Should teens be allowed to drink coffee/energy drinks/caffeinated drinks, in school?

We expect a lot of teens, and a messed up sleep schedule is the national default setting. Messing with they way they cope isn’t helpful.

In the states, it is touted everywhere that students are capable of better concentration if they have breakfast.
All the best performing students I have known had skimpy or no breakfast. Lunch made me feel lazy, and afternoon classes dragged.
However, I feel energy drinks are a mistake for teens.
During puberty, the body and brain are synchronizing and forming an adult body. Adding substances which affect body function, confuses the natural process.
My daughter started drinking coffee at sixteen. I was against it, but kids at that age cannot be watched constantly. I don’t drink coffee. She picked it up from friends. Her grades plummeted about that time.

Mine does. Easy and drinks anything she wants, anytime at all, while in school.

I agree with @Patty_Melt.

I agree with @Dutchess_III ;o)

I wouldn’t have survived High School without caffeine.

Honestly, energy drinks are awful and extremely harmful to a teens still developing body and will only offer a short boost of energy followed by a hard crash, which makes them want MORE energy drinks. It is not healthy or beneficial in any way.

The problem is our school system. We start the day early and long and end late in the day, then assign lots of homework and studying for tests. In addition, teens are also expected to help out with chores at home, so e may even be expected to start working part-time jobs, and many are expected to partake in extra curricular activities like sports or clubs or programs to start earning college credit, and still have enough time for a social life with friends?
It’s too much.

We can’t really forbid teens from drinking Cola or Pepsi, and it contains caffeine as well. So, is it considered an energy drink? It’s not advertised as one and maybe that’s a problem. How would you stop allowing it when it’s not considered a bad thing because of caffeine (it gets backlash because of sugar tho, which is good, but maybe not enough)?

Back in my school days lots of teens were starting drinking coffee at the age of 12–13, and not because their parents were allowing them but because of their friends. I don’t think our school was giving us coffee during lunch but it was available for teachers that’s for sure. So, technically after lunch and classes, teens could buy coffee as well. Is it good for them? Depends on the amount consumed during the day or week. I don’t think it’s good for a teen to drink coffee or energy drinks every day. Energy drinks have so much sugar that it’s unhealthy for anyone. But if it’s one drink now and then when teens are feeling too tired or need extra concentration, then I don’t see a problem. The good thing is that lots of teens don’t like the taste of actual coffee, meanwhile instant coffee is less harmful.

Judging by myself, I’d say coffee and energy drinks obsession comes and goes. When a teenager discovers “unforbidden things that adults drink” they would wanna try different kinds of these drinks, different amounts per day and different mixtures. Mainly to explore their limits and to be seen as “cool” within their friend group. But if there’s no actual need to be agitated all the time, this curiosity dies down, and drinking the same thing gets boring. Also, the effect gets less and less visible so they would probably give up the bitterness of coffee and switch to something nicer like tea or juice. If you wanna persuade the teen to stop drinking coffee, tell them that black tea has almost the same effect since it contains caffeine as well. And it can also taste bitter if they make it strong enough. Is it a good solution? Idk, but people are more worried about addiction to coffee than to tea.

Overall, is it good for teens to drink coffee and energy drinks whenever they want? No, if we’re talking about consuming a huge amount of them. Should we forbid it in schools? I don’t think so, partly because teens lean to forbidden things, so a simple act of “no, you’re not allowed to have that” would erase your intentions. Maybe avoiding ads for Cola, coffee, and energy drinks would be the best thing to do. With no constant reminder of their existence, people won’t think it’s cool to have or crave it. And school should have replacements like juice, water, milk (flavored or not), and yogurt just in case.