It’s 7:15 AM. You walk into the school library very tired, trying to complete your math homework before you have to get to class. As if you weren’t already feeling bad enough, your best friend sits across from you with a grande mango dragon fruit lemonade from Starbucks. How did she have time to get a drink this morning when I was rushing out the door? You look around and it seems that every girl in the library has some type of caffeinated beverage. You start to wonder why no one had bothered to ask you if you wanted anything, or if having coffee would’ve better prepared you to start off the day.
It is commonly known that at Darien High School, teens love their coffee. I, for one, have certainly participated in this culture over my past four years at DHS. My house is located quite far from town, making it virtually impossible to integrate buying coffee into my morning schedule. While many other teens probably experience the same dilemma as me, I’m sure they’ve found a way to make buying coffee before or during school hours a part of their daily routine.
But what is our fascination with coffee? It is widely known that caffeine is a stimulant and is easy to become addicted to. However, when it comes to teens and their caffeine purchases, the caffeine isn’t the rush that makes students want to continuously buy coffee.
When I was in 9th grade, I so clearly remember seeing senior girls walking into the school from the parking lot with their keys in one hand and a Starbucks cup in the other. Something about them being able to leave the school and make their own purchases seemed incredibly freeing. When I finally got this privilege as a senior, I discovered how damaging the constant buying of coffee was to my bank account. When it comes to coffee, teens might not feel pressured to be as money-conscious because it’s a part of our social life, and is not something that we pay attention to.
So, should DHS be offering students coffee in the Cafeteria? This would surely limit the number of students who are late to their classes, and would also encourage students to prioritize where they’re spending their money. This way, the cafeteria staff could limit how much caffeine a student is drinking, therefore mitigating the likelihood of a teen developing a chronic caffeine addiction that many of us already have.
Teen Talk Counselor Ms. Ashley Lopez referred to teens’ coffee purchases as a “pick me up” and agreed that teens would most likely be open to the idea of serving coffee at school. However, if this were to happen, this couldn’t be any ordinary black coffee. The school would have to provide similar options to those at Dunkin, Caffe Nero, and Gregory’s Coffee.
