed, only outlaws will have candy.
— Posted by mgroves
2008
10:18 am
Gosh, who ever would have though that kids would still want candy despite it being banned…
http://dailychatter.wordpress.com
— Posted by TT
2008
10:29 am
Time to ramp up the CEA- Candy Enforcement Administration. Give it the power to immediately seize the pocket money of any student detected with sugar on their person by the officers or candy sniffing dogs. Expand juvenile detention facilities in order to house the offenders. Stop this criminal element now before they move on to even more illegal ventures.
— Posted by Tom Kelly
2008
10:32 am
@kaushik - 8th graders don’t care.
Most of them, no matter what the press says about America’s juvenile obesity epidemic, are quite active and easily burn off a pack of skittles.
— Posted by discordian
2008
10:33 am
Incentives like… candy?
— Posted by Robert Peaslee
2008
10:39 am
As with any other substance we make illegal, demand will remain and the market will create and recreate itself over and over again.
Legalize and regulate. Apply appropriate incentives and disincentives, observe and modify as needed.
— Posted by theo geer
2008
10:40 am
When I was in high school (coincidentally in the same town as this article), one of my friends ran a very serious black market candy and soda business. He would regularly buy products in bulk from Costco and would make over $500 a week selling to students. It got to the point where he was renting locker space from other students so he had more room for inventory.
About once a month, he would get caught and have to serve a two-hour Saturday detention. He used to say that serving detention is easy when you are trading your time for $1000/hr.
— Posted by Bruce
2008
10:45 am
A better response to the question “Is there a better way to quash the candy black market?” is to ask, instead, why this is even a concern? Why is it the school’s job to keep candy out of kids’ backpacks and lockers?
Sure, the school can decide what to put in its vending machines … but come on!
This event in my home state of CT is a shining example of the idiocy and absurdity of trying to run a “nanny state.” Public officials are not my mother. They should not presume to act like my mother. Enough already!
— Posted by DJH
2008
10:47 am
Bruce thats sweet, I ran a small time one way back in middle school. Pop wasn’t banned we just didn’t have a pop machine. Also that young probably couldn’t have expanded it as far as your buddy did. But they put me out of business rather quickly when a pop and candy machine were put in. I had money back then, well for a middle schooler that is.
— Posted by NP
2008
10:48 am
Lets flood the market with counterfeit poison candy… As the costs of an activity increase, the amount of that activity decreases.
— Posted by mad_economist
2008
10:53 am
“If it is been explained to the kids about the effects of the same then they will definately opt for healthier food option”
Yeah, right. I’m a grown, educated adult and I’ll still hit McDonalds or Burger King or Pizza Hut once a month.
— Posted by Roger
2008
11:01 am
Just like Randy in the Wire.
— Posted by goathair
2008
11:12 am
The really ironic part of the middle school student is from a prominent school in a city with a history of drug problems. Was the student punished for being secretive about a policy of which he was unaware, or was it simply because it was unhealthy candy? What if the student selling was actually a granola bar distributor? Does the Quaker label make it OK?
— Posted by Pat
2008
11:17 am
Realize that school is basically a giant inefficient baby sitting service anyway, send them all home and let them finish school in front of the computer screen where they can eat candy all day long and sell their rotten teeth on e-bay:-)
— Posted by achilles3
2008
11:18 am
Even when we had vending machines in my high school, and I graduated in ‘02, one enterprising student bought a big old pack of Tootsie Pops and would sell them before school and at lunch for a quarter a pop or 3 for $.50. I think I bought one from him one time, and he had a pretty steady business goin.
— Posted by Neal
2008
11:29 am
If we have schools treating candy like a drug, I can’t help but fear developing destructive behaviors in the students. Could skittles be the next gateway drug? They seem to be treating it as such.
— Posted by Silas Russell
2008
11:40 am
#6. You forgot that we will have to work with candy enforcement agencies in Belgium and Switzerland and possibly go further up the supply chain to take out small farmers of coca (oops cocoa) in tropical regions.
— Posted by world traveler
2008
11:42 am
I suggest canditory minimum sentencing (pun intended). Anyone caught with candy must be expelled from school, for the remainder of the year. Then, when the school is half-empty, the sugarless remainder will be candy free.
That’s how we do it in the real world.
— Posted by tom
2008
11:43 am
The rule should be that - ‘taking monkey in exchange of candy is not allowed’, but eating and giving people candy free is allowed.
Some what inline with a ’set a thief to catch a thief’ approach.
— Posted by Shailesh
2008
11:48 am
I have nothing much to add, except that I love some of the comments here.
Okay, I’ll add to the fun (it’s so easy):
Only the kind of kid who enjoys candy would seek such a position of authority…
— Posted by infopractical
2008
11:51 am
Pulling from Predictably Irrational, they need to change the norms from market norms to social norms. The market norm in this case is that there is a specific punishment for the offenders, and each judges the risk/reward of that behavior. Creting a social norm for this behavior, such as limiting funding for elective activities for repeat offenses by anyone, makes students accountable to others and may deter “illegal” action.
— Posted by Steve
2008
11:53 am
Everyone knows Skittles are a gateway candy. Pretty soon this seemingly innocuous snacker will be using pixie sticks and chasing them with Red Bull. Nip it, nip, nip it!
— Posted by El Jefe
2008
11:55 am
These kinds of rules and behaviors by those in authority will do nothing less than give our youth a healthy disrespect and skepticism for idiots in charge. And that is WONDERFUL. We are raising a new generation of rugged individualists, and that is a far better service from our government schools than we can expect.
— Posted by Donut
2008
11:57 am
“There are no candy sales allowed in schools, period” says the spokesperson of Sheridan Communications and Technology Middle School.
They can’t penalize the students if they GIVE the candy away. I’d open up a credit line to my friends that could pay me outside of school.
If we couldn’t sell candy at my school we’d never have new sports team uniforms.
— Posted by whoanellie
2008
12:03 pm
And Detroit thought they had a leadership problem….Skittles, unbelievable!
— Posted by AlexW
2008
12:07 pm
Create a branch of the Department of Homeland security that can enlist a TSA-like organization to keep the students (and teachers) safe from the candy threat. Make room, Guantanamo Bay, the kids who buy and sell candy on school campuses all over the country are going to be adding to the waterboarding fun!
Seriously, does the school administration think it’s even remotely possible to successfully enforce these policies? They should pick up a book about the wonderful success that was seen by alcohol prohibition.
— Posted by Josh
2008
12:07 pm
When I was in high school, back in the 80’s, I ran my own “candy black market”. I had a few other “under the table” operations going on, but none were as profitable as candy. Mind you that I was not doing anything illegal, unless one thinks that I was operating a business without a license.
My father actually participated in this venture. His company had a membership at the Sam’s Club, the wholesale industry that was relatively new at the time. So he was my supplier.
Gum was the most popular item, the most profitable, and had the best “shelf-life”. I had very little competition at first, given that we did not have access to vending machines at the time, and student organizations that did fundraisings by selling candy were few and far between. Nevertheless, as what happens to all profitable operations, other students entered the business and tried to undercut my margins and take my customers.
Eventually I got out of that market. Too much competition created an increasing level of risk in that school authorities were becoming aware of what was going on. So I moved on to my next operation, running a “catered lunch service” where I’d go off campus to pick up lunch orders for students (fast food, pizza, deli, etc…). Now this operation did require some unethical practices, in that I had to write my own off-campus passes by forging signatures. Also, trying to manage all of the activity in only 45 minutes was difficult, so I ignored the speed limits too often.
The Vice Principal, who was the campus monitor, eventually caught on to my trail, though he never really caught me “with the goods” or “in the act”. Nobody liked him, so the old adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” applied. If he questioned the teacher or office person whose signature I forged, he or she would cover for me –they liked me more than him.
But as the risk in that operation increased, I got into more organized efforts, such as managing student events, athletic games, etc… By the end of my tenure, I had master keys of the campus and had gained some great business skills, which were probably some of the best things I learned in public school.
There are some things I regret that took place when managing student events, and those activities did increase my sense of moral hazard. In the end, there is very little schools can do to thwart activities such as the ones in which I participated. So long as markets can be created to serve unmet needs, students will beat the system.
— Posted by SuperDave
2008
12:20 pm
A friend of mine ran a fairly profitable candy business in HS as well. Although candy sales were normally prohibited, the one exception was that various student groups were allowed to sell candy as fundraisers. The candy bars weren’t marked in any way as being related to the fundraisers so whenever a fundraiser was going on his Mom (a small business owner and Sam’s Club member) would buy him a couple cases of Snickers, etc. He’d walk around just like the legit sellers only he was raising funds for John instead of FHA or FBLA. He’d sell the same product, for the same price, and nobody was ever the wiser.
— Posted by FinalTable
2008
12:28 pm
Waterboarding?
— Posted by Will
2008
12:33 pm
mgroves (#4), you’re right on.
It’s just like taking alcohol from adults. Pretty soon there will be a (much) younger version of Al Capone dominating the world of candies, soda and all that’s good in the world.
I say let the kids eat what they want! Education starts at home. If you’re well educated and have been brought up with good examples and role models (mom and dad eat their vegetables), there’s nothing to worry about. Candy is a fun distraction, and it’s good as long as not exaggerated.
— Posted by Nina
2008
12:42 pm
I went to boarding school when I was 8. Candy was restricted. We had a “tuck shop”, which I think was only open once a week, so whatever we bought with our minimal pocket money, had to last us. As a result, sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks all became highly desirable to me…. I’m now mid 30s and still fight junk food cravings which mean I need to lose a good 100 pounds, at the very least, to get down to a more suitable weight for my height. This may have happened anyway, even if I had gone to a day school and sweets were readily available, I can’t know. I think it’s less likely though.
— Posted by Elaine
2008
12:50 pm
I knew some kids in Elementary school who had an underground market selling homemade little skateboard toys. One group was even selling pieces of paper that were considered as “stocks” in their company, and that they claimed would warrant a percentage return on the entire company’s profits. The same ringleader of this 2nd grade enterprise later went on to selling candy, and then in high school was arrested on felony drug-dealing charges.
— Posted by Dave G
2008
12:58 pm
PARENTS! My mom told me never to drink coke and I never did growing up. She told me that is wasn’t healthy and there was other drinks I could have that were. That was my biggest influence. Despite what people think, kids do listen to their parents - they will just wait 20 years to tell them that they did.
— Posted by Nick Peyton
2008
1:11 pm
When I was in 8th grade, a fundraising company tried to get us to push overpriced magazines to benefit the school. The benefit for us, was you would earn tickets with each sale which could be redeemed for prizes. The company however, failed to realize that the standard raffle tickets they were using as a form of currency were readily available at Staples for $10 for a roll of a couple thousand. It took them several weeks to realize the sheer number of tickets being redeemed was far greater than those issued for sales… A hustler is born every day. Probably 30 of us got detention or suspension, but they never got back my lava lamp, or the $.25 per ticket I was selling them for.
I thought my Dad would be mad. He was - that I was only charging $.25 per ticket.
— Posted by Gary
2008
1:13 pm
This reminds me of what I was told as a kid, “Don’t take candy from strangers” Now its been expanded to “Don’t eat candy in school.”
What’s next, no chicken tenders or pizza for lunch?
Congratulations, we now live in Communist Russia. “No candy for you!” Oh, wait that was the soup Nazi. What do the candy companies think about this?
— Posted by Jake
2008
2:14 pm
My middle school gum selling operation eventually turned into a loansharking operation. I would buy pieces of bubble gum for 5 cents and sell them for 25 cents a piece. If a customer didn’t have 25 cents, I would give them the piece of gum, but they owed me a nickel a day until they paid me back. On average I would collect about 15 cents in interest on every 25 cents of principle. It’s probably a testament to the small Midwestern town that I grew up in that people actually paid me the interest because I really didn’t have any way to enforce the terms of the loan. I couldn’t go to the teachers and I wasn’t going to resort to violence. The only problem I ever had was a kid who didn’t pay me back for almost a month and owed me $1.50. We renegotiated the terms and I settled for $1.00.
Like other people who have commented, I had to shut the operation down because the visibility got too high with the teachers and the vice principal.
— Posted by Jay
2008
2:29 pm
I think the candy black market should be left alone. The junk-food ban should also be left alone. The school shouldn’t stop the kids bringing their own food, but neither should they be in the candy-selling business. Besides, this will go on no matter what, kids are entrepreneurial. You can buy almost whatever you want at most middle/high schools, from test answers and Pokemon cards to weed. Schools should work on the weed before the candy.
— Posted by Whitney
2008
2:42 pm
That is funny, I can’t believe he lost his job. I didn’t even know there was a candy black market. I remember when I was in highschool a kid was selling cd’s he had made from music he was downloading online. I don’t suppose there is any way to stop it. Besides, schools make a lot of money from candy fundraisers so I am not sure I get the point of policing candy at school. If you are going to have the kids turn around and use candy to raise money for the school.
Rachel
The baked blogger
http://bakedblog.com
— Posted by Rachel
2008
2:51 pm
This is going in the opposite direction, but if students started charging a monthly or weekly fee for giving away a fixed amount of candy, they could still make a killing and it would be virtually impossible to catch them, unless the schools are going to ban children giving their friends candy for free, which would be all the school could see happening.
— Posted by Psychohistorian
2008
3:37 pm
Now that “The Wire” has ended, maybe the writers could do a spinoff for Nickelodeon?
And Sudhir could interview school bullies to get their reactions to it.
— Posted by Jaldhar
2008
3:50 pm
My brother & I sold porno mags in elem. & middle school.
— Posted by Peter Brady
2008
3:56 pm
They should legalize the candy, but tell the teachers to call the children “fat” and “stupid” any time they are seen eating the candy. That should condition them to not like candy. Plus, it will be a boon for the child psychology industry.
— Posted by WholeMealOfFood
2008
4:28 pm
Give them free candy or money if they do enough exercise or loose weight as appropriate.
— Posted by mike
2008
7:36 pm
I don’t understand why schools would try to police a “candy underground economy.” The reason schools ban candy and soda is to offer nutritious food and beverage choices for the students; not because these snack choices are illegal or even harmful (in moderate doses). The school rules don’t preclude students bringing their own food from home. Seems to me it’s a waste of time to go after these students.
— Posted by RZ
2008
4:25 am
If the goal is to achieve some form of student body health as part of an educator’s duty as temporary parents (there’s a legal term I wont bother to look up), and you really think nutrition is the problem, you’ll need some way to monitor what they’re eating, and a way to monitor health. They’ve mostly got it in PE and student lunch programs, but throwing out vending machines won’t solve your problems. In fact, they’re probably a critical part of accounting for the rest. And they’re an opportunity to present healthy alternatives. Wouldn’t it be interesting to present the balance of candy to fruit sold when given the option, or to measure student responses to marginal price changes? (Can you pay students to eat their veggies?)
Sadly, our budding politician has neither the lobbyist network or the grounding in economics to propose an alternative. And ignorance of “the law” speaks poorly of his dedication to student representation.
Although, I still wholeheartedly support a ban on corn-nuts. That stuff stinks so bad it might as well qualify as pollution.
— Posted by jldugger
2008
6:53 am
As a seventh grade teacher, I often find myself policing the candy and gum consumption in my classroom (especially the gum). But when one of my students recently discussed her (large) candy and gum selling operation, I applauded her entrepreneurship. Why shouldn’t she make money providing legal items in high demand? Only drawback: She gets her cellphone confiscated at least every other day–but her mom always comes in to retrieve it for her, as required. Gateway to drug dealing…or to a future business career? I suspect the second. Not only is she learning business principles, but she’s coming to school every day, unlike previous years, and doing very well in her classes.
— Posted by Dorothy
2008
12:57 pm
C’mon, what is so bad about candies? The authorities are the ones who prompted such a pursuit. They offered such a choice. The students chose this because they were desperate to do so. It takes two hands to clap.
— Posted by Ome90
2008
3:18 pm
This story also made http://detentionslip.org. It’s one of the leading resources for breaking crazy stories in public education.
— Posted by sweetchuckd
2008
4:45 pm
In college the sale of cigarettes was banned on campus. From the dormitories it was at least a mile to the nearest gas station. My cousin does not smoke but he quickly realized that there are plenty of people who will pay $.50 - $1 per cigarette when intoxicated at 12am-2am. For this reason he would buy 10-20 packs of cigarettes for a weekend (plus some roll-them-yourself cigarettes to both cut prices and increase profitability when dealing with the price-conscious) and he made it well known that his dorm room was the one that had the smokes. Granted, this practice is against the law, but he cleared margins greater than 200% and could realistically add another $40-$80 per weekend for hanging out with people he would already be hanging out with.
— Posted by phil
2008
9:36 am
hahahaha I read this and it made me smile - the canteen at my high school essentially over night took out ALL (soda) drinks vending machines and tried to change the menu to a “healthy” one - not a chocy in sight.
Pretty soon the middle years were coming to school with extra bags - full of chocolates,drinks etc etc. They were making big bucks to start, then the market got flooded with the “illicit” foodstuffs and tbh they were only 5/10p more expensive than the shops after a while with all the kids getting in on it.
All was good.
then the teachers were doing random spot checks……..
It seemed to get blown out of all proportion as if they were bags full of illegal drugs rather than perfectly legal sweets.
The whole scene was so much like a drug syndicate it was hilarious, you’d be walking along the corridor when you’d hear: “Boss, you hungry?”. Normally meaning “do you want drugs”.
The whole new canteen regime was a complete farce - the food was just as poor quality/taste/nutritional value, and now they had eliminated theyre only competition.
I dont see the problem - the suppliers are simply meeting the demand for candy/soda. as mentioned before the huge profits can’t be touched by the threats of (at worst) saturday detention…..They’re hardly going to expel a student on the grounds of selling chocolates!
— Posted by Tom
2008
11:20 am
Remember, kids. . . if people have to sell something secretly and illegaly, it must be really good!
— Posted by kholera
2008
12:48 pm
I did this in my high school (sold candy that is). I was busted and forced to stop or get suspended. However in the short time I did it (2-3 weeks) I made an easy $200 or so.
— Posted by tbaxter
2008
7:35 pm
Yes, Americans love to much of a good thing, but Yes smoking is bad for you and statistically you have a 99.8% chance of NOT getting cancer from smoking, To much sugar can lead to diabetes and saturated fat can lead to clogged arteries that may shorten your life and when you are 80 it may kill you, but you figure you have to die from something.
We live longer and fact is most will have something when they are in their 80 or 90s that will kill them, that is how it works.
— Posted by M Todd