It should be no surprise that too much caffeine isn’t very good for your body. Then there’s the question: “How much is too much?” According to the FDA, the recommended amount of caffeine for adolescents aged 12-18 is zero milligrams.

We get it; maybe you’re working late into the night trying to finish up that essay. Maybe you were just about to go to bed but remembered about that pesky chemistry homework.  Maybe you drink energy drinks before a workout. Maybe you can barely keep your eyes open during the day because you were working on that essay all night and got no sleep. We get that.

But when piles of crumpled-up cans and late-night study sessions become a daily occurrence, that’s when it gets problematic. It’s very easy to get addicted to caffeine when you’ve built up a dependence on it.

With that said, surely the school wouldn’t enable an addiction, right?

However, a glance at the lunch lines and vending machines will tell you the opposite. Alanis, BUBBL’Rs, sodas and many other drinks with way too much caffeine, all for a couple of dollar bills and some change. Why does our school sell so many varieties of energy drinks in large quantities? Students taking weights or P.E. may benefit from it, but the 200 milligrams of caffeine from one Alani is overkill. Besides, not all students consume caffeine as pre-workout. A majority of the Alani cans or Mountain Dew bottles we see are in an ELA or math classroom.

In this environment is making a little bit of profit worth more than students’ health?