Students fall asleep a lot in classes, so bringing an energy drink at the beginning of the day helps keep them awake. Yes, too much caffeine for a kid has its negatives, and the only positive is that it keeps the students awake. If a student were to have too much caffeine it can some severe side effects, which includes sleep disruptions, high blood pressure, and dehydration.  

“Almost every school day, I have an energy drink. I’ll drink them during my first and second periods mainly, but on the weekends, I drink a lot more,” Paityn Johnson (11) said. “I think It does keep me up during classes, but I think drinking them without eating during the day, it does make me shaky and a little anxious.” 

Some students don’t see a difference with their anxiety and sleep schedule when they have caffeine, or some people don’t feel more awake after having caffeine. Some students do feel more anxious when they have caffeine, or depending on when they have caffeine it does affect their sleep schedule, just one day off and it can disrupt the sleep a student needs. It can take some time before a student can get their sleep schedule back to normal, especially when it comes to an everyday thing, water is essential when it comes to this. 

“I have caffeine about 3 to 4 times a week, depending on the week. It doesn’t really affect, because at least for me it takes my anxiety away and helps keep me tired afterwards.”  Alaiyah Lytle said.   

While there are ups and downs to students having energy drinks or coffee at school, you can’t really say no to them if they’re buying it for themselves. Some know about the side effects of too much caffeine and back down cut back on it, some know about it and just don’t care. A main reason why some don’t care is because if it keeps them awake in class, then it shouldn’t matter.  

“I’d estimate I have an energy drink/caffeine before school around once every other week,” Emma Riegel-Stiles said. “My ADHD stimulants like caffeine don’t exactly work the same for me, but I’d say it boosts my dopamine, it lessens my anxiety and because I drink them before school, it doesn’t affect my sleep.”