It’s 7:05 a.m. I stayed up until one after working a 6 hour shift to do homework from all my classes, so you can assume I’m somewhat tired.
According to the Telegraph, “Neuroscientists say they [ teenagers] are biologically predisposed to go to sleep around midnight and not feel fully awake and engaged until between 9 and 10 a.m.”
With me being awake earlier than that, and with my first period teacher expecting me to give my 100% undivided attention, I should be allowed to have a drink that can help me to reach energy quicker, which overall results in me performing better in the classroom.
According to TODAY.com, “Caffeine easily gets into the brain, and affects many kinds of neurons (brain cells) in a positive way. While moderate caffeine intake can boost your ability to concentrate, and improves mental alertness, it doesn’t make you smarter – and has no effect on learning!”
The reason why the school has a no coffee policy is because of potential damage that can be done to carpets if spilled, the negative effects it can have on the teenage brain, and since coffee is normally brought in a mug, administration won’t know if what’s inside is really coffee, according to the dean’s office.
A cup of coffee contains about 95 mg of caffeine, which is a healthy amount to have every day according to the Healthline Media, online health provider. Yes, caffeine is considered a drug, which overall can lead to addiction if being abused, but if I’m using a healthy amount to help me concentrate early in the morning, and I’m not spilling it or distracting anybody, then it shouldn’t be an issue.
I’ve noticed also that if teachers don’t have their daily intake of caffeine, that can lead to them being in a grumpy mood, which makes them not want to teach as they normally want to, which overall makes the students less likely to want to learn.
If teachers are given the privilege to drink coffee to help them instruct better in the classroom, then the students should be able to drink coffee to help them participate better in the classroom.
Sure, one might say that they are adults and should be able to do whatever they want. But from what they have told us, we are expected to act as young adults, so what’s the issue with both drinking coffee?
The solution should be that students and faculty should bring cups that are translucent so administration can see what’s actually in the cup, students should leave the coffee far from where they are writing to prevent spilling, and to not let the coffee distract them from classwork. These would be better solutions rather than eliminating the drink as a whole.