As someone who’s passionate about health, I have to speak on something that has been increasingly alarming to observe. I’m wondering if anyone notices or questions the rising use of coffee and caffeinated beverages and snacks. Or, is it just me who sees through the veneer?
What was once a cute treat given by a parent to a young teen has taken on a toxic life of its own. The transition to a performance-enhancing habit has, in effect, become a chemical addiction, just like cigarettes, alcohol, and sugar. The icing on top—it’s normalized.
The typical high school student starts in the morning, leaving early to grab a cup on the way to school at 6:45 AM. That first drive-thru at Starbucks leads to a second iced java during break to revive the lull. After consuming an empty calorie lunch, the student is on the 3rd beverage, an iced espresso to focus during the last classes of the day. Let’s not forget the quick boost to get through the homework at 9:00 before trying to fall asleep.
However, the wired mind on four doses can’t fall asleep. So, after not falling asleep till after 1:00 A.M. and up at 6:00, the ritual begins again. For the average coffee-drinking 16-year-old, this cute “treat” has become an unbreakable habit.
I watch in disbelief as mothers give their young children a can of Coke or a caffeine snack, having no clue that they are the root of their child’s dependency. And it certainly doesn’t end after we graduate. Out on our own in the real and crazy world, what is the one familiar habit that brings us the comfort and buzz we have known to depend on?
We have been groomed and habitualized to the abundance of coffee houses to choose from and a variety of coffees and coffee makers to purchase for our dorm rooms or homes. How are we missing the picture? How are we unaware that we are avoiding the responsibility of contributing to the conditioning of a caffeine addicted culture?
Now, let’s go just below the surface with this. Is it possible that students, referring primarily to juniors and seniors, are unable to meet the demands of our education’s rising competitiveness? Is it possible that a chemically induced brain is the only way students can actually meet the intensity of the dangling carrot requirements? I’ll let those questions percolate.
If these are, in fact, true, where do we go from there? Are we striving for perfection in a world that keeps raising the stakes and pushing us to perform higher and higher? Is coffee the proverbial gateway to other addictions that create codependencies?
I know I’m an outlier, and I may get a lot of flack for this, but I ask you to answer honestly: are we really getting sharper and more productive, or are we just becoming more dependently endlessly wired? It is time for an intervention.
