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Whenever I enter my school I'm forbidden to drink energy drinks. I asked them why and they listed lots of reasons why I wasn't allowed.

I asked "why is smoking not forbidden but something so simple as drinking energy drinks is?" and they replied "smoking is a personal decision and drinking energy drinks doesn't just harm you but everyone around you due to the "behaviour" you output under the influence of energy drinks".

Are there any ways I can legally get around this ban?

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    "smoking is a personal decision and drinking energy drinks doesn't just harm you but everyone around you due to the "behaviour" you output under the influence of energy drinks" Second-hand smoke doesn't harm those around you?
    – JAB
    Feb 6, 2018 at 18:44
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    You are in the UK, and you are permitted to smoke? Could you link to the school policy on that? Feb 6, 2018 at 20:00
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    @Nij: You edited some important information, namely the OP's age (which indicates level of schooling: sixth form college).
    – eggyal
    Feb 10, 2018 at 16:15

3 Answers 3

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"When ever I enter my college I'm forbidden to drink energy drinks..."

You are under a contract and bound by the rules and regulations of the college; read the contract you signed when you registered for classes and paid tuition.

That contract will stipulate what you are allowed to do and not do in classes, in your interactions with tutors and faculty, and on the college grounds, either public or private, and probably covers a dress code, phone usage, and on and on.

The only "loophole" you have available is to stop going to college.

In addition, you are 17 and a minor under the law in many jurisdictions; this means you have fewer "rights" than an adult. And, the contract is technically between your parents and the college, not you and the college.

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    I would assume that the contract is between the parents and the college, so it's a bit more complicated. There probably also exists attendance, cell phone and uniform policies.
    – user6726
    Feb 6, 2018 at 17:05
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    True, the parents had to have signed off on it. And it's probably more like a secondary school than a college. Feb 6, 2018 at 17:55
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    AFAIK, "college" is a UK pre-university thing.
    – user6726
    Feb 6, 2018 at 18:58
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    "You are under a contract" - I very much doubt that. "Paid tuition" - the OP is very unlikely to have paid any tuition. This will be a sixth-form college (for the last two years of school), and free. (They may have made the OP sign something, and were quite likely to have called it a behavioural contract or similar - but it is not a contract in the legal sense.) Feb 6, 2018 at 20:03
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    In most cases such a document isn't agreed by the student until after enrolment, and "I won't take away something I've already given you" isn't consideration, compared to "I will give you this thing conditioned on adhering to these rules".
    – user4657
    Feb 9, 2018 at 9:48
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Unfortunately you cannot, the only solution is to stop at a shop after school finishes and buy an energy drink from there. Then you can drink it as you are not at school anymore.

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You could evade it by getting cancer.

Schools and colleges in the UK are required (by the Equality Act 2010) to provide 'reasonable adjustment' for students with disability. Cancer and other debilitating illnesses deplete energy and sufferers are often prescribed high energy supplements and caffeine-rich drinks and injectables. Some of these are marketed under brand names but are essentially identical to retail high-caffeine drinks.

If you got this added to your education plan (typically by showing the college a prescription and a note from doctor explaining why this adjustment needs to be made) the college would be bound by law to allow you to drink them.

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    A reference for the fundamental claim in your answer is absolutely crucial. Energy drinks as a prescribed medication is very firmly contrary to the recommendation of most medical practitioner advice to avoid drinking energy drinks at all. That source makes it clear what they mean by high energy supplements, and regardless of the name, energy drinks are definitely not amongst them.
    – user4657
    Feb 9, 2018 at 9:51
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    Doctors frequently recommend and prescribe caffeine pills and drinks for a wide range of diseases including apnea and sleep disorders and any number of debilitating illnesses. I'm not sure I need to provide a claim to prove that, any more than I need to provide a claim that people take paracetamol when they have headaches.
    – Richard
    Feb 9, 2018 at 10:12
  • A number of energy drinks don't even contain caffeine. Of the rest, this is not typically their primary active ingredient, and of the main active ingredients, many cause issues that lead to dependency and even lower energy levels, especially in people with prior problems. TLDR what you propose is nonsensical and disconnected from the argument purporting to back it up.
    – user4657
    Feb 9, 2018 at 10:18
  • @Nij - I've added a link to a commonly prescribed caffeine-rich, sugar-rich medication provided for cancer sufferers since you are apparently incapable of believing such a thing exists.
    – Richard
    Feb 9, 2018 at 10:22
  • Read the damn comment. A caffeine injection is not an energy drink. An energy drink is not necessarily caffeinated. You have not shown the existence of any doctor or credible medical information in which energy drinks are considered a viable treatment for any medical conditions at all.
    – user4657
    Feb 9, 2018 at 10:24

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