Kate Del Negro

Juniors Abigail Toomey (left) and Leah LaFever enjoy a LHS sanctioned beverage in English class.

Imagine walking into school with your chilled fruity refresher at the beginning of the school day. Everything is perfect and your caffeinated beverage finishes off the morning perfectly. But suddenly, a teacher around the corner sees the drink and immediately forces you to throw it away because it’s not allowed outside the office, in the cafeteria, and definitely not in the classroom. 

 But why?

 Students everyday bring in other cups such as Stanley’s or Hydro-Flask’s, filled with other beverages. Daily, teachers walk into school with coffees and are allowed to, so why not the students? 

At Ludlow High School students are not allowed to bring in other beverages from popular food establishments such as Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks. We are only allowed water throughout the day in a water bottle. If students decide to bring in any other beverage, they force them to throw it out even if it is not finished, or the option to leave it in the office until lunch. By the time lunch has rolled around, the drink is already watered down and practically wasted. 

Having a beverage in school is not as big a deal as teachers think. They don’t realize the potential benefits that a refresher or a coffee could bring into the classroom. Caffeinated beverages have stupendous effects on the student’s participation, enthusiasm, and overall attitude during the early morning hours of the school day. 

Ludlow High School needs to refresh their rules and loosen up on strict guidelines that hinder student’s potential learning capabilities. Students should have the ability to bring any appropriate beverage they want such as a coffee or refresher to keep their minds and bodies awake during a long, challenging, and tiring school day. 

Caffeine in brain activity: 

Every day, for five days in a row, students are forced to wake up around six in the morning after a night of tackling hours of studying and endless amounts of homework. Students, on occasion, get only about five to six hours of sleep during the school week. Weekly, students should get about 8 hours of sleep in order to function properly. Students have so much pressure to go to their job, get their homework done, and go to practice. One solution to all of these factors is energy, and the one thing that could help teenagers become more attentive throughout the day is caffeine. 

Although it may seem unnecessary in a teenager’s drink, caffeine has tremendous effects on a student’s brain, especially in the morning. A student becomes more aware and more ready for the day when having a caffeinated beverage in the morning. Students who do not drink coffee in the morning will most likely seem drowsy and half asleep during class. With just a little bit of caffeine, It could change the whole course of a student’s day. 

A recent study has shown that according to The National Library of Medicine, “caffeine has many positive actions on the brain. It can increase alertness and well-being, help concentration, improve mood and limit depression.” 

With the addition of caffeine, Students will be more alert and ready for the day instead of being dead asleep in first-period English class. Students are up late constantly trying to finish loads of homework from many different classes after going through a seven-hour school day along with sports or work right after school. Students rely on caffeine especially in the morning to perform better throughout the day. 

Nutritional values:

People may say that “water is the solution to any problem” but, In my opinion, water does not provide enough nutrients for students to get through the day. Other drinks such as smoothies, energy drinks, and teas all benefit student’s health by providing vitamins that promote digestive health and give a boost of energy to the brain. Having a healthy gut and an intellectual mind are all vital components to a student’s daily life. 

Herbal teas, on the other hand, can promote relaxation and reduce stress, creating a more conducive environment for creative thinking throughout the school day. Tea —especially in the morning—can lend a helping hand to students and allow them to fully wake up, because an alarm clock can only do so much in the morning. A morning drink from Starbucks or Dunkin with the help of green tea, may be the trick to having fully awake students in class. 

Students and teachers opinions: 

Many Students around Ludlow High School agree that having a refresher in class benefits them during the school day. In addition, a Ludlow High teacher has stressed the importance of responsibility that may come with having these drinks. 

Leah LaFever, a junior at Ludlow High states, “Personally, I love them, I get at least two a day to help me get through my exhausting school day without it, I’m constantly falling asleep and not focusing on my work from my lack of energy.” Students rely on caffeine to keep them awake and with a little fruity beverage could change the course of their entire school day. 

Our vice president of the junior class, Esther Coelho, stresses the importance of refreshments in the classroom, “On a hot summer day, like we had this past week, a cold refresher is so beneficial to students because of the lack of air conditioning in the school. With a frigid Starbucks Refresher it helps me stay cool and more attentive during the day.” 

Most teachers in Ludlow High bring in coffee almost every day. Even teachers need caffeine to get through the day in order to teach with enthusiasm. If teachers are allowed day to day to bring in a simple coffee, the students should have the same rights and responsibilities if something were to happen such as a spill in the hallway or simply in the classroom. 

Mr. Nacsin, a math teacher at Ludlow High School states, “ I’m open to students having refreshers or coffees in the classroom, but they need to mature and become aware of their responsibilities to clean up potential spills or clean off a desk in case of allergies.”

Overall, the idea is open to students having drinks other than water in the classroom, it all just comes down to maturity and responsibility if something were to happen. Teens in schools need to be held accountable in case the drink were to ruin something important or simply just spill on the ground. 

All in all, Ludlow High School needs to loosen up on their guidelines and give students the option of having a coffee or refresher in the classroom. If teachers learn to trust students with these beverages, then we will no longer have to fight them on a daily basis, and not let a perfectly good drink go to waste. 

Students should walk into school without having the intimidation of a teacher lingering behind them and forcibly making them throw it away and instead join in on all of the potential benefits that they may bring. In the near future of Ludlow High School, the guidelines and rules need to be refreshed for the greater good of the students and their learning environments.