As is known to us, Washington University in St. Louis became the first college in the United States to ban   ( 禁 止 ) selling bottled water in 2009. Since then, more than a dozen small colleges and schools have done the same. The ban isn’t because the schools don’t want students to have easy access to water. Instead, the goal is to encourage students to bring reusable bottles to save money and, more importantly, to save the environment.

Many people believe that producing and using bottled water not only wastes money but also harms the environment. They say that bottled water is unnecessary because public water supplies in the U.S. are among the best in the world. These people believe that water fountains and reusable bottles with easy access to filling stations are a better choice.

But the makers of bottled water argue that plastic bottles make up a small portion of the nation’s total waste. They say it’s unfair to single out ( 单独挑出) their product when so many other items are packaged ( 包装) in plastic containers, and what’s more, water is a healthy choice compared to some sodas and juices that are also sold at school.

What do you think: Should sales of bottled water be banned from schools? We want to hear your opinion. Write a 200-word response. Send it to tfkasks4you@timeforkids.com. Your response may be published in a future issue of Time For Kids. Please include your grade level and contact information for your parent or teacher if you want your response to be published. The deadline (截止时间) for responding is December 31, 2019.

What’s your favorite online magazine for kids? Here are four that are worth a look and a read.

National Geographic Kids

Parents, students, and teachers can take the help of this quality resource to learn about people, places, science, space, history, nature, and various fun activities. The magazine aims for the age group of 8-14. Interactive content includes videos, games, photos, blogs, etc. This is one online magazine that parents and teachers will always choose without hesitation (犹豫).

TIME For Kids

TIME magazine for adults might be too serious. The version for kids isn’t but it does go deep with a lot of educational content and teaching resources that are helpfully arranged around grades. The weekly classroom news magazine covers world news and aims to develop the reading and analyzing (分析) habit in kids.

Weekly Reader

An offline and online magazine for elementary school students features a lot of educational tools for teachers and students alike. All of its magazines are arranged around grades from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. Lots of the tools are interactive and based around nicely designed stories that make learning fun. Some sections are open to only subscribers (注册人) though.

Highlights

Highlights, com brings out magazines for kids of ages 2-12. The publication group’s purpose is to help children become their best selves. The homepage also gives you further websites to explore like Puzzlemaniakids.com and Highlightskids.com. Play free online puzzles, solve riddles, go creative with fun activities, and even learn a little about nature and science at these two sites. For instance, you can go into a story adventure or create your own stories at The Timbertoes.