Pop! An iridescent purple metal can stamped with a bubbly cauldron cracks open. Another can, decorated with a heart-eyed pumpkin bejeweled in orange, instantly emits an autumn vibe upon sight. The sweet scents of the Pumpkin Cream and Witch’s Brew Alanis fill the air, leaving the subject of their allure desperate for more.
Many teens consume energy drinks every single day despite the beverages’ numerous health implications. A survey of 64students conducted by the Blueprint on Sept. 6found that about 50% of students consume energy drinks, yet 80% of the 64 high schoolers knew that energy drinks can be harmful to human health. An April NBC News article said that 17-year-old Lissa Nicole Rodriguez died from an enlarged heart, leading to her family’s lawsuit, alleging that the repeated consumption of the popular Alani energy drink “had inadequate warnings about the serious cardiac risks that this product brings.” Startling information on the rise can create conflicting views of energy drinks for teenagers.
Mattea Battle, a sophomore at Jones, found her love for energy drinks at the start of freshman year. Fatigue from her early morning commute to school led her friend to recommend that Battle try energy drinks. From then on, Battle routinely drank a Monster Energy drink every morning in her World Studies class. Battle’s passion for Monster Energy expanded into a work of art — a Monster Energy wall.
“Once I finished my Monster, I would put it on the wall,” Battle said. “Or if it was like a day that I didn’t have the class, I’d save it for the day I had the class.”
This activity proved to be enticing for Battle, fueling her collection of Monster cans as the year went on. Battle described the thrilling appeal of the drinks that keep her, and many of her friends, coming back for more.
“They taste really good,” Battle said. “The cans are really pretty, and I collect the tabs.”
Despite the drinks’ wild popularity, Battle faces a lot of criticism from her peers and family. Her love transformed into an obsession, with her sometimes drinking two cans a day, she said.
Helena Smith-Donald, a senior, said she opposes energy drinks. According to an article by the National Library of Medicine about energy drinks, overconsumption of caffeine can lead to liver damage, heart failure, and death. After Smith-Donald noticed her friends relying on caffeine everyday, she became worried about the health of her peers.
“It’s kind of scary,” Smith-Donald said. “I don’t want anybody to get hurt, or even just have built up a reliance on caffeine that might affect their futures.”
Smith-Donald said she sees company marketing and social media as a huge part of why teenagers consume so many energy drinks. She points out how many energy drinks have bright, flashy and “cute” packaging with sweet and enticing flavors, leaving teens craving more of a drink that has caffeine with unseen side effects that leave them hooked.
“A lot of my friends are like, ‘Oh, this seems like a fun flavor,’” Smith-Donald said. “This is like cherry, or this is a tropical punch, but then it also has this stimulant in it.”
The National Library of Medicine says that insufficient sleep and the desire to increase energy were the most common reasons for continued consumption of energy drinks. After seeing adults regularly consume unappealing coffee for energy, Frances Mulcahey, a sophomore, found energy drinks as a good substitute.
“The stress of being students and athletes and performers,” Mulcahey said. “You have to do so much and you have no time, so you need something to help you stay awake.”
After many late night study sessions marked with an infinite number of energy drinks, Mulcahey made a large effort to adopt healthier habits. She said utilizing small steps rather than big changes when distancing from caffeine helped her shift to less-caffinated drinks.
“Something that really helped me was finding other things that I liked that had a similar effect to energy drinks,” Mulcahey said. “I love Diet Coke so much, and it’s kind of like similar to me in the way that I don’t feel super unhealthy drinking it.”
Mulcahey said she recommends her peers listen to their bodies above all else.
“If you’re thirsty, you should drink water,” Mulcahey said. “You shouldn’t drink an energy drink because that’s not gonna give your body the same nutrients that water will give it.”
Snap! Another drink is opened, except this time a pink-patterned Bloom energy drink rests in Mulcahey’s hand.
“Everything is okay in moderation,” Mulcahey said. “The best thing to do is to prioritize your sleep and your health because what you’re doing right now could have a lot of effects on you later in life.”
