Did you know that Hershey High School sells energy drinks similar to Celsius in the school cafeteria?
These drinks are incredibly popular among students and can be seen throughout the school building. Many students use these beverages to increase their energy levels and attentiveness during the school day, resulting in high sales numbers.
Hershey High School, in recent years, has been emphasizing the importance of healthy eating, removing its famous french fries from their cafeteria menu. However, their claims of removing unhealthy foods seem fairly incoherent with the fact that energy drinks have made the shelves for sale or for free due to the free-of-charge breakfasts. Hershey High School, however, should remove these energy drinks from the cafeteria and vending machines from students.
According to the CDC, energy drinks do stimulate the body, resulting in an increase in attentiveness and energy. Additionally, they also provide an increase in one’s heart rate and blood pressure, which can harm the nervous system. The CDC also recommends that schools educate students on the consequences of having too much caffeine, as potential effects include insomnia, dehydration, and future heart issues.
Specifically, multiple studies from the CDC have recommended that adolescents should not consume energy drinks, although 30-50% of adolescents do. This resulted in 1,499 students aged 12 to 17 hospitalized in 2011 for energy drink-related emergencies.
The CDC also determined that 75% of schools, including Hershey, do not have any policies to prevent drinks containing high levels of caffeine from the cafeteria. They also determined that close to 12% of high schools sell energy drinks in vending machines, cafeterias, etc.
One could argue that energy drinks can be helpful in getting the attention of students. This can be true in some instances, but it is hard to ignore that these beverages are completely free during breakfast hours. This means that students could technically come back and drink more than one if they wanted. It also seems unethical for the school to be the one to give out these drinks as they are considered unhealthy.
Ultimately, the fact that the school has been promoting energy drink consumption with its sales is shocking and could have dangerous effects. Although energy drinks can be helpful for students to improve their energy levels, the consequences are too extreme for the school to be selling these beverages in the cafeteria.
If you feel that Hershey High School should remove energy drinks from vending machines and the cafeteria, contact the school board at the community feedback form.
