A school district in Kentucky is putting an end to the “emotional support waterbottle” trend — angering parents and students alike just a week before classes are set to resume.
Hardin County Schools, which oversees nearly 15,000 Kentucky students, made the last-minute decision to ban metal water bottles during school hours out of safety concerns, Spectrum News 1 reported.
The decision to yank popular water bottles — including brands like Stanley, Owala and Brumate — was announced just days before classes are slated to begin on Aug. 6.
“We noticed an increasing number of students choosing to use those as a weapon on other students,” said John Wright, public relations director for the school district.
“And so, what’s the best way to decrease that or to stop that? The best way is to not have them in our buildings anymore,” he added.
According to the district, water bottle related issues have continued to increase since the start of the pandemic.
Some students have suffered serious injuries such as concussions from metal water bottles, while others have required hospital visits.
Wright acknowledged that the district “should have announced” the decision sooner and “apologizes” for the last-minute announcement but said the issue was brought up at a recent meeting between school and district administrators.
“And so we just made the decision, our leadership made the decision to only use plastic water bottles for this school year,” Wright said.
The decision that only plastic water bottles would be permitted this school year, announced on the school district’s Facebook page, received a barrage of angry reactions from parents.
Popular brands with students, like Stanley, Owala and Brumate, were singled out in the post which has since had the comments section disabled.
After the announcement was made, parent James Paulk received a call from his 13-year-old worried about what bottle she would be able to use at school.
“I do understand it,” Paulk told the outlet.
“However, I think we’re getting away from the reasoning behind it anyways, right?” he said. “n that time, everybody having a water bottle was perfect. You should. But things have changed, right?
“We’re no longer in that COVID era per se. So, everybody having a water bottle probably isn’t the right play anymore.”
As the policy is new, district officials said that there will be a grace period for students before it is strictly enforced.
The school district said that the ban only applies during school hours, so students may use a metal water bottle during after-school activities like sports and clubs.
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