Imagine waking up in the morning, exhausted from the day before which was filled with grueling work and constant activity. You slept, but it didn’t refuel you enough for the day. After getting ready as fast as possible, you start heading to school. In a last-ditch effort to wake yourself up for the day, you buy an energy drink on your way. As you drink, you feel awake, alert and even more focused than you normally are.
According to a survey of 180 students and teachers, 164 use caffeine to energize themselves regularly.
Senior Westlee Weston relies on caffeine to compensate for his lack of sleep.
“Caffeine is a lifesaver,” Weston said. “It just keeps me going because I don’t sleep much, and also it just keeps me awake for school.”
An article by Texas A&M University, The Pros And Cons Of Daily Caffeine Intake by Emily Chan, warns about the overconsumption of caffeine. However, it also shows that there are benefits to caffeine consumption when it’s closely regulated. These benefits include increased focus, reduced fatigue, increased muscle speed and muscle efficiency.
Some of these benefits, like increased focus, can help those who have undiagnosed ADHD concentrate in class. The other benefits, like reduced fatigue, increased muscle speed and muscle efficiency, can be very beneficial for student athletes.
As a swimmer, Weston has noted these benefits..
“It definitely helps me get through the day, especially when you have sports going on,” Weston said.
Although there are benefits to caffeinated beverages for students, there are a lot of downsides to take into consideration. Many energy drinks have labels that say they are not recommended for people under the age of 18.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics article, Children should avoid drinks with sugar, caffeine, consuming energy drinks can result in poor decision making, anxiety, sensation seeking and inattention.
According to a student survey about caffeine consumption, students get their caffeine intake in many different forms.
This shows that most students play it safe with their caffeine intake, with soda taking over as the most popular caffeinated beverage.
While youth tend to rely on energy drinks, older generations prefer other forms of caffeine. According to a survey of 25 teachers about caffeine consumption, over 70% of teachers drink caffeine daily or multiple times a day.
According to the survey, many teachers drink coffee as their primary form of caffeine. English teacher Josie Pike enjoys drinking coffee mostly for the taste but also because it keeps her awake to start her day.
“I definitely enjoy the taste a lot,” said Pike. “Sometimes I want coffee at night, not even for the caffeine, but just for the taste. Caffeine does affect me pretty well, so I can’t do that or I’ll be up all night.”
Pike has had a strong relationship with coffee for years, but she didn’t start drinking coffee consistently until she was an adult.
“I drank caffeine once in a while, in my freshman and sophomore years and my junior and senior years,” said Pike. “I don’t think I started having consistent caffeine until 18 to 19 [years old] for sure.”
One big reason for her love of coffee is her father, who exposed her to different types of coffee.
“My father has made me a coffee connoisseur,” said Pike. “I like coffee with hints of natural cocoa in it.”
Pike also agrees that there are benefits to students drinking caffeinated beverages, but in a controlled way.
“There’s some benefits, especially coffee that has more natural caffeine, or natural caffeine in tea,” Pike said. “I definitely think it can be helpful. I know it helps people with ADHD. I know it helps them focus, especially if they’re unmedicated. That can be kind of a supplement there.”
Although Pike agrees that there are benefits to caffeine consumption for students, she believes that some students go overboard with their caffeine intake, specifically with energy drinks.
“I think maybe if it’s coffee, I’m less worried because there’s less caffeine content in that, but in an energy drink, some of these students I see are having like two or three a day,” said Pike. “How has their heart not exploded?”
According to the FDA article Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much? a healthy limit of caffeine for an average adult would be 400 milligrams. People with certain conditions or people on certain medications could react to that amount of caffeine differently.
Weston understands the dangers of an overconsumption of caffeine, so he tries to limit himself to under 600 milligrams of caffeine per day. Weston could achieve this caffeine limit with other healthier alternatives, but he prefers the taste of energy drinks over an alternative like coffee.
“I’m not huge on the flavor of coffee, and also there’s a huge variety of flavors when it comes to energy drinks in a much more concentrated caffeine, so it’s easier to consume more to get that desired effect than it is with coffee,” Weston said.
Even though Weston heavily relies on caffeine in his daily life, he understands that he can get past this habit without much trouble if necessary.
“If I don’t drink caffeine, there’s caffeine withdrawal, but once you get past those there’s nothing really special to it,” Weston said. “It’s not like life is worse without it.”
Freshman Benita Smedes is in the 19 % of students who drink coffee. This fear is due to the medical scares caused by energy drinks and her love of the taste of coffee.
“It really scares me. A lot of my friends would drink energy drinks, and I’m always like, ‘Do you know the health risk behind that?’ because it’s always so scary hearing stories about people having heart attacks at 18,” Smedes said.
While some have concerns about the consequences that may arise from caffeine overconsumption, many students and staff observe improvements in focus and attention from caffeine when used in moderation.
