Rise of Caffeine

Recently, students at the School might have noticed an increase in caffeinated beverages in the school cafe. This increase has worried some members of the student body and staff, with some pointing out the potential dangers of these drinks. 11th grader Gabriel Reader said, “I’m a little worried that it’s dangerous that teens, with no parental supervision, have access to infinite energy drinks. I heard caffeine at a young age is bad for you, so maybe the school should remove them from the cafe.”

While these claims may be of merit, other students disagree. Sophomore Geoffrey Schrader-Brown noted, “I love that we have caffeinated drinks like tea in the cafe – it gives me the energy I need to get through my day.”  Schrader-Brown is against these drinks being removed from the Cafe saying, “I would be super sad, because I rely on the caffeine from the cafe all the time, and I really think the school shouldn’t remove them, because everyone I know really loves the drinks.”

So what should the school do? Well, there seems to be plenty of evidence that these drinks are not actually posing a threat to any student’s health. In fact, the most caffeine in any given drink in the cafe is 30mg, in the “Simply Tea” drink. The World Health Organization recommends that no one under 18 should consume more than 100mg of caffeine, so hypothetically, a student at the School could have 3 caffeinated teas and still not be in the “danger zone” of caffeine intake. This amount of caffeine intake is not the best idea because it would be very expensive and could cause jitters and shakes.

However, some argue that students do not actually need to be drinking anything with caffeine at all. The National Library of Medicine writes, “Still, [we] concluded that caffeine intake in minors could lead to severe health consequences, especially when it was ingested together with other substances like taurine, as found in energy drinks.” While no drinks in the cafe contain taurine, it might be concerning to some that scientists think that caffeine intake in those under 18 could lead to severe health consequences. Anyone with this concern should remember the facts: There are no drinks in the cafe with more than 30mg of caffeine, and it’s highly unlikely that anyone would buy multiple caffeinated drinks and consume them at the same time. With these facts  in mind, it means that there is a small chance that these drinks are posing any threat whatsoever. 

All in all, it appears that the influx of concern surrounding the increase of energy drinks in the cafe has been somewhat of a false alarm, and that there are no significant dangers with the beverages students are consuming.