Study Like a Rock Star – Energy Drinks at School

Is it helpful to prohibit caffeinated energy drinks at school? Looking for the answer led to some interesting discoveries. As they say, “When a door is closed, a window opens.” Now I know how to drink from a can without, technically, opening it first.

Are Energy Drinks Unhealthful?

Last year my son‘s school laid down the law about Energy Drinks. They made a policy and included it in the student handbook. It reads as follows:

“Caffeinated, sugared energy drinks (eg. Monster, Rock Star) are prohibited …due to their unhealthful nature and will be confiscated and discarded.”

~student handbook

Unhealthful? Perhaps. Doesn’t that pronouncement sound odd, though, coming from an institution that serves pizza and burgers for lunch every day and serves vegetables only from a salad bar? But then, well, don’t get me started.

In another school publication I read that energy drinks, such as Monster and Rock Star, have “twice as much caffeine as a typical caffeinated soda drink.” Are you concerned yet?

This article also warns that energy drinks include nutritional supplements like taurine and guarana to boost the effect of the caffeine. Again, this is considered “unhealthful” by the school, though the same article admits to caffeine’s ability to elevate mood, improve memory and make the student more alert. Now I am even more confused.

How Much is Too Much?

Personally, I don’t care for energy drinks. I discourage them in my own home. Still, I see that it is difficult, in a world so enamored with Coca Cola and other sugary caffeinated drinks, to convince children that drinking them is a bad idea. I rarely drink canned energy drinks, or even soft drinks myself but with my teenagers, well, I believe you have to pick your battles. From time to time they buy a carton of Vault or bring home a four pack of Monsters. Generally, however, they don’t seem to overindulge so I don’t worry much about it.

And, is it just me or do you think it is a bit ironic that, at roughly the same time the school saw the need to draft rules forbidding the consumption of energy drinks on campus, because of the unhealthful nature of caffeinated drinks, the PTO sought contributions for an espresso machine in the teacher’s lounge to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week?

Hypocritical? Well, I don’t really take it that seriously but I did find it amusing. Still the kids don’t worry about it much. They are learning the art of persistence (and perhaps a few less desirable arts as well.) They know that if you can’t get in the front door, try the backdoor or a window.

A Lesson Learned

One morning, following the ban, my son put an energy drink in his backpack before school. I pointed out the new rule in the student handbook, but he shrugged. No problem. He said he didn’t plan to open it at school. So I let it go. As I said, I have enough fish to fry as it is.

Sometime later my family was flying to Minneapolis-St. Paul, on our way to visit family. During the flight I smelled something fruity. I looked up from my writing to identify the source and saw that my son was holding a canned beverage. On closer inspection I saw that it was a Full Throttle Original Energy Drink, Citrus flavor. I also saw that the can didn’t look open. Still, I felt sure that I could smell it. So I asked him about it.

He tipped it up to his mouth as if taking a drink and slurped on the can. Then he explained that while it didn’t look open, it was open. Slightly. He showed me the little opening and I tried to get a documentary photo of it. This was how they drank these drinks at school, he explained. Technically they weren’t open so technically there was no infraction of the rules. Since there was no real infraction, the teachers were not compelled to “confiscate and discard” the drinks as the rules described. It seems that, for the most part, the teachers felt they had bigger fish to fry too. Most of his teachers didn’t want to worry about energy drinks on campus any more than I did.

Thinking About Education

I’m sorry, but I had to laugh! The implications are mind boggling really. I mean when is a caffeinated beverage too caffeinated? Is one Coke okay, but two are too many? What about sugary caffeine laced chocolate candy bars? And when is open really open anyway? After all is the rule about having the beverage, opening the beverage or drinking the beverage? Are the children forbidden to have the beverage in their possession or just warned that the drink will be confiscated if it is openly consumed? Details, details.

Now we have begun a new year at a new school. Cost and other factors seem to have decreased the number of energy drinks rolling through my house lately. The kids seem to have better things to spend their money on these days, Of course the new school’s student handbook has no rules against energy drinks, so what’s the point? They seem to have lost their edge. Still, I am on the edge of my seat wondering what’s next. Kids are really an education in themselves, don’t you think? They certainly make me think and keep me on my toes.