When I was seven or eight years old, red Koolaid was banned in my household because my mom maintained that the red dye made us kids act crazy/wild. One might think it was the sugar content, but my scout troop never made red "bug juice" (flavor powder packets only, in big containers of water, no sugar) either. I think there was some study done in the 70s about this, which is probably what people latched onto to explain kids' oddities, but my mom used to claim it was observable.
They have newer studies showing a possible link between multiple synthetic dyes and child behavioral issues, with red dye being the worst. It supposedly also affects males more than females. I believe the EU has found it credible enough to mandate warning labels on foods containing synthetic dyes.
This part is just my speculation, but I imagine many boys in school could have been medicated due to their behavioral/learning issues, which might have been the product of their diet (dyes and sugar).
