Our voice: We live in a caffeine culture
Eric Johnson
Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Opinion
Go to any classroom in the morning and you will likely see several people drinking energy drinks or coffee. Go peek in on a late-night study session and you will likely see more of the same. It seems many college students feel they cannot get through the day without that periodic pick-me-up.
In some cases, students are gulping down these substances at an alarming rate. The amount of caffeine and sugar, as well as other potentially detrimental ingredients such as guarana and taurine, in energy drinks, is disturbing. And nobody seems to care.
Granted, one or two energy drinks from time-to-time likely won't harm you. Moderate consumption of these substances, while not good for you, probably won't hurt you in any way. But it seems like more and more people are relying on heavily caffeinated beverages to get them through the day. This is not a healthy way to live.
It is bad enough when people go overboard on coffee. In moderation, coffee has proven to have some health benefits, but energy drinks have none whatsoever. They are comprised almost purely of caffeine and sugar (not to mention most of them taste terrible).
Students have always used caffeine to give them that extra kick. It just seems we keep looking for ways to continue ingesting as much of the drug as quickly as possible. Health be damned.
Is this a big enough problem to consider banning the substance on campuses?
It probably isn't to that point. Besides, one would like to think 18- to 23-year-old college students are able to exercise some restraint and realize guzzling through energy drinks is not the best idea. As energy drinks begin to become more and more commonplace, essentially replacing soda, bans may become something to consider.
Most important, though, is the example these habits set for younger generations. High school students, middle school students and even elementary students are seeing all these energy drinks and thinking they should drink Rockstar™, Monster™ or Red Bull™ because it is cool. Is that really the example we should set?
We are essentially breeding a generation of caffeine addicts-a group of twitching, jumpy and twittering (not to be confused with tweeting) young people.
So should energy drinks be banned on college campuses? Maybe not. Should they be banned in K-12 schools? Absolutely.
In some cases, students are gulping down these substances at an alarming rate. The amount of caffeine and sugar, as well as other potentially detrimental ingredients such as guarana and taurine, in energy drinks, is disturbing. And nobody seems to care.
Granted, one or two energy drinks from time-to-time likely won't harm you. Moderate consumption of these substances, while not good for you, probably won't hurt you in any way. But it seems like more and more people are relying on heavily caffeinated beverages to get them through the day. This is not a healthy way to live.
It is bad enough when people go overboard on coffee. In moderation, coffee has proven to have some health benefits, but energy drinks have none whatsoever. They are comprised almost purely of caffeine and sugar (not to mention most of them taste terrible).
Students have always used caffeine to give them that extra kick. It just seems we keep looking for ways to continue ingesting as much of the drug as quickly as possible. Health be damned.
Is this a big enough problem to consider banning the substance on campuses?
It probably isn't to that point. Besides, one would like to think 18- to 23-year-old college students are able to exercise some restraint and realize guzzling through energy drinks is not the best idea. As energy drinks begin to become more and more commonplace, essentially replacing soda, bans may become something to consider.
Most important, though, is the example these habits set for younger generations. High school students, middle school students and even elementary students are seeing all these energy drinks and thinking they should drink Rockstar™, Monster™ or Red Bull™ because it is cool. Is that really the example we should set?
We are essentially breeding a generation of caffeine addicts-a group of twitching, jumpy and twittering (not to be confused with tweeting) young people.
So should energy drinks be banned on college campuses? Maybe not. Should they be banned in K-12 schools? Absolutely.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Sean
posted 4/02/09 @ 2:21 PM CST
Amen comrade.
Then after we ban energy drinks we can ban red meat, candy bars, and junk food. Heck, ban water. Moderate consumption of water won't hurt you either, but if some simpleton of a student overdoes it on the water it could have negative effects too. (Continued…)
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