By Viviana Morales

Have you ever gone into your first class of the day, exhausted and tattered from staying up all night studying for a test you’re taking at the end of the day? According to the American Psychological Association, “In 2021, nearly 70% of 9th graders, and 83.5% of 12th graders, failed to get enough sleep.” In such a competitive academic environment, students should be able to have the resources they need to stay awake and energized throughout the school day. 

Energy drinks, whether a Celsius or a Dunkin Donuts bottled coffee, should be available in our school’s vending machines. Not only would  the school benefit economically, but it would also allow students to stay energized to perform better academically. 

Many seniors, who are allowed to go off campus for lunch, walk to Starbucks to purchase coffee or other caffeinated drinks as it is. Providing energy drinks in the vending machines might keep more kids on campus during lunch. Every Sunday, the administration sends out an email to students and their families regarding the week’s activities. At the very bottom, there is a small list of reminders for students, with one being to respect our neighbors when we are off campus. Facilitating students staying on campus at lunch could easily lessen these worries.

However, there is a concern that energy drinks or high levels of caffeine in general could be dangerous for students’ health. Consuming too much caffeine can lead to headaches, insomnia, gastrointestinal upset, and increased risk for addictive behaviors, among other potential side effects. However, heavy caffeine use constitutes drinking more than 400 milligrams a day. The average energy drink contains 100-300 milligrams of caffeine per serving according to the Mayo Clinic. As long as students drink energy drinks responsibly, the caffeine level is within reason.

Others are concerned with the sugar content in energy drinks. But what is the difference between drinks like celsius compared to ice cream? Near the cafeteria, there is a vending machine solely dedicated to ice cream, serving chocolate, coffee, and cookies and cream popsicles. Even in the machines that only have snacks, there are rows full of Doritos Flamas. Would adding drinks that actually benefit the ability of students to learn be worse than the current sugary and sodium-filled snacks that the school already offers?

To put limitations on the amount of caffeinated drinks or sugar students consume, the administration could implement a system to reduce the amount of drinks that a student can get per week. For example, like using our finger scan to get our lunch, only allowing students to get one slice of pizza per day, we could use the finger scan scanner to only get a drink twice per week. This system could also be set up with our student id cards, our student ids, etc. 

These machines could also put large warnings on each drink or even on the entire machine warning students of the possible side effects that could take place, putting the responsibility on students instead of the school. 

Additionally, adding these kinds of drinks would benefit the school economically. Walking around the campus during a passing period it is easy to see how many students have Starbucks drinks. Similarly, many students arrive early to go to Ralph’s to just buy a Celsius or Bang Energy. If there were a vending machine dedicated to selling energy drinks or bottled coffee, the school would be able to profit greatly, as students would be more encouraged to buy from the school than show up 30 minutes earlier to go buy from a store. Even on their way back home, instead of heading to the packed drive through, they could easily pick up a drink to go from the vending machine.