High School Students Need Caffeine!

An enormous necessity for people all over the country is caffeine. It comes in all shapes and forms, spanning from sodas such as Coke, to lattes and coffee, to candy. Many adults are able to enjoy a coffee before and during work. However, some of the biggest consumers of coffee nowadays are teenagers, especially high school students. Thanks to the First Lady of the United States, the my high school (and other schools) prohibits caffeine products because Michelle Obama wants to put a stop to American obesity.

Studies show that coffee actually helps teens during school, and gives them more energy which they can use to learn more, especially in the wee hours of the morning. Michelle Obama is trying to put a stop to American obesity, but does that mean that she’s eating healthy too? USA Today interviewed the First Lady about healthy eating and she admitted, “I love burgers and fries, and I don’t want to live a life where I can never have them again. And if we told families and children that that was the answer, we’d never get there”. She also coughed up that even her family doesn’t eat 100% perfect! Michelle Obama is acting a little bit like a hypocrite when she says this, and taking away caffeine at school isn’t going to solve anything or make anyone healthier because teenagers are just going to go home and drink a coffee or soda anyway. I know for a fact that Wilmington High School students still drink caffeine all the time.

Some of them sneak their Dunkin’ Donuts coffees into school in the morning, some chug them before they walk into school, and some just go out after school and by coffee, soda, or energy drinks. Taking away the Gatorade and soda machines in school just infuriates students, and it won’t solve the caffeine problem. Actually if schools left the “caffeine/sugar” vending machines in, they would make a lot more money; probably about $100 per week because almost every athlete at Wilmington High used to buy at least one or two Gatorades a week. Most high school students stay up late almost every night, whether it’s because of studying, homework, or sports. These late nights cause students to only get about 7 hours of sleep (maximum) if they go to bed at 11:00pm; however it’s probably less sleep than that. The National Sleep Foundation shows that teens need at least 9 hours of sleep to function properly.

If they don’t get this amount of sleep then they are more likely to get into car accidents, they won’t get along with family members or friends, and they won’t perform as well in athletics or in school. Also the NSF says that lack of sleep can lead to eating more unhealthy foods and cause weight gain. So if schools allowed caffeine, then students would be more awake for school and would most likely be able to pay more attention, and learn more. Students wouldn’t be in as many car accidents because they would be more alert from the caffeine, and they would have more energy and perform better in sports. I’m not saying that it’s healthy to stay up late and drink caffeine in the morning for energy. However, occasionally students will have a few late nights a week from sports or homework, and they will need something in the morning to give them the energy they need to make it through the day.

My solution to this problem would be to simply allow caffeine back into high school, and other schools that have the caffeine ban. Like I said earlier, my school would be able to make so much profit from having “caffeine/sugar” vending machines. It’s bad enough that the school is serving us healthy lunches that taste gross! Students need the dignity of having those machines that they can go to during school. The Los Angeles Times said that 63% of teens drink coffee, sports drinks, and flavored milk. The firm NPD said that more than 37% of people age 18-24 drink caffeine. If we put these machines in then students would have more energy for everyday activities and classes, and they would probably be more successful.

With this newly added energy students could also get their homework done faster and get to bed earlier. This way Americans (especially high school students) wouldn’t be as obese because they would get their necessary hours of sleep each night, and as a result, wouldn’t eat as much unhealthy foods. This is a growing problem in mine and other schools across the nation, and it needs to be resolved. My school needs caffeine machines! Teenager sleeping when he has school work to do. Digital image. Clipartguide.

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