Read the Newsweek article below:
http://mag.newsweek.com/2013/10/04/mountain-dews-and-don-ts.html
For our second week in the chemistry unit, we are going to analyze what happens to the chemistry of your brain on caffeine. After reading the article, respond to the questions below in a well-constructed academic paragraph. This discussion response is due Friday and worth 10 points.
Why do you think more teens are drinking energy drinks, coffee, and caffeinated beverages? Do you think the demands on teens is greater now than in the 1990's? Why? What will happen to society if teens continue to drink high levels of caffeinated beverages? What will this look like in the future? What evidence can you provide that proves that energy drink companies target teenagers? Can something be done to prevent teens from drinking caffeine? Is there evidence of a direct link between academic performance and sleep? Can you provide proof?
Akpan, Nsikan. "Mountain Dews and Don'ts." Newsweek. 10.04.13.
Caffeinated beverages are definitely a favorite of teens throughout society. From Mountain Dew to Red Bull to Coffee, there is simply no way of counting how much caffeine a child may take in per year. Yes, these drinks might help us get the ‘buzz’ we need in the morning or maybe even are just the nice refreshing drink we have with our friends, but in excessive amounts, these drinks may have repercussions. This article thoroughly discusses the indirect connection between caffeine and the brain. When you drink caffeine, this helps you have a lot more energy, and a greater lack of sleep. Supposedly, most of the brain development--especially in adolescents--occurs during deep sleep. With the consumption of caffeine, it has been tested that the consumer will experience a great deal less of deep sleep, and henceforth less brain development. In simple terms, if this is a common trend, our society will slowly lose brain development and, subtly, we will become more ‘stupid’. To be completely honest, I am a victim, along with many of us, and I enjoy an occasional Mountain Dew or a sip of coffee here or there. But the main problem is just consuming these drinks excessively, especially since companies target teenagers since we are in constant need of buzz and in constant search of approval from peers. Unfortunately, this trend of caffeinated drinks is only escalating, and despite all of the ‘donts’, teens still think of these drinks as a definite ‘Dew’.
ReplyDeleteI really like your conclusion sentence, its quite crafty!!:)
DeleteI think teens are drinking energy drinks, coffee, and caffeinated beverages because they want to fit in. Teens all over the country are drinking these drinks as a pleasure, and most times for them to stay awake. They drink these drinks to stay awake so they can complete homework and projects long into the night. They need to stay awake, so to do that, they drink coffee, energy drinks, and caffeinated drinks. I think the demand on teens is greater now then in the 1900's because now you can find these drinks anywhere at any time. We drink them all the time, so much we come addicted. In the 1990's, people weren't drinking drinks like this, but since we drink them so regularly, the demand for them is high. If teens continue to drink these beverages, they can possibly stunt their brain growth and development, making them have less and less energy every day. This will cause people to be tired and sleepy all the time in the future, no matter what they drink. Companies target teenagers because teenagers need the most energy to get through the day, teenagers watch the most tv, and on tv, most ads for red bull and monster are present. To prevent teens from drinking caffeine, we can stop promoting ads. But we all know, that is nearly impossible unless we halt the drinking of caffeine. There is a direct link between academic preformance and sleep because if your tired, your rate of paying attention will be down. I know this because when I'm tired, I don't pay attention as much. So, teens need to stop drinking caffininated drinks or else, our world will run out of energy.
ReplyDeleteI like your point on how teens need more energy than anyone else. I think that is a big reason why companies target teens.
DeleteI believe more teens these days are drinking more caffeinated drinks because it helps them stay up. Teens may need to stay up longer to finish up school work teachers assign, or to get more energy during the day. Therefore, they drink energy drinks to stay up longer but because they get so exhausted during the day from having decreased hours of sleep, they drink more caffeine filled drinks to stay awake. Yes, I think the demands on teens is greater than in the 90's. I think this because the work we get in school is more advanced then it was back then. Technology has improved and new things have been discovered. What some teens have on their plates today, has increased a lot since the 90's. If teens continue to drink high levels of caffeinated beverages we can be in trouble. The more we drink the more our hormones change. Drinking more caffeine can trigger disorders. Physically and mentally. In the future, more teens will grow up having problems due to caffeine overdoses. Energy company's target teenagers because in the advertisements and commercials is shows teenagers having a "good time" This influences teenagers to buy their products. To prevent teens from drinking too much caffeine, I think the parents need to have a say in how much or how little their kids are allowed to drink. I think the more sleep you get, the better you do in school because you are more awake and alert, then when you get less sleep.
ReplyDeleteI think that teens drink caffeinated beverages because they see their parents drinking them, and their friends. The demands on teens now is way more difficult than teens in the 1900's. The teens now have more school work and are pushed to do other activities after school. Teens will be developing later than usual causing hormones to change. The future will be full of teens who haven't developed yet, basically having a bunch of ten year old until they hit like 18 years old and start to develop. Athletes are sometimes sponsored by Red Bull, which teens look up to or root for. Tell the teens that drinking caffeine will decrease their scores in school, and show them the long term consequences. It is said that people who don't get enough sleep preform worse in school. When I don't sleep enough I get tired in school and don't pay as much attention as I should.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the point you brought up about caffeine causing late development in teens, and causing hormones to change. I never thought about that.
DeleteTeens are drinking more caffeinated drinks because they taste good and the high levels of caffeine help them to stay awake at night to study or to party. In the 1990's it was less stressed to get A's or B's than in today's life because college was less important and you didn't need a college diploma to get a good job. If we continue to drink high levels of caffiene we will get disorders like Schizophrenia, anziety and sleep disorders. In the future people can become angry or come out at any moment to kill you from Schizophrenia. Energy drink companies target teenagers by making the prices cheaper or the making the bottles or cans look cooler with a new look. If teenagers do not get enough sleep at night they will be tired at school and not be able to focus at school. When I come to school tired I never pay attention and I am more focused on sleep than learning.
ReplyDeleteI think more teens are drinking energy drinks, coffee and caffeinated beverages because they feel like they need them to be active.I also think more advertising contributes to it too, because they make the energy drinks look good for you. I think the demand on teens is greater now than in the 1990's because we grew up during a large technological advancement, so we are used to technology and how it works, and we are the primary users so I think we will be expected to do much more in the workforce because of our familiarity with technology. I think if teens drink too much coffee and caffeinated beverages then, like the article said, we will become dumber. If we, the "people of the future", are dumber, then we will not set good examples for our kids and so on. The reason energy drink companies target teenagers is because they are more gullible and not as well informed. For example, we have to wake up very early in the morning for school, so companies will take advantage of that and tell teens that they need these drinks to wake up and be active. I think the only thing that could be done to prevent teens from drinking caffeine is to either put more warnings up or make it age-restricted to buy. I don't think that will happen though because companies are making tons of money off of teens who feel like they NEED these drinks to be active. Evidence of academic performance and sleep is reported in a study, "The study, authored by Fred Danner, PhD, of the University of Kentucky, focused on 882 high school freshmen who provided information about their sleep habits and school grades and also completed psychological and behavioral assessments. According to the results, students reported sleeping, on average, 7.6 hours per school night, with 48 percent reporting less than eight hours." (http://www.aasmnet.org/articles.aspx?id=873).
ReplyDeleteI agree that more teens are drinking energy drinks, coffee, and caffeinated beverages. They are doing this because they stay up late to finish homework and projects that they put off until the last minute. This is causing them to get less sleep and providing them with less focus for the next day. Companies have noticed this and that is why they are targeting teens because they know they will buy them and they will make more money.
ReplyDeleteIf teens keep drinking energy drinks to stay up late each night, and their tiredness adds on, then they probably will get dumber. They will stop being able to focus on what they're learning, they might fall asleep in class and they will get behind. So when it’s time for the test they don't know what's on it.
In the future, if every single teen drank a monster at 10 o’clock pm so they could stay up late, then our adult society in a few generations would not be as smart as they are today. This is because of the fact that by doing that, we aren’t retaining what we learn in class and our education would get behind with the fast evolvement of technology and education.
To answer the question about how to prevent teenagers from drinking these terrible drinks, they should create a drink that is not bad for you but still taste’s good. If they do that and say it will keep you awake but make it not actually keep you awake, then maybe it will make their minds think that they’re actually staying awake rather than giving them a ton of caffeine. Sort of like the control group in an experiment, where you give them something and tell them that it’s one thing when it’s really not, but their mind believes it.
I like how you offered a solution to try and create a new substance. It's not just stating your opinion, but an idea.
DeleteWow. I don't like caffeine to begin with. I order Hot Cocoa at Starbucks. But my lil'sis does drink Coffee. Every morning. She is only 11! I do agree with the fact that caffeine has increased in teens. I really think there should be more warnings for caffeine, I think that would be the solution. And though I may not have proof, but my personal experience is enough to convince me. I think it is dangerous. We have grown up in a society in a "War on Drugs", and isn't caffeine a drug? Why haven't we done anything about it, when clearly there are some negative side effects. I have grown up with serious anxiety, and its not worth it because my sister "Likes the taste". It should be a banned substance.
ReplyDeleteIt is a drug after all.
-Caroline Keller
I couldn't agree more about caffeine's status as a drug in our society. It is an addictive substance that brings nothing to its consumers but negative effects.
DeleteI believe that teens are taking in more caffeine now because of their involvement in extra-curricular activities and more class work. Teens have more work to do in less time making them sacrifice sleep, making them take an energy drink of other caffeine in the morning. Compared to the 1990’s students have more work. I believe this is because of colleges wanting you to do harder classes and more activities also the competitiveness in students for the higher class rank. According to the article caffeine affects the brain and memory. I agree caffeine could affect the brain but I feel that for the two or three years that the teen would the caffeine it would not affect their academics very much. Caffeine consumption in teens should still be monitored to make sure it does not produce a negative effect in the future. Energy drink companies such as Red Bull and Monster are targeting teens in their sponsoring of different sports and then having the people advertise about their drink. To prevent teens from drinking caffeine I feel that the responsibility should fall on the parents. Sleep and academic performance go hand in hand. First off if a person does not get enough sleep they will be tired in class and not pay attention. Secondly scientists have found a link in better memory when people get the REM stage of sleep.
ReplyDeleteThe number of teens drinking energy drinks has increased for many reasons. One of these reasons is energy. A lot of teens stay up really late into the night doing homework, practicing an instrument, playing a sport, or being involved in after school activities. Teens drink energy drinks to give them the energy they need during the day without needing to sleep for a long time. Another reason would be peer pressure. A teenager will have many friends that are drinking these high caffeinated energy drinks, and the want to fit in and be cool will drive many teens to drink these energy drinks. The demands on teens in definitely greater now than in the 1990’s. Now many more teens are expected to go to college, do well in school, and actively participate in school. Not to mention the social demands that are increasing. Nowadays there is more social interaction between teens. Because of these social interactions, the use of caffeinated drinks increases as they are the “cool” thing to drink. Our society will be changed if teens continue to drink caffeinated drinks. The continual usage of these drinks will impact our present and future society. Highly caffeinated drinks will cause our society to become a lot less smarter. This will cause the future generations to not be able to more society forward, and find solutions to the problems our country is facing today.
ReplyDeleteBased on reading "Mountain Dews and Don'ts," the reason why more teens have consumed more energy drinks, coffee, or caffeinated beverages would be due to stress, especially with deadlines inside school. Compare to the 1990s's, the demands on teens has become even greater. Because of the 90's total populations increase of 29.32 million, and 2000-2012's total increase of 32.53 million (http://www.multpl.com/united-states-population/table), considering the factors of are population increasing higher than ever in addition to our generation already staying up late as is, many opportunities are up for grabs for various businesses. However, along with targeting adults, teenagers are also being subjected to multiple energy drink companies. Due to having various flavors and varieties of soda, energy drinks, and coffee along with offering special deals such as "buy one get one half off," a clear conclusion of companies who are trying to expand their targets even further than just adults can be made. With businesses' yen to advertise, and adolescents' increased levels of stress due to variables such as deadlines or school, if teens decided to continually drink higher levels of caffeinated beverages, society will gradually become more unstable. In the future, instability would represent itself through the sudden decrease in population, and the escalation for medical assistance; consuming too much caffeine can eventually cause problems to the brain and result in various physical and mental issues. Compared to society, on a smaller scale caffeine is often ingested in order for teens to succeed in their academics, or for simpler reasons such as partying; yet, with our actions follows a consequence. Synapses are known for their connections during our deep slumber in order to help make our brains more powerful; however, with the consumption of caffeinated beverages, the function of synapses are impeded, resulting in the possibility of having weaker academic performance varying on the amounts being consumed. Despite these concerns surrounding caffeine, there are actions that can be done to help teens either drink less of or steer clear of the substance in general. With treating caffeine as more of an emergency tool rather than something that's granted, combined with having teens become more engaged in both their schedule and their studies, as deadlines slowly turn around the corner, that stress will dissipate and allow the body to function more sufficiently; hence, resulting in caffeine to be used more sporadically -if not at all- and be used to its full potential with no consequence of having an immunity towards its effects.
ReplyDeletemore teens are drinking coffee and caffeinated beverages because of the reduces amount of sleep due to school and other after school clubs and sports. For example football, the coaches have you practicing from 3 till 5:30 everyday (I'm guessing, I don't Play football) plus home work can lead to a lack of sleep and a more needed use for caffeine In the mornings for a "boost " so to speak so they can get ready to repeat the same cycle over and over again day after day. The demands on this product have been rising since the 90's because of, well many different factors. Some of the major ones I know about are; 1) School 2) Video gaming 3) Sports. Video Games have become a very big reason to the fact that teen's stay up all night to finish the game or to further in the levels. Energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster are what help them do that. If teens continue to consume high levels of this substance then there is a chance it will lead to mental disorders in their adult years and also to higher numbers of drug abusers.
ReplyDeleteWith the number of drug abusers now they will have a higher chance of rising in the future. Banning the selling of caffenaited drinks to teens is the best way to prevent that number of caffeine abusers to drop .
I agree that more teens are drinking caffeine. One main reason for this would probably be the change from middle school to high school. Most of the new freshmen will not be used to waking up at 5:00 ( Unless they were in band in middle school). Caffeine can be seen as a helpful way to wake up in the morning. After a week or two they will probably fall into a habit of drinking one caffeinated beverage every school day. Then one everyday, and then two everyday, etc. Yet another reason would be watching either A) Your parents drinking coffee everyday, B) Your older siblings drink a caffeinated beverage almost everyday. Or C) Peer pressure- your peers drink caffeine everyday. If teens keep drinking more caffeine than whats ok then our country is going to get dumber and dumber. The thing that can be done is instead of our country making more caffeinated drinks for ourselves we should ship them to other countries for trade, so that the population slowly gets rid of its addiction to caffeine. Because like quitting any other addiction you can't just stop. It takes time to make your body not need it any more.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really nice specific example of why teens need the caffeine. I would totally agree that it must be harder to wake up now, though I was a band student. I guess you never really get use to it!
DeleteI think teens are drinking caffine drinks and energy drinks because of three reasons; they taste good, the give energy, and they think it makes them look cool. I think the demands on teenagers is greater than in 1990 because kids are drinking energy drinks because they think it looks cool kind of like how some teens think smoking is cool. If teens continue to drink these high levels of energy drinks i think it will cause more obesity, and health risks such as damaging the brain. Energy drink companies target teens because they market it specifically so it looks like every one is doing it and if you dont you wont fit in. If we brought how bad the energy drinks are to teens attention, they might stop drinking it so much. Energy drinks have caffine that causes you to not sleep as well and this can also cause health risks.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about bringing the consequences to teenagers attentions, I think that could make a huge impact.
DeleteThe number of teens drinking energy drinks has increased for many reasons. One of these reasons is energy. A lot of teens stay up really late into the night doing homework, practicing an instrument, playing a sport, or being involved in after school activities. Teens drink energy drinks to give them the energy they need during the day without needing to sleep for a long time. Another reason would be peer pressure. A teenager will have many friends that are drinking these high caffeinated energy drinks, and the want to fit in and be cool will drive many teens to drink these energy drinks. The demands on teens in definitely greater now than in the 1990’s. Now many more teens are expected to go to college, do well in school, and actively participate in school. Not to mention the social demands that are increasing. Nowadays there is more social interaction between teens. Because of these social interactions, the use of caffeinated drinks increases as they are the “cool” thing to drink. Our society will be changed if teens continue to drink caffeinated drinks. The continual usage of these drinks will impact our present and future society. Highly caffeinated drinks will cause our society to become a lot less smarter. This will cause the future generations to not be able to more society forward, and find solutions to the problems our country is facing today.
ReplyDeleteI think teens are drinking more energy drinks, coffee and caffeinated beverages because of the trend. Many teenagers drink monster probably because everyone else does, I remember in middle school during 6th grade, you were "cool" and other kids wanted to try the drink too, probably because their parents dont normally let them. I think the demands on teens is higher now because everyone knows now that life is not easy now unless you work for it. In the 1990's i dont think people had to go to college to get a job full time, compared to now where its almost mandatory to be trusted. Society will probably become restless, unhealthy, and maybe even less functional. The evidence that proves drink companies target teens is very obvious, look around, who many full grown men and women go to work drinking a monster or red bull? not many, because they know better. Teens do not know, nor do they care what the caffiene does to them. Drinks can be made caffiene free, so the taste is the same just without the caffiene mixture. Everyone knows that you perform better when you sleep well, if you dont sleep, all you want to do is sleep, therefore not being able to concentrate fully on what is going on and what is trying to make its way into the brain. Proof is everywhere, look around, look at the hundreds of tests regarding caffiene and people, look at the tired people that cant concentrate in school, or simply just experience it hands on, go to school with 1 hour of real sleep, see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteI think that more teens are drinking caffeinated beverages like Monster and Mountain Dew because a) there is a larger homework load and a higher pressure to perform well and so kids need it to stay up late and get work done and b) they see their friends drinking it, either for pleasure or to stay awake and so then they want it themselves. It's different from the 90s when there were less companies to make caffeine-loaded drinks or coffeehouses for kids to hang out in. While I don't think the effects of caffeine could be so long-lasting that this and future generations would slowly degenerate into mindless beings who live only for their energy drinks, there is proof that lack of sleep slows your thinking and that chemicals used to make the "energy" in energy drinks are harmful to developing bodies. Companies target teenagers because our minds are still developing, and though it pains me to say so, we are still not at our full thinking and judging capabilities. This makes us much more susceptible to ads and peer pressure. I don't think there really is a way to stop teens from drinking caffeine. They have done and will always do it; however if health issues caused by too much caffeine and lack of sleep are publicized more, perhaps this problem would slow down.
ReplyDeleteTeens are drinking energy drinks because they feel that it can be and alternative source of energy to getting full night's sleep. They also think that it will make them look cool to drink something like that. The demand on teens is greater now than in the 90s. Since the 90s, the energy drink industry has greatly increased and because you can find these drinks almost anywhere, the temptation to be with the crowd has increased as well. Teens and children are our future, and if these teens continue to drink these beverages, there will be more and more issues with people getting schizophrenia, anxiety, substance abuse, and personality disorders, as said in the article. The society will look like people with many problems such as mood disorders. Energy drink companies target teens with the eye catching design and packaging of their drinks which appeals to teenagers. Energy drinks are marketed as a way to give you energy when you didn't get enough sleep or need to stay awake, which is a pretty common issue for teenagers. To prevent teens from getting roped in by the energy drink industry, they should be taught in school about the dangers of energy drinks. When you don't get enough sleep, you tend to not to focus as you usually do, linking to lower grades and not a minimum amount of learning.
ReplyDeleteEverywhere you look there seems to be a teen drinking caffeine. Whether it's because they think it tastes good, need the rush of energy to wake up or want to look cool with their friends. Caffeinated drinks weren't a popular in the 1990's but now that teens today drink them on a day to day bases, the demand for them is so high and more and more of them are coming out. It said that drinking too much caffeine can cause many problems. If we keep drinking caffeine more and more in the future, people are going to have much different futures and more caffeine related problems will occur. Most companies target teens because they need the most energy and some might even take in the fact that people probably don't think that caffeine can o any harm to you so they drink it if it tastes good. Caffeine is already so popular that teens just need to see something that will make them stop. Maybe that is just telling them how much caffeine can hurt you. When you drink caffeine you don't get as much sleep and end up being tired all day which could bring your attention span down and your success rate down in school. I think there is a direct connection between caffeine and academic performance. Yet teens don't understand that caffeine has a lot more information that they don't know about.
ReplyDeleteThe main reason that makes me believe why teens drink caffeinated drinks is because of the taste and the feeling of being cool. I will have drinks like Mountain Dew on occasion because simply, it tastes pretty good. For sure the demand for caffeine for teens is much higher than it was in the 1990's. They are being advertised on every TV channel, all over street signs and there all so many more brands and flavors that there is a taste for everyone. Coffee alone has hundreds of ways to be made. If teens continue to drink caffeinated drinks like they do now, sooner or later we are going to run out of ingredients. Also, they will only drink these drinks because of their instincts and never drink things like water or milk. The future will hold every flavor, color, brand, shape of caffeinated drink possible. They target teens by the way they show the commercials with teens partying and have a great time which influences other teens that they should get it. You can stop teens from buying caffeinated drinks by making a law like there is for alcohol so teens cannot drink caffein until they turn 21. When you get less sleep you tend to have a much more poor effort and learning potential than you would when you get a large amount of sleep. When I get little sleep I tend to daze off, make mistakes that I normally wouldn't, and stop paying attention. When I get a nice amount of sleep I come prepared to learn rather than prepared to sleep.
ReplyDeleteI think that teens drink caffeinated drinks because of four reasons 1. They think because they are busier and get up earlier now and that means that they are tired and need that extra boost of energy that coffee and energy drinks give you. 2. Teens need to fit the teenage image and fit in. 3. They have older brothers or sisters or their parents drink coffee giving the idea that it's necessary. 4. Teens may just like the taste and the attention they get. So many companies like Red Bull, Starbucks, Monster, etc. show in their advertisements teens having fun and fitting in with other "cool" teens, which is ultimately every teen's high school dream. I think the best way to discourage teens from drinking caffeinated drinks is to teach them when they are younger the cons to drinking coffee and energy drinks. For example, high energy drinks can cause obesity, other health risks like brain damage, and addiction. Yes addiction. Caffeine is a drug just like tobacco and alcohol and other illegal drugs. It is also possible to die of heart failure due to an overdose of CAFFEINE!
ReplyDeleteI believe that caffeine also is a variable to being sleep deprived and I know when I am super tired that it is hard to concentrate and do school work and especially tests. If you are sleep deprived and always tired it would be really hard to get good grades and pass classes. Drinking caffeinated drinks in high school could not only effect your everyday life, but it could also effect the future. In the future I think teens will being drinking even more caffeine then they are now and in the 90s.
For teens now a days drinking things like energy drink have become the "norm". There's many advertisements telling them implying that they'll be so much popular or liked if they do this. Which is why some companies target teens in general, because teenagers will do anything to fit in. They're desperate for that feeling of acceptance. I think that if these companies keep targeting teens the problem is only going to get worse, especially because of all the health factors involved with energy drinks. For example in the article it said some drinks can cause anxiety and schizophrenia. Personally I feel like if the effects can get that seriously the companies need to put warnings on the cans/bottles. The demands for these drinks have definitely skyrocketed since the 1990's. For example Monster Energy was released in 2002. Also there's a lot more ways for companies to advertise to teens then there was in the 1990's. With people having cell phones with apps many of those apps have advertisements veered toward teens and young adults. There really is no way to stop teens from drinking caffeine, as you can tell from the prohibition back in the 1920's. No matter if it's illegal people will still find ways to obtain it.
ReplyDeleteI think teens are drinking lots of caffeine, coffee and energy drinks for a couple of understandable reasons. First off, they're the simplest and cheapest beverages to find and purchase. Besides clothing stores, and sometimes those included, almost any store you go to will sell some sort of caffeinated drink whether it's on the shelves or in a mini fridge by the register. They're usually just over a dollar, making adolescents drawn to this tasty option. Which brings me to my next point, they taste good. I think that's self explanatory, but to add to it, teenagers enjoy the short lasting burst of energy they get from all the unhealthy sugars in these beverages. What they either don't realize, or just choose to ignore is that they could get the same burst of energy from fruits. This healthier option won't leave them feeling lethargic after a short period of time as the drink is sure to do. Compared to the 1990's, I do believe the demand in teens is greater today. Since caffeinated drinks are made out to be so "cool" in commercials, why wouldn't it be? When a teenage boy see's his favorite athlete glorifying and advertising a certain drink on tv, there's no doubt he's going to want to see what it's all about. That's exactly how companies target teenagers. Get their idol to do something that teenagers could do to be a little bit more like their favorite star or athlete and there's no doubt they're going to do whatever it is to mimic their ways. As mentioned in the article, Doctor Huber conducted a study, coming to the conclusion that students who drink caffeinated beverages are experiencing an abnormal amount of neuron synopses, causing them to dedicate less time to sleep. This then leads to drowsiness and sleep deprivation and we all know sleep is one of the most important things in a teenager's life (scientifically, not just by opinion). So, in the future, if teens continue on with these bad habits, they could be potentially brain-dead by the time they reach adulthood. Caffeine might not be so "cool" after all.
ReplyDeleteI think teens are drinking more caffeinated drinks because commercials are showing teens drinking them and have celebrities drinking them which make drinking caffeinated drinks look cool. I do think the demand is greater on teens now then in the 1990s because teens can find these everywhere and they have much more access to them. I f teens keep drinking these kinds of drinks they might have brain damage because they aren't getting enough sleep and the teens might get obese from all the extra calories and fat they are getting from the energy drink that they wouldn't get from water. The energy drink companies are targeting teens because teens spend more time watching commercials on tv and seeing adds on the computer for the drinks. I think teens need to be educated on what these drinks can do to your body and the impact they can have on your future. Teens who get more sleep tend to get better grades then those who drink energy drinks and stay up all night. I myself sometimes have a soda pop before bed and find myself staying up all night with energy and at school feeling very tired and unfocused.
ReplyDeleteJohn Grischow
I think teens are drinking more energy drinks than the teens in the 1990s because they have easier access to them and see people doing it all the time so they think it is cool. If teens keep drinking energy drinks they may have brain problems and may even get obese because of all the extra calories and fat they get from the energy drinks than from water. Energy drink companies clearly target teens because of all the adds on the internet and television because they know that teens spend more time on those things than adults. I think teens just need to be educated about energy drinks and learn about the changes it could do to your brain and the rest of your body. Teens who drink energy drinks and stay up all night tend to get worse grades than the ones had a good nights sleep. I personally have had an energy drink before bed and have stayed up all night and been tired at school and had a hard time staying focused.
ReplyDeleteIn the world that we live in, teens are constantly swarmed with television, magazines, billboards and their favorite celebrity telling them what's "cool" to drink. Compared to adults, teens are easy to manipulate and strive more to "fit in" then their parents do; making them such an easy target to sell energy drinks to. In the 1990's, there was less media for such advertising compared to today; which is one reason why teens today are drinking far more energy drinks compared to 20 years ago. With the increase in energy drink drinkers, comes with an increase in health problems, including problems in sleep habits. Being a teenager, I know how important it is to get a good night's sleep. Having to wake up as early as 5 in the morning, every minute of rest counts. The problem with those who drink high caffeinated, energy drinks have a far more stimulated brain than those who don't. It takes longer for them to wind down and fall asleep. Studies show that teens who lack the proper amount of sleep have lower metabolism, slows down your critical thinking and can lead to insomnia. In order to stop this unhealthy habit, teens should limit their energy drink intake and marketers should either stop advertising to teens, or target a more mature audience.
ReplyDeleteAside from that they taste good, the biggest reason kids drink caffeine is to stay awake. It assists them to stay awake all night to cram in last minute homework or studying. Whether they're a very involved, busy teenager or just the typical procrastinator, this could be prevented with the practice of good time management. Perhaps the reason why kids are drinking them now more than ever is because they are wasting too much time on their IPhones worrying about social media when they could be getting their homework done. While they are on their IPhones they are also exposed to clever advertisements that are targeted specifically to teenagers. The ads show famous celebrities drinking caffeinated drinks, and it makes the teens want to drink it too because one of their most important values is to fit in and be cool. The article states that some of the long term affects of consuming these drinks is the high incidence of substance abuse and personality disorders. If the teenagers who consume these drinks now grow up to be adults and are still drinking it, and everyone drinks them, will there be anyone left to try and influence the down sides of caffeinated drinks?? Studies have shown that getting all eight hours of sleep increases memory retention. This could, in turn, increase academic performance, which has a much more beneficial outcome to teen's futures than consuming drinks that could lead you to substance abuse.
ReplyDeleteGrown-ups love their coffee every morning -- and children look up to their parents. As an effect, children want to drink coffee, too. As more coffee shops and cafes have been opening up, more and more parents drink coffee, and more and more kids want to as well. Therefore, more and more kids begin to drink coffee. However, some kids may not like the taste of coffee, but they still look up to their parents and their caffeine, so they resort to other caffeinated beverages such as energy drinks. Because there has been as rise in teenagers drinking these caffeinated beverages, grocery stores have been marketing towards this age group. They advertise and sell more of these drinks. Therefore, the purchasing of these beverages now from teens is much greater than in the 1990's. Studies have also shown that excess consumption of caffeinated beverages could slow brain development, which would greatly be due to a lack of sleep. Society could go into a slight decline from this, with kids not being as intelligent. This could greatly affect society in the long run when we are looking for new engineers and architects and few people can step up to the job. Teenagers today are targeted to buy caffeinated beverages. This could be accidentally through parents drinking coffee. Or, it could be intentional, for example, caffeine companies send out ads wherever they feel teens will read or see them, because they know that the caffeine market is growing and it can only grow more. Therefore, despite all health warnings, I do not believe that there is any way to stop teens from consuming caffeinated beverages. Most teens simply don't care or don't want to listen about health; they just want to be instantly gratified by their drinks. Plus, caffeine companies aren't going to stop sending out ads. Since caffeine causes lack of sleep, synapses will not develop as well, because they develop best during sleep. These synapses cause the brain to be more powerful, which would call for a smarter human.
ReplyDeleteThe growth of energy providers in teens and children today is due to the growth of media and influence in our society. Younger people see logos and commercials promoting the consumption of many drink, and supplement brands and perceive them to be "cool" among their peers. In reality energy drinks contain potential risks that outweigh any benefits, if any. Potential risks include cardiac arrest, insomnia, type-2 diabetes, and potential addiction. "Energy" that is in these drinks is short lived and causes the users to experience hard falls. There is no proven effects of energy drink consumption on academic intake directly, but they can decrease the ability to focus and concentrate. This could have influence on a students ability to focus in learning environment. High caffeine beverages have increased in popularity since the 1990's with the advancement of advertisement tactics and technology. As younger generations are targeted, we will continue to see their rise in our society. Caffeine has become a drug epidemic in the world today, and must be defeated. Our future generations must be warned of the effects of caffeine on our health. The information is out there today, but as long as there is such a demand the supply will come.
ReplyDeleteSources:
www.energyfiend.com/top-10-energy-drink-dangers
www.nbc12.com/story/22249838/12-investigates-the-dangers-of-energy-drink-abuse
I think teens drink so much caffeine because they like the way the drink tastes and they think it makes them looks cool. If adolescents keep drinking so much caffeine I think the level of obesity will go up and also other health risks caused by caffeine will go up. I think high school students drink so much because the energy they get from the drink helps them make it through the day due to less sleep at nights. It is a drug and people should be more careful about the consumption of so much of it. There should definitely be more warning about caffeine and what it can do to a developing body and brain.
ReplyDeleteTeens are drinking way to much caffeine and I am one of those teens that to. Mostly I think teen drink caffeine and high sugar drinks because they taste so good two it makes you feel like you are cool. It also gives us the energy we need for that time in moment. I think the demands on teenagers are a lot greater then in the 1990's because a lot of sport teams that we look up to are enforcing it. If we keep on drinking these types of drinks we will have a lot higher chance of very serious health issues at a younger age. Companies of these drinks targets us so it looks like you are the only one who is not doing/drinking these energy drinks. Peer pressure is a huge part in this as well.
ReplyDeleteI think more teens are drinking caffeinated and energy drinks for many reasons. The main reasons being that they taste good, drink it because "everyone else" is drinking them and it gives them energy. I think the demand for caffeinated beverages for teens is higher then in the 1990's because there probably wasn't that many good tasting drinks like monster or red bull. I think if teens continue to drink caffeinated beverages, society will have a lot more health problems. Like with the heart, brain ect. Our country would look more obese in the future. Energy drink companies target teens mostly through sports. If you ever watched the X games or a motocross a lot of the sponsors are energy drink companies like Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar. Also, mostly kids, teenagers and young adults watch these events. Something could possibly been done. You could bring the risks to teens' attention and hope for the best.There is a direct link between academic performance and sleep. When you don't get enough sleep you wouldn't pay attention too much in class and when it would be time for the test you wouldn't know anything because you didn't pay attention.
ReplyDeleteI think that teens drink caffeinated drinks 1) because they see their parents drink coffee almost every morning and 2) soda is available for them to buy at restaurants and red bull and monster are available at almost any store. Yes because the teens now a days spend less and less time out doors and more time indoors on electronics which causes the brain to think you're not in sleep mode if you're using them less than an hour before sleep causing the teens to need the energy in the morning and causing them to drink more and more caffeine. If teens keep drinking these beverages then we will have a serious problem. The statement that this is the first generation where parents do better than their kids will be true because everyone will be dumb. Let's face it, we will due to the caffeine's effect on the brain. Caffeine companies target teens because they don't know what caffeine does. All they know is that it gives you a "buzz" and some energy. If I were to take action, I would start by making a law where you had to be a certain age to drink caffeine, sort of like a drinking law. Heck, I wasn't able to drink pop until I was 9 or 10.
ReplyDeleteI believe more and more teens are drinking energy drinks, coffee and any other caffeinated beverages, because they feel that the drinks will create a gateway that will lead them out of childhood and into adulthood. Teens feel it's important to reach adulthood because it will bring more freedom, respect and the feeling of fitting in. But in all honesty, drinking caffeinated beveages isn't the right way to reach adulthood. It will cause many problems in the future. For example, teen's brains will retain less due to deep sleep disruption. In order to remember a days worth of important materials brains need sleep. But when teens drink caffeine, abnormal amounts of neuron synapses are produce which throw of sleep patterns. Since the sleep patterns are thrown off and teens brains can't retain all the information it received, their academics performance worsen. If adolescents keep following the path and continue to drink caffienated drinks, academics levels will go down and society will have to pay for it. For example, there will be a great amount of job loss and homelessness. This can all be prevented though if teens do something about it now.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1990's there wasn't a great demand of energy drinks because they weren't advertised to an extreme like they are today. Recently, there have been advertisements everywhere that try to hook people with their catchy-relatable slogans such as the company Monster's slogan which is "Unleash the Beast". These phrases can be meaningless but also words of encouragement. If they're words of encouragement then they can start a chain of peer pressure that can hook more teens into drinking a caffienated beverage. A way to prevent teens from drinking a energy drink, is to make advetisments that have the side affects and how many people are currently affected by the drinks. This can show the teen that these drinks are not worth the sip.
Teens have started to drink more and more caffeinated beverages and energy drinks as time progresses. I think this is because they are sleep deprived or they need to stay up later to finish an assignment, and they think that drinking caffeine is the way to go. I believe that the demands on teens are higher now than in the 1990s; the teachers and parents today care more about their children’s education and futures than they did 10 to 20 years ago. With so much new technology, there are always new ideas coming out on how students should be taught or how they should complete an assignment. If teens continue to be hooked on energy drinks, then our generation will turn in to people who are dependent and can only function with caffeine. Instead of gaining energy the natural way, teens will be addicted to drinking artificial energy boosters, which are definitely unhealthy for their body. It can certainly be said that energy drink companies target teens. Teens are vulnerable people, so it makes sense that powerful companies use them to gain money. Cafes have turned in to teen hot spots, and there are constantly commercials advertising how tasty sodas and artificial energy drinks are. Teens are immediately drawn to anything that appeals to them, and it’s a well known fact that teens and children are big fans of anything sweet-like. Sleep deprivation is another reason why teens drink so much coffee. The less sleep you get, the more tired you will be, and this definitely has an effect on how you perform in school. An article from the National Sleep foundation (NSF) states that "if you are experiencing sleep deprivation, your athletic performance may suffer." Some effects of sleep deprivation may strike at the body, causing reduced endurance and a drop in the fitness level. This also applies to academic performance. The weaker your body is, the less strength it has to work and do your best in school.
ReplyDeleteI think more teens are drinking caffeine drinks because they see their parents drinking them, they don't get enough sleep and need the energy, most taste good, and they think drinking them will make them "fit in". Demands are greater now than the 1990s because the economy is down so its harder to find descent paying jobs then it was back then. Because of this, there is more and more stress on students to do well in school so they can get a good career. If teens keep drinking these unhealthy drinks, it will cause harm to their bodies and brains because of all the harmful things they put in the drinks. In the future, there will be many diseases and disabilities caused by these drinks. I think caffeinated drink companies target teens as their biggest consumers because teens don't know everything that's bad for them yet because they are still learning. If the companies get these drinks into there mind, and teens don't know the effects it will cause, they will buy the product. Also, because if they start drinking these caffeinated drinks early on, they will become addicted to them, and drink them through out their adult years too. To prevent this things from happening, all we need to do is spread awareness of the effects of these drinks. If people learn what these energy drinks will do to them, they wont buy them any more. Drinks with caffeine give you energy, so it will make it harder for you to fall asleep at night with all that energy. Also, these drinks can effect parts of your body and give you health problems and disabilities.
ReplyDeleteI think teens are drinking more energy drinks because they think its cool. Also they might think they need more energy because they aren't getting enough sleep. I agree there is more demands on teens now compared to the past such as expected to learn more at a younger age. Society will become dumber if energy drink are continued to be drunk and the studies that show this prove to be true. Society may suffer and we may end up forcing teens now to be able to drink energy drinks or form laws around not drinking them. The energy drink companies target teens because of the cool cans and cool names like monster and red bull. Also the commercials make it sound like only cool people drink them. In my opinion nothing can be done to stop teens from drinking caffeine its the parent and the Childs job to watch what they intake. Right now the studies don't prove there is a link between academic performance and sleep, but they are close.
ReplyDeleteTeens are definitely drinking more and more caffeine these days. Perhaps this is due to teens being involved in their school and needing the energy boost to complete schoolwork along with attending any extra activities. Personally, I know by the end of the school day I'm exhausted already, but like most teens have more commitments to attend to, making me even more tired. When a person's tired then their focus seems to fumble which in return causes bad effects to ones academic performance. Most teens find the solution to this in caffeine. It also doesn't help that caffeine is so easy to obtain these days. Red Bull and Monster drinks are two of many energy drinks advertised to teens in today's society. They create many ads that include teenagers at "parties" and having a fun time, making teens want to try it. These ads can show up anywhere, such as the internet, a notorious pasttime for an average teenager.For this reason I feel energy drinks are much more common then they were in the 1990s. However, if this over-consumption of energy drinks continues, the future is headed downhill. Caffiene is dangerous to an adolescent's health. This drug causes less sleep, but sleep is when the brain is developing. Less sleep equals less brain growth. Less brain growth leads to many brain disorders. If all of the teenagers are consuming too much of this caffiene now, then our society will be filled with many sick adults in the next twenty years. To prevent teens from consuming energy drinks, I feel that there need to be many warnings on the drinks/ in the stores and that word should be spread about what it can do to people's brains. Also society needs to stop putting them in a "positive" light. For the future, and for ourselves we need to stop promoting these energy drinks.
ReplyDeleteTeens are drinking ,more and more energy drinks these days because they believe it will "wake them up" from their lack of sleep. Tons of teens are staying up late and having consequential sleepiness the next day, as a result they look toward something that's going to keep them energized for the next day. As word spreads that the energy drinks, actually give energy, the demand spreads. Proving one reason why the demand has gone up since the 1990's. As stated in the article, "caffeine-drinking teens don't get enough sleep", proving that if teens continue to drink tons of caffeine, they will be in sleep deprivation. As time rolls on, sleep deprivation will not be correctable and will begin to cause "fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain...[also]brain and cognitive function"("sleep deprivation"(Wikipedia)). resulting in a bare future with humans that will not be able to achieve because of lack in brain function. On the other hand, energy drinks are soaring, and companies are starting to target teenagers. the companies say that teens are "most likely to believe in the veracity of the energy drinks' claims" ("target group for energy drink: the ads and the market"), being an easy target for sales. with all the cases of bad side effects from energy drinks you would think that it would prevent teens from continuing to drink. However, i doubt that there is any effective way to get teens to stop. we can only hope that it is just a fad and will soon be over.
ReplyDeletemore in formation about how sleep deprivation can negatively effect academic performance can be found at: http://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/teens_sleep.html
Teens now in days, I think, drink more energy beverages because of what they do. We like to browse the internet until the later hours of the night, making us tired in the morning. As a result, we mimic our parents and drink coffee to keep us awake throughout the day. We also, I believe, drink energy drinks, coffee, and caffeinated beverages because we feel like we need energy and we know they are easy solutions to obtain. I think the demands on teens has changed greatly, but not only on beverages. Most of the advertisements shown today are mostly aimed towards the middle aged group. Why you may ask, because they are the most common buyers today, the reason why teens buy the same products is because they feel like they are close enough to the middle aged people, in their own minds. The companies that produce these products do not care as long as they are bringing in the profit. Society's intelligence level will drop down as teenagers become adults. Most of them will continue to buy products from the companies and continue their steady profit growth, plus the new teenagers that replace the past ones will most-likely be drawn into the advertisements and will make the companies profit grow. Companies like to make it seem like a "Fad" everyone's involved except for the viewer and it gives the viewer a sign of pressure. Most middle aged people are not as affected by advertisements because they have already found their place in society, but teenagers are still trying to feel apart of the world, this is why companies aim for teenagers. There are ways that can prevent teens from drinking caffeinated drinks, such as restrictions parents should create, parents should at least inform their children about the negative out come of drinking too much caffeine. Yes, students often stay put doing homework and have to drink caffeinated liquids to stay awake, this affects their performance of sleep because it lessens the amount of time the body is given to grow and it makes us almost like zombies when we return to school the next day. "Caffeinated soda use may be associated with more severe sleep-disordered breathing, such as obstructive sleep apnea," (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleep-apnea/AN01907 ).
ReplyDeleteI think the reason more teens are drinking caffeinated drinks is because it helps them stay up. There is a pressure to stay up longer to finish up school work, to get more energy during the day, or that drinking them makes them seem popular. I believe the reason more teens are drinking these beverage now than in the 1990s is because we see more media advertisement for it, and it is so readily available as there is a higher demand for it now. If teens continue to drink high levels of caffeinated beverages it could spell trouble for our generations future. The more we drink the more our hormones change. Drinking more caffeine can also aid in the development of both physical and mental disorders. There is a good chance that many teens will grow up having problems due to caffeine overdoses. Often in energy drink commercials teens are portrayed as "having a good time" and being "cool" when they drink that companies product, and due to our generation's overly increasing need to fit in and be part of the—sometimes even nonexistent—"cool crowd" is what propels some teens to partake in these beverages. I believe that in effort to help prevent teens from drinking caffeine it should be more advertised the dangers of what it can do to you, and your body. Not enough teenagers understand that these kinds of beverages can really harm you. There is a direct link between academic performance and sleep. When students are tired during class they will struggle to pay attention, and are less likely to actually retain any knowledge they learned during that period. To remedy this they will take these caffeinated drinks, but on top of all of the other problems they can cause, it also results in a major crash of energy only a few hours later, this pushing them to drink it even more.
ReplyDeleteIn modern American culture caffeinated drinks like energy drinks, pop, and strong coffee beverages are in many daily adolescent diets. They drink these things mostly because they taste good and give teens energy who are desperate for it. These energy boosters have become very socially expected since the '90s; so much that most look past the long-term disadvantages of these chemically altered drinks. I think they are more popular because of the media impacting society and people's choices and lifestyles. If teens continue to poorly nourish themselves, they will have more health issues and their brains will not develop as they naturally are supposed to. The future would likely result in a higher number of drug abusers and users. Energy drink companies target teens because they are the ones searching for energy boosters, they watch the most tv and are more involved in social media, therefore happen to come across these tempting advertisements. Something that could possibly be done is either ban the sale of caffeinated drinks to anybody under the age of 18, or just warn people. "What they don't know won't hurt them" is definitely not applicable to these circumstances. Some proof that the amount of sleep affects academic achievement is from a study at the University of Minnesota. (http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/10/21/u.minnesota.study.first.show.direct.link.between.health.related.behaviors.and.grades) Students who reported getting fewer nights of enough sleep[8 hours] had a mean GPA of 3.08 compared with a 3.27 mean GPA for students who do not report sleep abnormality. Unhealthy energy drinks may help adolescents for a late night or an early morning now, but can really hurt their health in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI think kids are drinking more caffeinated drinks because advertising makes them look cool, they are loaded with sugar making them taste good, and kids always like having an energy buzz. I definitely think the demand on teens is greater now than it was in the 90's because the internet has taken over our lives and we stay up all night surfing pointless social networking websites and other sites like tumblr and Pinterest. If teens keep drinking highly caffeinated beverages we will definitely have problems with mental disorders that were never a disturbance before. Our current problem with obesity in society will also increase because while there is a caffeine high there is also a caffeine crash, which will cause us to not exercise and properly take care of ourselves. Companies, such as Monster, use really cool ads everywhere to make their drink look like it is super fun and that they taste really good and whenever you drink it you will be guaranteed an awesome energy buzz. If we brought to kids attention that these beverages will make you overweight and literally make you dumber, maybe we can get kids to spread the word and say No to highly caffeinated beverages. I know for a fact that if I don't get enough sleep on a school night I will not perform my best the next day. It is very important that teens get enough sleep not only so that they perform well academically, but that they develop well because, although we hate to admit it, we are still kids and we are still growing and we need our brain to develop correctly.
ReplyDeleteI think teens are drinking more caffeinated drinks because they feel the need to do something to an excessive extent, such as working on their academics. or playing a video game. these caffeinated drinks prevent sleep, thus, keeping them more awake to advance on their tasks being worked on. I think in the 1990's, the only caffeinated drinks that almost everyone drank was coffee. coffee helps adults 'wake up' earlier in the morning, so they aren't falling asleep in the early hours of their work. Also, one of the biggest restaurant chains that are out there is starbucks, a coffee joint almost on every corner of most major and minor cities all over the country. Comparing the 90's to now, I think the caffeine intake has increased greatly because in my opinion, video games. Most boys love being involved in addicting games that causes them to be addicted, and that means the longer they play, the more they are satisfied. That includes staying up late, and not sleeping. drinking energy drinks helps them fulfill that goal. I think what will happen to society is most Teens in my generation will be/have an increased chance of having schizophrenia, among other mental diagnosis. I think What can be done about this is some other drink companies change their advertising or make their ingredients in their product more appealing to teens.
ReplyDeleteTeens are drinking more and more energy drinks these days because they believe it will "wake them up" from their lack of sleep. Tons of teens are staying up late and having consequential sleepiness the next day; as a result they look for something that's going to keep them energized for the next day. As word spreads that the energy drinks, actually give energy, the demand spreads. Proving one reason why the demand has gone up since the 1990's. As stated in the article, "caffeine-drinking teens don't get enough sleep", it illustrates that if teens continue to drink tons of caffeine, they will be in sleep deprivation. As time rolls on, sleep deprivation will not be correctable and will begin to cause "fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain...[also]brain and cognitive function"("sleep deprivation"(Wikipedia)). Resulting in a bare future with humans that will not be able to achieve because of lack in brain function. On the other hand, energy drinks are soaring, and companies are starting to target teenagers. The companies say that teens are "most likely to believe in the veracity of the energy drinks' claims" ("target group for energy drink: the ads and the market"), being an easy target for sales. With all the stories of negative side effects from energy drinks, you would think it would prevent teens from drinking. However, there will never be enough stories to stop the consumption of energy drinks. We can only hope that this will be a fad, and will end very soon for the sake of the future. Thus, the energy drink consumption by teens is negatively affecting them, and causing them to perform poorly in school.
ReplyDeleteFor more information about sleep deprivation vs. academic performance visit: http://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/teens_sleep.html
Teens of the current world, and especially in America, are notorious for the over consumption of energy drinks such as coffee, Monster, or Red Bull to keep up with their fast paced lifestyles. There seems to be a universal mindset of 'young and reckless' that inspires teens to forget that they are actually at one of the most influential points of development in their lives. Nowadays, as compared to the 1990's, the demand on teenagers is much higher. With the invention of more advanced technology and more pressure to be a careless party child teens are staying up even later and waking up even earlier. The evident solution? Caffeine. If teens keep up with this vicious cycle, they will become unhealthy adults, and health complications will become increasingly prominent. Teens are not the only ones to be blamed however, they fall victim to clever marketing ads (falsely) showing energy drinks as the key to success. Often these companies prey on this specific age group by making it appear as if all the 'cool kids' are drinking these products. In order to stop this addiction, health campaigns need to keep promoting the adverse affects of caffeine and show different avenues of acquiring energy, such as sleep. After all, the world isn't going to slow down for energy-deprived teenagers. Sleep is a key element in a healthy lifestyle, ESPECIALLY for teens. Though drinking caffeine may give a boost, it also takes away the bodies natural cycle, drowning its need for sleep in a flood of sugars. Hundreds of scientific tests have proven that "Sleep deprivation interferes with the functioning of certain brain areas and thus impairs cognitive performance" (Alhola). So what's the end result of over drinking caffeine? School might just get a lot worse.
ReplyDeleteTeens have always been into drinking caffeine oriented drinks like soda and coffee. Ever since they started selling things like it! Coca-cola was around way back in 1892, when it was founded, and that is a highly caffeinated sugary drink. With many new slogans for energy drinks such as Red Bull, Rockstar, and Monster, the companies are obviously trying to get people of all ages hooked on their drinks. This creates huge problems with teenagers, as they see others using these energy drinks, and think it's the next "hip" thing. In recent years, caffeine has been becoming more and more prominent because of everyone's busy lifestyles, and the need to get energy fast, without any effort. If we continue to drink caffeinated beverages, we are bound to have problems in the development of our brains, as we won't be able to sleep. Sleep is a major contributing factor to the development of the brain, and if we lose that, we might not be able to be like Albert Einstein. Seeing as how less sleep affects your brain, this obviously would make your performance and school worse, and there's is no way we would even be able to think about banning it or stopping teens from using it because it would just start up again, and it would be a lost cause. Ultimately, the recent rise in numbers of teens drinking caffeine is spiraling out of control, and this is bound to have no positive affects on the future of the human civilization.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to see that more teens rely on caffeine to keep them running. They feel they need it in order to be awake during the early hours of school, and stay up late to finish homework after their extracurriculars. The demand on teens is much higher than in the 1990's. Now, with the slimmer job market, the pressure to get good grades and make it into a good college is enormous. Teens from the 90's had much more opportunities and a better economy to work with. Now that teens are more reliant on caffeinated drinks, society could change. Soda and energy drink companies will flourish, and the health of formerly healthy people will significantly drop. The companies who produce these drinks are absolutely targeting teenagers. They target kids by getting endorsements from favored celebrities, and by showing teens in their commercials; they're trying to make it cool, and it's working. There's an easy way to prevent teenagers from drinking all these drinks: make our days shorter, lessen our load. The amount of events we pack in a day is startling. In one day, I go to nine classes, work with my Speech Team coaches, have a marching band rehearsal, do all my homework, and have to squeeze in eating and sleeping in somewhere. There's only so many hours in a day, and to do all of these things, I have to shorten the amount of sleep I get. It's hard to get through the day without a jumpstart. Caffeine is an easy way to get rid of the tired quickly. If the pressure to do all this weren't so great, then teens would stop turning to caffeine to make it through the day. There is a direct link between academic performance and sleep. I can provide evidence from my own experiences. When I haven't gotten enough sleep, getting dressed and getting on the bus is hard enough - making it through tests and classwork is an entirely different story. I'm irritable, irrational, and have a difficult time focusing. Those traits make academic performance poor, all because I was lacking in sleep.
ReplyDeleteI believe that teens are drinking more energy and caffeinated drinks because they are not aware of the serious effects it has on our body. In health, students learn about alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana etc. but most students are not aware that caffeine is a legal drug used in drinks. I also think it's in greater demand because teens think its cooler than in the 1990's. Kids now have red bull, and monster and just think its SO COOL to drink because its the closest thing to alcohol without being illegal. Furthermore, if society lets kids continue consuming this large amount of caffeine, the development in children will be delayed or not even occur. The fact that some kids are drinking caffeinated drinks and are not even fully developed could really affect themselves and their future children.Also, in the future I think that the number of kids drinking caffeinated drinks will only increase since it's already been increasing from the 1990's. Likewise, you can tell that companies target the teenage group because when you see commercials, they use teens! Teens think: "They look sooo coool! I want to be like them!" so they go out, and buy themselves some drinks! And the only thing I could think of that could prevent teens from drinking caffeinated drinks, would be the parents stepping in and telling them no. Furthermore, I believe that academics, sleep and caffienated drinks have a HUGE link in between them. Teens have so much homework, it's hard to stay awake while doing it! So then they take a drink and it keeps them going, until its time to go to bed, then what? They can't go to sleep. So then the next morning they're dirt tired and the cycle repeats itself.
ReplyDeleteI think there are many reasons why teens drink energy caffeinated or energy drinks. One of them being that teens want more energy during the day or even at night so they think that the only way to get that energy is to drink highly caffeinated drinks or things such as Red Bull, Monster, etc. Since the 1990's, teens have had increased stress levels with school, home and friends so in order to almost cope with it all, a lot of teens turn to energy drinks. Plus, teens have a lot more peer pressure then back in the 1990's. They want to look cool and they want to fit in and they will do almost anything to do so. And sometimes that includes drinking an energy drink with their friends. If teens continue to drink high caffeine energy drinks, I believe that in the future, teens will have more obesity, and there will be a higher chance of mental diseases. By this I mean things such as schizophrenia, sleeping disorders, and other conditions that will cause a teen to not be able to learn or even function how they used to. Then society will most likely change because of the growing number of teens drinking energy drinks and eventually having mental health problems in the future. But, like I said before it isn't all just mental problems that will occur. Obesity with teens will be higher, and even the way teens learn, think, and comprehend material will be affected by these energy drinks. Also, caffeine drink companies target teens because they know that since teens want to fit in and be cool, that they will be willing to try their companies product. Then, once one teen tries it, then that company knows that they are in business. More and more teens will want to try these energy drinks and soon, no one will be able to resist them. These energy drinks are really causing a problem for teens and their sleep patterns too. A crucial time for brain development is during adolescence, and when a teen is all hyped on energy drinks and cant sleep, that brain development is ruined. That's how so many mental challenges and conditions start to occur. In order to help teens, I say that energy or highly caffeinated drinks should just be banned completely. It's not an easy task, but with energy drinks put out of the picture, teens could focus more on living a healthier lifestyle overall. So, I believe that energy and caffeine drinks are ruining teens futures and they need to be taken care of as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the main reasons kids are so attracted to caffeine is the fact that it is a legal drug and, like the same reason teens use other drugs, is to help calm and de-stress themselves. In the mid 1990's, schools began "toughening up" and giving students more stress than ever before. As the workload became bigger so did the addiction to caffeine. With kids already being attracted to the substance, it isn't hard for big companies to give energy drinks a cool rap. While using coffee to stay awake while cramming for a test, they hinder how fast they will sleep. Caffeine is shown to stay in and affect the body for about 14 hours, and many kids drink it well after the morning hours are over. I think that giving kids a little more leeway (not only with academic but with social pressure) would let them rely less on the drug than how they would otherwise. With hindered sleep, the teenager will lack in many areas and continue the cycle once again. If we continue this we will end up with a generation of underachieving, insomniac people
ReplyDeleteI think the rise in the consumption of energy drinks and caffeine is due to the increased amount of stress and difficulty that has been added to teenagers lives. Compared to the 1990's the economy is devastated. From the economy being in such poor condition, the teenager's parents aren't able to do what they could have done a few years ago, and because of this, teens have extra stress in their lives, Stress is known to cause sleep problems, and teenagers see caffeine as a way to fix the tired, groggy feeling they have after a period of disrupted sleep. If teens continue with the consumption of caffeine, there is no telling what could happen to society. Chains like Starbucks and Tim Horton's could become economic powerhouses, and continue to infect teenagers with a horrid addiction to caffeine. In the future, caffeine and caffeinated beverages may have to be consumed through vaccine because of our dependence on high levels of caffeine, and the swiftness of a vaccine. Marketing of these products is strongly centered around adolescents. Recently, Mountain Dew commercials have been airing with musicians that have a strong adolescent fan base, to try and create a "bond" with the musician over a soda. Similarly, Red Bull commercials claim to give you wings, allowing you to achieve the impossible. As multiple teens think they have a problem fitting in with their desired social group, the deem the task "like, impossible" and feel the need for a pair of wings. Unfortunately, I cannot think of a logical solution to prevent teens from getting access to caffeine. Placing a ban on it would make it more desirable, but less accessible. Banning caffeine would also throw the economy for a loop, as hundreds of thousands of people dump countless amounts of money on coffee every year. There's a direct link to Academic performance and amount of sleep, mainly in scoring lower on standardized test like the ACT and SAT.
ReplyDeleteMore teens are drinking more caffeinated drinks because they think they look cool, they don't get enough sleep and think the energy drinks will give them the energy. I think the demands on teens is greater than in 1900 because a lot of teens don't go to bed at a decent time and they think it's cool. If teens keep drinking these beverages, I think it will cause more people to be obese and I think more people will won't be as smart and have brain defects. Energy drink companies are targeting teens by showing that many people do it and some athletes are in advertisement. Those athletes may be some that many teens look up to. To help prevent teens from drinking all these caffeinated drinks all the time is to show them what can happen to your brain after all the caffeine. Also, drinking a lot of caffeine can keep you awake at night causing you not to sleep. If you don't get enough sleep that could affect how well you do at school. If you don't have enough sleep you won't be able to concentrate as much. Drinking a lot of caffeinated beverages can affect your brain as you get older.
ReplyDeleteMany teens these days feel pressured to drink caffeinated beverages because of a verity of influences such as peers, media advertisement, and parents. They are shown at a very young age that coffee and energy drinks help get their work done without them crashing. It's the social norm to drink coffee at cafes with friends, especially Starbucks. I personally use these cafes as a way of getting homework and studying done with friends while drinking coffee. Teens are very well exposed to caffeine at a young age, especially from television. Many TV shows have written a cliche script about how coffee is the only thing that keeps them going. The last exposure and pressure to caffeine is their friends and peers. If one kid in a class starts drinking coffee every other day it could start a chain reaction eventually making 2/3 of the class drink some sort of caffeinated beverage. Compared to the 90's everything was toned down a couple levels back then. You didn't see a lot of kids drinking coffee everyday before school and the media hadn't yet fully realized kids were their target audience. Parents were more controlled and didn't talk about coffee causally and children had no reason to start drinking coffee to fit in. Everything was more calm and collected. In the future we may even have to have a drinking age for caffeine. Scientific studies have shown the effects of caffeine on young adolescents proving it is not at all healthy for their development. Further investigation on this topic would show that a drinking age could be very beneficial society especially a drinking age for energy drinks such as Monster, Redbull, and Rockstar. This or not allowing the media to advertise these energy drinks in a way that influences teens to buy their product or even try their product. This could help keep the amount of children consuming these products down. A lot of the advertisement for energy drinks come from TV shows if you think about it. There are usually a couple shows showing young teens drinking coffee either because they think its funny, or its the only thing keeping them up. Kids look up to them and want to copy them in a way. Ever since teens have gotten their hands on these beverages they have been sleeping less and as a result getting lower academic grades. If the amount of young teens who drink some sort of caffeine keeps escalating it can effect the future of America tremendously. According to the article "Mountain Dews and Don'ts" Teens who drink caffeinated drinks do not get as much sleep as others, as we all know sleep is one of the major factors to academic performance. I feel that we should have some sort of drinking age for caffeine in the future for the reason that not having it would help their school life.
ReplyDeleteI like your comparison to the 90's in how they hadn't realized that kids were their greatest audience.
DeleteNow more than ever, teens are consuming far more caffeine from energy drinks, soda, and coffee. The rise is most likely due to easy access, lack of proper knowledge on the harmful effects, and the desire to function on less sleep. While caffeine diminishes sleep, this is really the purpose teens use it for. They simply don't have enough time to sleep between school, a job, and any hopes in a social life. They need a kick start and caffeine is an easy way to get that jump, unfortunately at the cost of needing a significant amount of it. Teens need this now more than ever as expectations, pressure, and potential have risen since the 1990s. Everything has gotten more complicated with advancements! More is expected, and more energy is needed to be put into it. If teens continue to live this way, they're only going to have more and more caffeine. Over time the negative effect is going to grow worse. This certainly isn't a very good path for teens to be on. As shown by scientific studies, it leads to a development of mental disorders. Thanks to caffeine, many will be suffering. Energy drink companies know to target teenagers because they realize how they stay up so much. Many pops are also associated with the 'cool' image and teens cave under peer pressure to be accepted. To prevent teens from drinking these so much, accessibility needs to be made more difficult. Teens can't drink what they can't find. Advertisements also need to be cut lose. There isn't really a guaranteed way to prevent consumption, however. Little sleep stunts brain development, everyone knows, so there is a direct link between academic and performance and sleep. So many studies have shown that. In the end, teens will do what they want, and hopefully they want to wrestle down this caffeine.
ReplyDeleteTeen consumption of energy drinks have soared in a very short time period. I believe that they are drinking more caffeinated beverages because of more pressure with school, social lives, and peer pressure or marketing demands. Teens want to have all of the energy to stay up late and do everything they want to do. Kids now have more pressures than in the 1990's because they have more demands to do well in school, and to keep up with their friends and maintain their "social status". If we keep up this level of consumption, there could be many consequences. All of the effects of caffine will be increased. Energy drinks definitely target teenagers; teens are the most suseptable to their marketing ploys. To prevent people from drinking these, we can warn them all about the serious risks and tone down the hype about certain brands like Red Bull and Monster. Sleep improves academic performance by allowing certain synapses in the brain to happen. Teens need sleep, and these energy drinks are not helping.
ReplyDeleteI think kids are drinking more caffeinated drinks because we have higher expectations for students now. As expectations get higher students need to use more time on homework. For example my brothers freshman year homework load wasn't bad, but by senior year he started homework as soon as he got home and couldn't stop until midnight. He needed caffeinated drinks sometimes just to stay awake and complete his homework for that day. Energy drinks today are almost a requirement when you get hard classes. I have enough homework most nights to where I work four or more hours. While some people use it as a fashion statement others use it to stay awake. I mean every week in English right now I have to have four pages of ways to describe myself. As homework gets heavier the hours I need to put into it gets higher and then i need something to stay awake and finish it. Not all teens use it for the same purpose obviously for some it's a fashion statement but for others its not. Teens in the 1990's probably didn't drink it as much because homework expectations probably weren't as high.
ReplyDeletei think that teens drink caffeine because it gives them a temporary buzz that helps them get whatever they need done. also more teens are drinking it because of peer pressure others are drinking it so it must be cool. maybe because it gives them a release from all the responsibility that teens are given. also if teens drink these energy drinks then they cant sleep so they don't score as well on big tests.
ReplyDeleteI think that teens drink caffeine because the manufacturers make it taste better and society make them look cool or enjoyable. I think the demands of teens wanting drinks are higher now than in the 1990s because they are buying more and the manufacturers are making them more addictive/taste better. i think society will make them these drinks more enjoyable but the population will become more obese. companies and manufacturers target teens because they put teens in their advertising, acting like they like these drinks so teens will buy them. caffeinated drinks cause people to not sleep as well or as much which has been linked to not being able to do better in school. teens need to reduce the amount of caffeine drinking.
ReplyDeleteI think that teens drink more soda and pop because that is what makes them seem cool in their eyes. They use it as a tool for parties and late night homework. I have to write at least three papers for English class a week if not more. Teens in the 1900's didn't have a glare off the screen of their computers which teachers rely on to much. Everything is typed now a days. Teens are drinking more soda because of stress.
ReplyDeleteTeen’s follow trends and caffeinated beverages has become one of them. They see their parent’s sipping on coffee in the morning and even athletes supporting energy drinks. Nowadays, the major sponsors of professional skateboarders, moto x riders, and rally car racers are energy drinks. Teens look up to these athletes and the first thing they see is Travis Pastrana wearing a Monster Energy helmet. I believe that energy drinks wouldn't have become so popular if it wasn't for the companies’ smart and sneaky advertising.
ReplyDeleteChildren need to learn that caffeinated beverages are not to be messed with. They’re drinking excessive amounts and it’s leading to sleep deprivation. Kids are feeling the buzz and it’s keeping them up all night. The combination of poor sleep and caffeine effects brain develop in children and teens. This can lead to schizophrenia, anxiety, substance abuse, and personality disorders. I’m not totally opposed to caffeinated beverages, but kids need to learn when too much is too much.
i think today's teens are drinking more caffeine beverages because they are making sleep less important than it really is. in the 1990's they weren't addicted to caffeine as much as today's youth. If we keep drinking higher and higher levels of caffeine drinks, the chemicals could stunt our growth and give us heart problems. the commercials that i see on TV advertising these beverages always have younger people. This is trying to show all of today's youth that everyone is doing it, thus, pressuring us into trying it. A way to prevent teens from drinking caffeine is to introduce new ways of getting energy for the day. If we don't get enough sleep, we will not be able to preform as well as if we had sleep. We cant replace sleep with caffeine, and i think we need to let teens know that. I remember learning in health class in 8th grade that our brains don't function well enough without sleep. Teens should know that caffeine shouldn't be the first option, sleep should come first.
ReplyDeleteTeenagers intake has increased so much since the 1990's. I believe teenagers drink caffeine because it gives them high energy to get things done and it makes them feel good. The companies are definitely targeting teens because they know the academics have increased its difficulty and we need it to keep our attention spans focused. Caffeine is effecting kids sleep intake which then effects the school energy. I think if caffeinated drinks continue on the spiral it is now, it is going to become a addiction. Therefore I think our intake needs to be lowered by giving the students a little more time to do things.
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ReplyDeleteI think one reason teens are drinking energy drinks coffee and caffeinated beverages is because they are busy juggling social lives, school homework, sports and other activities. they are staying up late to cram everything into their day and then are so tired the next day that they depend on caffeine to keep them going throughout the day. The demands on teens today are much greater than in the 1990’s. this is probably because of technology, for example texting and calling makes it easier to make last minute plans. also theres a lot more to worry about in today's age than there was in the 90’s. If teens continue to drink high caffeinated beverages the health of teens will drop. It could affect their sports, school work and grades. So in the long run, it could possibly affect colleges, sport leagues. It it gets out of hand, it is most likely that either school rules or even laws will be made against the consumption of high level caffeine drinks. I feel the best thing to do would be to educate teens on energy drinks and make them able to not want them all by themselves. Rules and laws would only make them more popular. If teens were able to make healthy choices by themselves they would develop a great skill for life. There is a direct link between academic performance and sleep showing that most students cannot perform well in school if they haven't gotten a good nights sleep. Many tests have proved that teens need at least 9-12 hours of sleep for maximum brain development and educational performance.
I think that more teens are drinking more caffeinated beverages not because they need the energy, but because they think it tastes good. I know that's why I drink things like mountain dew and monster energy. It may also have to do with the fact that caffeine is a drug, and you can become addicted. If they are actually drinking those things for the energy then i think it is a bit better. I also think that demands on teens are a bit higher now in terms of education. When i talk to adults they all tell me that school is not as demanding as it is today. I think this relates to colleges having higher standards, making high schools have to teach more so the students can get in. I think that if society keeps drinking caffeinated beverages, our countries obesity level will go up. If more teens are addicted to these sugary beverages they will become obese. When you see ads for red bull it is all about the high adrenaline things that teens like, such as skateboarding, snowboarding, skydiving, and racing. If beverages such as energy drinks become decaffeinated, teens will not become addicted, making them less likely to drink it. Companies put caffeine in their products so that they will want more. Studies show that teens who get at least 9 hours of sleep do better in school than those who don't. The recommended amount of sleep for people our age is about 9 hours, less that this can affect academic excellence. This is why I think Companies should stop putting caffeine in their beverages.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the teens are drinking more and more energy drinks because they have lots to do. They are trying to stay on top of their homework, social life, keeping grades up, and also the time they have for themselves. Many teens are involved in a sport or activity, which usually requires a lot of commitment, and sometimes sports players won't even get home until 8 or 9 o'clock. He/she is usually tired after, and might need a little boost of energy to get all their homework done. I would say that this creates a demand much, much, greater then those of the 1990's. This could be because of sports, but mostly technology. Unlike the 1990's, we can stay up on our phone/ipod or laptop. We can call, text, watch movies, etc. In the 90's you could possibly watch TV, but mostly just go to bed. Much can happen to society if teens continue to drink excessive amounts of energy drinks or caffeine. Many studies have shown that excessive amounts of caffeine can cause late development in teens, possibly creating a more inmature work enviorment, or more jobs to older citizens, instead of teens. There is also a lot of evidence that companies that produce these drinks target teens. Some show commercials of great athletes drinking it, or 'cool' teens and athletes drinking it. I think this somewhat relates to the cigarrette problem a few years ago. I do believe something can be done about this problem, but it lies in the hands of teens more than adults, because the companies aren't selling illiegal substances, so all we can do is educate the rights and wrongs of energy drinks, like before a sports game to get electrolytes in your body. It should not be used as an everyday drink though. There is evidence of a direct link between sleep and academic performance. That is why schools always tell the students to get a good night's sleep before testing. You are supposed to get around 8-12 hours a night because your brain thinks of sleep in two 4-hour periods, and without those you wouldn't be as able to do well.
ReplyDeleteThere are two very big reasons why teens drink energy drinks such as Monster, Venom, Vault, Amp, etc. and those are advertisement and status. Energy drinks are more advertised than ever and since they are more available to teens than they ever have been this causes a large amount of teens to go straight to the drinks when they hear about them.
ReplyDeleteFor starters, being a teenager myself I know that teenagers drink energy drinks for what its primarily used for- energy. They'll have one in the morning to wake up or before they go to a party. It's for finishing homework and staying up late enough to actually do well on it. I think the reason why the demand for these drinks has skyrocketed would be because these days they a) taste good b) are popular among teens for the brand and c) they wake you up to meet the demands of this generation. If these drinks remain what teens go to for a quick wake up then I have no doubt the generations to come will down them like sodas- which is extremely unhealthy. Teens are attracted to these drinks because of the a) cool names- ex: Red Bull, Monster and b) the stylish cans they come in. Plus they promise a huge dose of energy so who wouldn't be curious about that! The only way that I can think of for preventing consumption would be to get the word out early about how these drinks are risky. The link between academic performance and sleep is the fact that at night when you reach a stage of deep sleep, your brain grows- especially in adolescents. Basically, the deeper you sleep, the smarter you get. My proof would rest among my peers and friends, unfortunately, since the ones who tend to constantly go to these drinks lack academically and do poorly in decision making.
ReplyDeleteIts obvious that Teens are drinking more and more caffeinated beverages due to the companies targeting adolesants. Any add campaign launched by a beverage company like Mountain Dew or Starbucks is geared towards children and teens. And this is because how easy it is to sell the idea of caffeine to us. Some of us see it as a way to help us juggle our social, school, and family lives. Others see it as a way to seem more mature to others. All of this and much more allows these companies to quickly brainwash over half of the teenage population into buying these harmful products, which can, over time, affect our thought process and growth. As well as in some cases, killing cells.
ReplyDeleteTeenagers think that the more energy that you have, the better you are, which is not true. Yes, I do think that they are greater than in the 1990's because of society and the way we look at these situations. We will have a messed up and bad society because of the way most people try to fit in by gaining more energy, which really isn't ask helpful as it may seem. In the future, this problem will probably only get worse just from the way that society is today. In commercials, they usually show how caffeinated beverages help you obtain energy for sports and physical activity.Yes, schools can start providing the bad effects of caffeine intake in health classes. The more you preform physical activity, the more tired you will be. When you are performing physical activity then you are using energy which makes you tired.
ReplyDeleteWhen teenagers see ads for energy drinks they see the great effects of the energy drink and how it gives you so much energy. The demand for energy drinks is great now simply because teenagers are influenced by their peers to drink them. Our society will look bad in the future if all of these kids are loosing focus and their brains are getting messed up so they wont have the proper academics. In the commercials companies are putting out they are advertising all the benefits from the drinks but they don't show all of the side effects and how it effects your focus and sleep. In 7th grade we learned about how proper amount of sleep effects you academically and athletically with your activities. Using energy drinks is not the right way to obtain energy.
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